Energy Department Announces $2.8 Billion for Battery Manufacturing

Energy Department Announces $2.8 Billion for Battery Manufacturing

The Department of Energy (DOE) has announced the award of $2.8 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) funding to be distributed amongst 20 companies across 12 different states to further increase the United States’ capacity to manufacture batteries for electric vehicles. The BIL-funded program is designed to increase U.S. capability to support advanced manufacturing across the battery supply chain, including extracting lithium, graphite, and other materials.

This funding package is only the first of several phases that will use a total of $7 billion to strengthen the Electric Vehicle (EV) battery supply chain. According to the DOE, China currently has a virtual monopoly on the supply chain for almost all lithium, graphite, nickel, electrolyte salt, electrode binder, and iron phosphate cathode materials. These funds will be used to develop the first lithium iron phosphate cathode facility in the United States and the first commercial scale domestic silicone oxide production facilities to supply anode materials for EV batteries.
 
The funding for the selected projects will support: enough battery-grade lithium to supply approximately two million EVs annually; enough battery-grade graphite to supply approximately 1.2 million EVs annually; enough battery-grade nickel to supply approximately 400,000 EVs annually; and installing the first large-scale, commercial lithium electrolyte salt (LiPF6) production facility in the United States.
 
In conjunction with the award announcement, the Biden-Harris Administration also announced the “American Battery Materials Initiative,” a dedicated effort to align federal investments and activities, domestic and international, to accelerate the development of the full end-to-end battery supply chain, including the critical minerals and materials we need to meet production and deployment goals. The Initiative will be led by DOE, with support from the Department of the Interior, and work closely with the Partnership on Global Infrastructure and Investment and the Department of State.
 
For a full list of funded projects and additional information, visit here.
 

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