The money should help improve the economics of transportation, dismantling, and preprocessing of electric drive vehicle batteries.

The United States Department of Energy (DOE) has announced $44.8 million in funding for eight projects aimed at lowering the costs of EV battery recycling. This funding, provided through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), supports building a sustainable and resilient domestic supply chain for lithium-ion batteries as demand for EVs rises, the DOE said in a press release.

With over four million EVs sold in the U.S., recycling end-of-life batteries is essential for reducing costs and improving resource efficiency.

More to read:
Good-bye batteries? A new sensor harnesses mechanical power from vibration

These projects, managed by DOE’s Vehicle Technologies Office, focus on advancing recycling methods and finding new uses for used EV batteries. Building on previous investments totaling $92 million, this funding round supports the U.S. goal of making EVs half of all vehicle sales by 2030.

The money will be spent to improve the economics of transportation, dismantling, and preprocessing of electric drive vehicle batteries.

More to read:
Chinese startup unveils miniature atomic battery

The recipients are:

• B2U Storage Solutions, Inc.

(Los Angeles, CA) will receive over $3.4 million to design, fabricate, test, and demonstrate a low-cost, reusable, stackable, fire resistant, compliant, and real-time monitored system for transporting second-life and defective, damaged, or recycled EV batteries.

Caterpillar Inc. (Chillicothe, IL) will receive $5 million to develop a new or improved battery pack design for off-highway (non-light duty) vehicle batteries that will result in a more efficient dismantling process, and explore innovative technologies aimed at reducing labor time needed for dismantling.

General Motors LLC (Pontiac, MI) will receive almost $8 million to develop and demonstrate an automatic sorting and de-hazarding system for end-of-life EV batteries, with an aim of developing techniques that can be used by automotive recyclers, dealers, and mechanic shops.

ReJoule Incorporated (Signal Hill, CA) will receive $6.3 million to develop and scale a technology for EV battery diagnostics that will check for system-level safety hazards and detect damage or defects at the point of collection.

Rochester Institute of Technology (Rochester, NY) will receive over $7 million to develop and demonstrate a process that accelerates condition assessment of collected EV batteries, and semi-automates dismantling of end-of-life EV batteries using machine learning.

Siemens Corporation, Technology (Princeton, NJ) will receive almost $8 million to demonstrate an automated approach for battery disassembly to reduce cost while maintaining the flexibility to handle a variety of types of packs.

Tennessee Technological University (Cookeville, TN) will receive $4.8 million to design, develop, demonstrate, and validate innovative compact mobile preprocessing hubs that can be transported and deployed at local collection points to safely dismantle and shred end of life EV batteries.

… and to increase recycling of electric drive vehicle battery accessory components:

• University of Akron (Akron, OH) will receive $2 million to eliminate the flow of plastics/polymers from end-of-life EV battery packs to landfills, while simultaneously retrieving and recycling them to be used as raw materials for new batteries.

More to read:
What is regenerative battery and why it’s better than lithium-ion ones

This funding round marks the second phase of a $200 million commitment to EV battery recycling, with a third $70 million phase recently announced. The effort is part of the DOE’s program to build a robust EV battery recycling infrastructure and to transit the automotive industry to energy solutions.

***
NewsCafe is an independent outlet that cares about big issues.Our sources of income amount to ads and donations from readers.You can support us via PayPal: office[at]rudeana.com or paypal.me/newscafeeu.We promise to reward this gesture with more captivating and important topics.