DOE awards $60M to 24 R&D projects to accelerate advancements in zero-emissions vehicles
29 July 2021
The US Department of Energy (DOE) is awarding $60 million to 24 research and development projects aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions from passenger cars and light- and heavy-duty trucks. (DE-FOA-0002420) The projects will help decarbonize the transportation sector and enhance the infrastructure needed to support the growing adoption of zero-emission vehicles.
Transportation accounts for approximately 30% of total US energy needs and generates the largest share of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. The projects, funded through DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Vehicles Technology Office (VTO), address the two largest contributors to transportation sector emissions: passenger cars and light-duty trucks account for nearly 60% of emissions and medium- and heavy-duty trucks account for nearly 25%.
Awardees across 12 projects will focus on developing next-generation lithium batteries with improved lifespan, safety, and affordability; improving the performance and durability of electrolytes that carry ions within batteries; and increasing the power density of electric drive systems. These advancements would increase the useful life of EVs and enable more affordable, better performing vehicles. (Total award amount: $28.1 million.)
Awardees across six projects will help develop a better understanding of new mobility technologies, particularly on how automated, connected, electric, and shared vehicle technology, such as automated electric shuttles and connected vehicle/infrastructure technologies, interact with the larger transportation system. (Total award amount: $20.2 million.)
Clemson University will develop a lightweight, multi-material passenger vehicle body structure, addressing challenges in joining dissimilar materials. (Total award amount: $5.8 million.)
Two projects will develop simulation tools to accelerate and optimize the development of advanced emissions systems for heavy-duty vehicles. (Total award amount: $5.1 million.)
Three projects will develop tools to understand charging infrastructure needs for medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicles and analyze environmental, cost, and energy impacts of infrastructure upgrades. (Total award amount: $1 million).
The battery and electrification projects under this funding opportunity support the National Blueprint for Lithium Batteries’ goal of maintaining and advancing US battery technology R&D leadership.
| Awardee | Project | Federal share |
| AOI 1a: Next-generation Liquid Electrolytes for Li-ion Cells under Extreme Conditions | ||
| General Motors | Novel Organosulfur-Based Electrolytes for Safe Operation of High Voltage Lithium-ion Batteries Over a Wide Operating Temperature | $2,500,000 |
| SUNY University @ Stony Brook | Fluorinated Ester Local High Concentration Electrolytes For Operation of Lithium-ion Batteries Under Extreme Conditions | $2,285,813 |
| Mexichem Fluor Inc. | Extending the operating range and safety of Lithium-ion batteries with new fluorinated electrolytes | $2,499,842 |
| AOI 1b: Liquid Electrolytes for Lithium-Sulfur (Li-S) Cells | ||
| Navitas Advanced Solutions Group, LLC | Fluorinated Glyme Electrolytes to Extend Li-S Battery Life | $1,671,604 |
| Penn State University | Development of Functional Electrolytes for Li-S Battery Cells | $1,666,667 |
| Giner, Inc | Liquid Electrolytes for Lithium-Sulfur Batteries with Enhanced Cycle Life and Energy Density Performance | $2,500,000 |
| AOI 2: Development of State‐of‐the‐art Lithium Sulfur and Lithium Air Battery Cells | ||
| Penn State University | Development of Li-S Battery Cells with High Energy Density and Long Cycling Life | $1,250,000 |
| University of California, San Diego | Strategies to Enable Lean Electrolytes for High Loading and Stable Li-S Pouch Cells | $1,250,000 |
| University of Illinois at Chicago | Development of a High-Rate Lithium-Air Battery using a Gaseous CO2 Reactant | $1,200,000 |
| University of Pittsburgh | New Engineering Concepts to High Energy Density Li-S Batteries | $1,250,000 |
| AOI 3: High Power Density Inverters | ||
| Cummins, Inc | Cummins High Power Density Inverter | $4,998,714 |
| BorgWarner, Inc | Scalable Ultra Power-Dense Extended Range (SUPER) Inverter | $4,997,064 |
| AOI 4: Integrated Simulation of Combustion and Aftertreatment ‐ Optimizing for Near‐Zero Emissions (ISCA‐ONE) | ||
| West Virginia University Research Corporation | Fast Simulation of Real Driving Emissions from Heavy-duty Diesel Vehicle Integrated with Advanced Aftertreatment System | $2,500,000 |
| University of Wisconsin-Madison | Comprehensive Integrated Simulation Methodology for Enabling Near-Zero Emission HD Vehicles | $2,604,870 |
| AOI 5: Demonstration of Lightweight Multi‐Material Glider System | ||
| Clemson University | Manufacturing Demonstration of a Large-scale, Multimaterial Vehicle Sub-system | $5,750,000 |
| AOI 6: Low‐cost Infrastructure‐based Enablers for Cooperative Driving Automation | ||
| University of South Florida | Visual-Enhanced Cooperative Traffic Operations (VECTOR) System | $3,500,000 |
| Western Michigan University | Development and Validation of InfrastructureEnabled High-Quality Perception Data to Achieve Energy Efficient Autonomous Vehicle Operation through Computation Reductions and Offloading | $1,999,994 |
| AOI 7 Implementation of Energy Efficient Mobility Systems Technologies into Real‐World System Applications | ||
| University of California: Irvine | AI-Based Mobility Monitoring System and Analytics Demonstration Pilot | $3,000,000 |
| Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator | Testing and Evaluation of Curb Management and Integrated Strategies to Catalyze Market Adoption of Electric Vehicles | $3,798,455 |
| Xtelligent | Cooperative Traffic Signal Network for Freight Energy Efficiency, Safety, Sustainability, and Public Health | $3,589,506 |
| Optimus Ride Inc. | Scaling Automated-Connected-Electric-Shared (ACES) Fleets: Advancing Energy Efficiency, Decarbonization, and Social Equity Goals | $4,333,333 |
| AOI 8: Transportation and Energy Analysis | ||
| ElectroTempo, Inc. | Scalable Truck Charging Demand Simulation for CostOptimized Infrastructure Planning | $324,000 |
| Rocky Mountain Institute | Projecting and Optimizing Medium and Heavy Truck Charging With Real World Data | $339,899 |
| Colorado State University | Agent-Based, Bottom-Up Medium- and Heavy-duty Electric Vehicle Economics, Operation, Charging, and Adoption | $292,541 |
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