The Department of Energy (DOE) on Monday announced $3.16 billion is being made available to increase electric vehicle battery manufacturing, processing, and recycling.
Funding comes from President Biden's $1 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and aims to make more components in the US, bolster domestic supply chains, create new jobs, and lower costs.
A separate $60 million will support second-life applications for batteries used to power electric vehicles, as well as new processes for recycling materials back into the supply chain.
"Positioning the United States front and center in meeting the demand for advanced batteries is how we boost our competitiveness and electrify our transportation system," US Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm said in a statement. "President Biden's historic investment in battery production and recycling will give our domestic supply chain the jolt it needs to become more secure and less reliant on other nations—strengthening our clean energy economy, creating good paying jobs, and decarbonizing the transportation sector."
In the US alone, more than 2.5 million plug-in electric vehicles have been sold as of March 2022, according to the DOE. And with more people turning to eco-friendly transportation, it's no surprise the global lithium-ion battery market is projected to grow over the next decade. Sustainably sourcing materials like lithium, cobalt, nickel, and graphite, therefore becomes important to meet expected demand.
"We are at a critical moment in our competition to build the next generation of electric vehicles and batteries here in America," Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) said. "This funding will help us win this race by investing in our supply chain and manufacturing here at home."
The move comes shortly after Biden invoked the Defense Production Act to ramp up mining and processing of minerals used in batteries for electric vehicles.