(Invited) The Processing Science and Engineering Research Portfolio for Advanced Vehicle Batteries at the U.S. Department of Energy

Abstract

The widespread adoption of electric vehicles using advanced battery technologies and the development of their manufacturing base in the United States are critically important for the US economy and therefor a major focus of research and development sponsored by DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Materials development is often touted as the most important enabling activity, however in a rank of major cost items, manufacturing costs ranks just below the cathode components. In addition to the need to reduce costs, US R&D should also focus on new, yet-to-be-scaled processing technologies that, when developed and implemented in the US provide both a strong component of US energy security and US-based employment in the production of electric vehicle batteries. This presents a major economic opportunity to the USA, as the global electric vehicle market is expected to grow to over $100 billion in the next ten years. Advances in battery processing science and technology could lead directly to the displacement of the established non-US-based manufacturing base via creative destruction--new innovative technologies lead to new manufacturing facilities, facilities that could be built and run in the USA. Processing science and engineering has traditionally been underrepresented in federally funded electrochemical energy storage R&D. Over the last nine years, the Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) has been building an advanced processing R&D portfolio. This includes competitively funded research at universities, small businesses, and large corporations as well as programs supported across the national laboratory complex. Processing science and technology projects organize into two general activities: scaling-up materials production and developing innovative electrode fabrication approaches. This presentation will provide an overview of the sub-program’s history and several example successes. Future research directions and scenarios for possible funding opportunities will also be discussed.