The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Vehicle Technologies Office announced two notices of intent—DE-FOA-0003247: Notice Of Intent To Issue FY24 VTO R&D FOA DE-FOA-0003248 and DE-FOA-0003249: Notice Of Intent To Issue FY24 VTO Technology Integration FOA DE-FOA-0003250—for fiscal year 2024 funding to advance research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RDD&D) and technology integration (TI) for areas critical to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, including:

• Developing new chemistries for reduced cost, higher energy density electric vehicle (EV) batteries;

• RDD&D to provide widescale, cybersecure EVs and EV charging infrastructure;

• Low-greenhouse gas emission concepts for off-road vehicles;

• Manufacturing high-performance electric steels using domestic resources;

• Improving the mobility system through vehicle-to-everything approaches;

• Zero-emission vehicle and infrastructure training for first responders and emergency response professionals; and

• Enabling Clean Cities coalitions to undertake high-impact outreach, engagement, and technical assistance activities.

The RDD&D activities may include the following areas of interest:

1. Next Generation Phosphate-Based Cathodes. This area of interest targets the development of Phosphate-based cathode material that surpasses the performance of state-of-the-art Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO₄) cathode active material. LiFePO₄ is widely used in commercial applications, including Electric Vehicles, due to its long cycle and calendar life as well as safety performance. However, LiFePO₄’s energy density is limited due to its low voltage plateau. The primary objective of this area of interest is to increase the energy density of battery cells containing phosphate-based cathodes through research and development at the material and cell level.

   Additionally, the proposed material should strive to show powder and electrode coating scalability, processability and reproducibility for manufacturing. While improvements to the cathode material are desired, the cost target of the next generation phosphate material should be comparable to industrial grade LiFePO₄. The proposed R&D plan should resolve challenges such as obtaining higher energy density at material level compared to LiFePO₄, good slurry quality, good electrode quality, high electrode loadings, enhanced electrode packing density and higher cell level energy density. Electrolyte stability should be addressed but not studied as a main focal point of the proposed work. The final cell deliverable should be at least 2Ah constructed with the proposed phosphate material combined with a graphite anode. The cells will need to exhibit automotive performance requirements such as stable cycle and calendar life, fast charging capabilities, and operation over a wide temperature window.

2. Na-ion Battery Seedling Projects for Electric Vehicle Applications. Li-ion batteries dominate the rechargeable battery market but concerns over the supply and cost of lithium necessitate the search for alternative battery chemistries that do not rely on the use of lithium. Na-ion batteries are the leading technology to alleviate the electric vehicle market of lithium resource concerns. This area of interest looks to advance the state of the art for Na-ion batteries by addressing three key aspects: new cathode materials that avoid critical raw materials (i.e., nickel, cobalt, lithium) and address the slopping and step voltage-profile features, advanced anode materials that have well understood sodiation mechanisms, and electrolytes that address the poor solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) forming capabilities of many current Na-ion electrolytes. Consideration should be given to using materials that will have minimal supply chain concerns. All projects should be able to provide a final deliverable of a 1 Ah Na-ion full cell providing ≥160 Wh/kg and 1,000 cycles with 80% capacity retention.

3. Low-GHG Concepts for Off-Road Vehicles. Off-road vehicles are a substantial source of greenhouse gases (GHG) and criteria emissions, including nitrogen oxides and fine particulate matter that contribute to poor air quality. These vehicles have unique requirements for durability, power/torque density, daily run times, and operation in remote and harsh locations. The objective of this area of interest is to research, develop and demonstrate innovative technologies capable of significantly decreasing energy use, GHG and harmful criteria emissions, and total cost of ownership of off-road vehicles used in agriculture, construction, mining, forestry, ports, warehouses, etc. Proposed technologies should reduce emissions through increased utilization of low-carbon liquid or gaseous fuels including hydrogen, renewable natural gas or renewable propane, and by partial or full vehicle electrification while maintaining similar durability to current vehicles. Awarded projects will also demonstrate improvements in over-all vehicle efficiency such as reductions in fluid power systems throttling losses and/or increased use of vehicle automation. Required deliverables include total cost of ownership calculations and vehicle demonstration in representative drive cycles. Applicant teams must include a vehicle/equipment Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) and/or Tier 1 suppliers.

4. Saving Energy with Connectivity. The objective of this area of interest is to develop and deploy approaches using vehicle-to-everything (V2X) high-speed, low latency communication to improve the efficiency and convenience of the mobility-system. Projects could include but are not limited to eco-driving along connected corridors, transit priority, intermodal optimization, or freight priority. For proper deployment of systems which will rely on critical V2X information, a complete understanding of the required message sets (basic safety message and new information sets) is essential to provide an appropriate communication system foundation. These message sets will inform both vehicles and traffic management and will be used for future analysis and system planning/optimization (SPATs, alternative routing, etc.). Applications may include simulation and hardware testing of complex V2X communications interactions, band width and latency requirements in various settings and culminate in the deployment of hardware in settings controlled by state and local governments (not only on proving grounds), serving as a model for deployment by other Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPOs). Research must leverage current and past connected vehicle work with recognition of current standards and/or specifications in progress. Applicant teams must include a local or state agency, or other entity (e.g., university) with the ability to approve an on-road demonstration of the technology. Partnerships with Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and standardization development organizations (SDOs) are encouraged. Solutions need to be interoperable across platforms, so they have the potential to be scaled. Applications must include a real-world early deployment. Deployments should be cybersecure.

5. Domestically Produced E-steels. The US transportation sector is in the midst of a technology revolution where light-duty vehicles are rapidly transitioning to electrified powertrains. Although most of the vehicles are produced in the US many of the powertrain components rely on imports and foreign supply chains. Traction motors and components for traction motors fall into this category. Laminates for traction motors and transformers rely on electric steels or E–steels. E–steels impact the efficiency of electric vehicle traction motors and thus developing high-performance E–steels that can be used in today’s manufacturing processes is an important opportunity. The objective of this topic is to develop new high-performance E–steels that can be produced and manufactured using domestic resources. Awarded projects will develop e-steels with improved ductility and magnetic properties while maintaining cost parity. R&D plans should include laminate production at a thickness relevant for traction motors with minimal losses. This opportunity seeks to support teams which are fully integrated from basic material production through traction motor manufacture that can develop cost competitive high- performance traction motors in the United States for the US transportation industry.

6. Cybersecurity for Smart and Secure Electric Vehicle Charging. Electric vehicles (EVs) can provide a wide range of grid services since most of the time EVs are parked they are not charging, offering flexibility in the timing and the level of charging. The rapidly increasing numbers of EVs in the US may soon lead to a new market for businesses to aggregate large numbers of EVs and bid grid services to the electricity sector. However, ensuring aggregation is done in a cybersecure way is critical to the operations of both the transportation and electricity sectors. Additionally, there is a significant need for the development and deployment of tools that can be used to assess the cybersecurity posture and compliance with standards and protocols of EVs, electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE), and charging systems.

   The objective of this Area of Interest is to address these pressing cybersecurity issues through research, develop and demonstration of systems, technologies, and tools necessary for the cybersecure aggregation of EVs and charging infrastructure to provide widescale, cybersecure grid services, and to develop and validate a suite of tools and associated procedures to comprehensively assess EV/EVSE/charging system compliance with relevant standards and protocols and cybersecurity posture. Applicant teams are encouraged to include utilities, EVSE and vehicle OEMs.

As part of a whole-of-government approach to advancing equity, the prospective funding will encourage the participation of underserved communities and underrepresented groups. Applicants are encouraged to include individuals from groups historically underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) on their project teams.