Battery

The United States Advanced Battery Consortium LLC (USABC), a subsidiary of the United States Council for Automotive Research LLC (USCAR), and a collaborative organization of FCA US LLC, Ford Motor Company and General Motors, today announced the award of a $4.8 million technology development contract to Zenlabs Energy Inc. in Fremont, California for development of low-cost, fast-charge (LC/FC) battery technology for electric vehicles (EVs).

The contract award, which includes a 50 percent cost share, funds a 30-month project that began last month. Building on a successful Phase 1, the goal of this program is to develop novel electrolyte formulations, a scalable pre-lithiation method that enables the use of high-capacity silicon oxide anodes, and optimized cell designs that will result in lithium-ion batteries capable of meeting USABC LC/FC EV battery goals.

USABC is a subsidiary of the United States Council for Automotive Research LLC (USCAR). Enabled by a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), USABC’s mission is to develop electrochemical energy storage technologies that support commercialization of hybrid, plug-in hybrid, electric and fuel cell vehicles. In support of its mission, USABC has developed mid- and long-term goals to guide its projects and measure its progress.  For more information, visit www.uscar.org/usabc.

“The low-cost/fast-charge technology development contract award with Zenlabs is part of USABC’s broad battery technology research and development program,” said Steve Zimmer, executive director of USCAR. “Programs like this are critical to advancing the technology needed to meet both near- and long-term goals that will enable broader scale vehicle electrification.”

About DOE

The U.S. Department of Energy’s overarching mission is to advance the national, economic and energy security of the United States. DOE’s Vehicle Technologies Office works with industry, academia and national laboratories to develop advanced transportation technologies that improve energy efficiency, increase energy security, and reduce operating cost for consumers and business. Electrochemical energy storage has been identified as a key enabling technology for advanced, fuel-efficient, light and heavy-duty vehicles.

About USCAR

Founded in 1992, USCAR is the collaborative automotive technology company for FCA US LLC, Ford Motor Company and General Motors. The goal of USCAR is to further strengthen the technology base of the domestic auto industry through cooperative research and development. For more information, visit www.uscar.org.

All USCAR Member companies have joined in becoming signatories of the Responsible Raw Materials Initiative (RRMI, now part of the Responsible Minerals Initiative, RMI) Declaration of Support.

The United States Advanced Battery Consortium LLC (USABC), a subsidiary of the United States Council for Automotive Research LLC (USCAR), and a collaborative organization of FCA US LLC, Ford Motor Company and General Motors, has issued a request for proposal information (RFPI) for the development of advanced anode pre-lithiation for electric vehicle (EV) cell technology.

The primary objective of this RFPI is to advance development efforts in the anode pre-lithiation processes for electrochemical energy storage systems, particularly cells, to achieve the EV cost and performance goals set forth in the full USABC RFPI document: http://www.uscar.org/commands/files_download.php?files_id=489 .

USABC encourages the formation of multi-functional teams in order to achieve the proposed objectives. Teams should include a cell manufacturer with the capability to incorporate the proposed new pre-lithiation processes/designs, in addition to materials and process developers.

All developers or development teams submitting proposals will be required to demonstrate that they have the potential to develop a commercially viable business, which can produce sufficient volumes, and provide engineering and testing support, to meet automotive requirements.  Research organizations with current, direct affiliations with businesses that derive a majority of their income from related product sales will also be considered.

At the time of submittal, all developers will be required to have demonstration hardware and test results available for USABC inspection. Resulting contracts will include a 50 percent minimum cost share.

The deadline for submission is January 30, 2019.

For complete and detailed information on the RFPI for the “Development of Advanced Anode Pre-lithiation for Electric Vehicle Cell Technology,” visit the USABC pages of the United States Council for Automotive Research LLC (USCAR) website at www.uscar.org/usabc. In addition, developers may contact Maureen Lahote, USABC business manager, at mlahote@uscar.org.

Enabled by a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy, USABC’s mission is to develop electrochemical energy storage technologies that support commercialization of hybrid, plug-in hybrid, electric and fuel cell vehicles.  In support of its mission, USABC has developed mid- and long-term goals to guide its projects and measure its progress.

About DOE

The U.S. Department of Energy’s overarching mission is to advance the national, economic and energy security of the United States. DOE’s Vehicle Technologies Office works with industry, academia and national laboratories to develop advanced transportation technologies that can enable more affordable mobility, strengthen domestic energy security, reduce our dependence on foreign sources of critical materials and enhance U.S. economic growth. Electrochemical energy storage has been identified as a key enabling technology for advanced, fuel-efficient, light and heavy-duty vehicles.

About USCAR

Founded in 1992, USCAR is the collaborative automotive technology company for FCA US LLC, Ford Motor Company and General Motors. The goal of USCAR is to further strengthen the technology base of the domestic auto industry through cooperative research and development. For more information, visit www.uscar.org.

All USCAR Member companies have joined in becoming signatories of the Responsible Raw Materials Initiative (RRMI, now part of the Responsible Minerals Initiative, RMI) Declaration of Support.

The United States Advanced Battery Consortium LLC (USABC), a collaborative organization of FCA US LLC, Ford Motor Company and General Motors, today announced the award of $1.08 million to Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Worcester, Massachusetts for Phase II of a lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery recycling contract.

The contract award, which includes a 50 percent cost share, funds a 24-month project. Building on Phase I, this contract will enable WPI to demonstrate the ability of its process to recycle spent Li-ion batteries and produce new cathode materials to generate a higher nickel cathode powder. This material is of increasing relevance in the current market which is shifting towards higher nickel content cathode materials due to their energy density benefits.

USABC is a subsidiary of the United States Council for Automotive Research LLC (USCAR). Enabled by a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), USABC’s mission is to develop electrochemical energy storage technologies that support commercialization of hybrid, plug-in hybrid, electric and fuel cell vehicles. In support of its mission, USABC has developed mid- and long-term goals to guide its projects and measure its progress.  For more information, visit http://www.uscar.org/usabc.

“This contract award with Worcester Polytechnic Institute is part of USABC’s broad battery technology research and development program,” said Steve Zimmer, executive director of USCAR. “Programs like this are critical to advancing the technology needed to meet both near- and long-term goals that will enable broader scale vehicle electrification.”

About DOE

The U.S. Department of Energy’s overarching mission is to advance the national, economic and energy security of the United States. DOE’s Vehicle Technologies Office works with industry, academia and national laboratories to develop advanced transportation technologies that can enable more affordable mobility, strengthen domestic energy security, reduce our dependence on foreign sources of critical materials and enhance U.S. economic growth. Electrochemical energy storage has been identified as a key enabling technology for advanced, fuel-efficient, light and heavy-duty vehicles.

About USCAR

Founded in 1992, USCAR is the collaborative automotive technology company for FCA US LLC, Ford Motor Company and General Motors. The goal of USCAR is to further strengthen the technology base of the domestic auto industry through cooperative research and development. For more information, visit www.uscar.org.

All USCAR Member companies have joined in becoming signatories of the Responsible Raw Materials Initiative (RRMI, now part of the Responsible Minerals Initiative, RMI) Declaration of Support.

The United States Advanced Battery Consortium LLC (USABC), a collaborative organization of FCA US LLC, Ford Motor Company and General Motors, has reissued its request for proposal information (RFPI) for the development of low-cost, fast-charge (LC/FC) batteries for electric vehicle (EV) applications.

The RFPI was reopened due to a strong and continued interest in this area. It is aimed at single developers or collaborative supplier-team developers having electrochemical energy storage technologies that have the capability of meeting or approaching USABC commercialization criteria, as listed in the full RFPI document http://www.uscar.org/commands/files_download.php?files_id=477.

Although project goals can be set that approach but not meet all of the USABC goals, a credible plan toward achieving all the USABC goals must be provided. The two most important goals for projects selected under this solicitation are low-cost and fast-charge capability, both of which will be weighted more heavily than other performance measures in the selection process. The goals are for development that will result in commercialization of LC/FC cells by 2023.

All developers submitting proposals will be required to demonstrate that they have the potential to develop a commercially viable business, which can produce sufficient volumes to meet automotive requirements, and provide engineering and testing support to meet automotive implementation requirements.  Research organizations with current, direct affiliations with businesses that derive a majority of their income from related product sales, will also be considered.

At the time of submittal, all developers will be required to have demonstration hardware and test results available for USABC inspection. Resulting contracts will include a 50 percent minimum cost share.

The revised deadline for submission is December 31, 2018.

For complete and detailed information on the RFPI for the “Development of Advanced LC/FC Batteries for EV Applications,” visit the USABC pages of the United States Council for Automotive Research LLC (USCAR) website at www.uscar.org/usabc. In addition, service providers may contact Maureen LaHote, USABC business manager at mlahote@uscar.org.

USABC is a subsidiary of USCAR.  Enabled by a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy, USABC’s mission is to develop electrochemical energy storage technologies that support commercialization of hybrid, plug-in hybrid, electric and fuel cell vehicles.  In support of its mission, USABC has developed mid- and long-term goals to guide its projects and measure its progress.

About DOE

The U.S. Department of Energy’s overarching mission is to advance the national, economic and energy security of the United States. DOE’s Vehicle Technologies Office works with industry, academia and national laboratories to develop advanced transportation technologies that can enable more affordable mobility, strengthen domestic energy security, reduce our dependence on foreign sources of critical materials and enhance U.S. economic grow. Electrochemical energy storage has been identified as a key enabling technology for advanced, fuel-efficient, light and heavy-duty vehicles.

About USCAR

Founded in 1992, USCAR is the collaborative automotive technology company for FCA US LLC, Ford Motor Company and General Motors. The goal of USCAR is to further strengthen the technology base of the domestic auto industry through cooperative research and development. For more information, visit www.uscar.org.

All USCAR Member companies have joined in becoming signatories of the Responsible Raw Materials Initiative (RRMI, now part of the Responsible Minerals Initiative, RMI) Declaration of Support.