Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) Electric Drive Vehicle Battery Recycling and Second Life Applications | DE FOA 0002680

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002680

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) Electric Drive Vehicle Battery Recycling and Second Life Applications opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number DE-FOA-0002680) is a U.S. Department of Energy discretionary grant program aimed at strengthening the domestic battery supply chain by improving what happens to electric-drive vehicle batteries after they have been used in vehicles. The funding is issued by DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) on behalf of the Vehicle Technologies Office, with the National Energy Technology Laboratory listed as the agency, and it is supported by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (Public Law 117-58). The FOA is posted through EERE Exchange (https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/), which is DOE's main portal for application materials and official instructions.

At its core, the program is designed to help the U.S. build a more sustainable and resilient approach to batteries by focusing on two connected areas: second-life applications and end-of-life recycling. "Second life" refers to repurposing used electric vehicle batteries that may no longer meet the performance requirements for transportation, but still have enough capacity and reliability to be used in other roles, such as stationary energy storage. The recycling side focuses on technologies and processes that enable the final recycling and proper disposal of electric-drive vehicle batteries, recovering valuable materials and reducing waste and environmental impacts. By funding projects in these areas, DOE is trying to close the loop on battery materials, reduce dependence on new extraction, and increase the amount of critical minerals and other components that can be recovered and reused in future batteries or other products.

This FOA sits within a larger BIL investment strategy. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provided more than $62 billion to DOE to advance a cleaner and more equitable energy future, and it includes a commitment of more than $7 billion over fiscal years 2022 through 2026 specifically for the battery supply chain. The battery supply chain emphasis runs from sourcing and processing critical minerals in more sustainable ways (including approaches that reduce or avoid new extraction and mining where possible) through battery production, use, collection, and eventually recycling. The opportunity explicitly supports BIL Section 40208, which centers on an Electric Drive Vehicle Battery Recycling and Second-Life Program. The broader policy framing highlights U.S. competitiveness, job creation, and expanding access to the economic benefits of clean energy investments, including for disadvantaged communities.

In practical grant terms, the opportunity is categorized under Energy and Transportation funding activities (CFDA 81.086). It is listed as "unrestricted" eligibility, meaning it is broadly open to many entity types, although applicants still need to follow any specific eligibility clarifications included in the FOA text. DOE anticipated making around eight awards, with an award ceiling of $4,000,000 per project. The FOA was created May 2, 2022, and the original closing date was July 19, 2022, which indicates this specific round is historical; however, the program area and BIL Section 40208 focus are useful context for tracking related or follow-on DOE funding opportunities in battery reuse and recycling.

Overall, this funding opportunity is meant to push the market and the technology forward so that electric vehicle batteries are not treated as single-use assets. Instead, they become part of a circular system where batteries can be collected, assessed, redeployed into second-life roles when appropriate, and then ultimately recycled to recover materials at the end of their useful life. The intended outcome is a more secure and sustainable U.S. battery ecosystem, reduced material bottlenecks, and a stronger domestic capability to manage the growing wave of batteries reaching end of vehicle service as EV adoption scales.

• The Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory in the energy, transportation sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) Electric Drive Vehicle Battery Recycling and Second Life Applications" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.086.
• This funding opportunity was created on May 02, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jul 19, 2022. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $4,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 8 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

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