SAN DIEGO (CNS) – Two San Diego companies have been granted more than $5 million by the U.S. Department of Energy to strengthen the domestic supply chain for advanced batteries that power electric vehicles, it was announced Tuesday.
South 8 Technologies and Tyfast Energy join 10 other projects that received a total of $42 million from the DOE through its Electric Vehicles for American Low-Carbon Living program.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy David M. Turk visited South 8 in San Diego on Tuesday, where he announced the investment to “support President Joe Biden’s goal to develop advanced technologies in America that will power the clean energy transition globally and for EVs to make up half of all domestic vehicles sales in 2030,” according to a DOE statement.
“Electric vehicle sales in America have tripled since the start of this administration and by addressing battery efficiency, resiliency, and affordability, the projects announced today will make EVs attractive to even more drivers,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm said in a statement.
“This is a win-win for our efforts to fight climate change and power America’s clean transportation future with technologies produced by researchers and scientists right here at home.”
Projects selected for the EVs4ALL funding were those which aim to expand domestic EV adoption by developing batteries that “last longer, charge faster, perform efficiently in freezing temperatures and have better overall range retention.”
The EVs4ALL program is managed by DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy. ARPA-E selected the 12 teams from universities, national laboratories, and the private sector to “address and remove key technology barriers to EV adoption by developing next-generation battery technologies,” a statement from the agency reads.
The local grants are:
— South 8 Technologies was awarded $3,152,000 to develop Li-ion battery cells with the capacity to charge rapidly using a liquefied gas electrolyte technology; and
— Tyfast Energy was awarded $2,823,199 for the development of a “combination of electrode materials and electrolyte chemistry to enable a high-energy density, ultrafast-charging battery with a long cycle life.”