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The US Department of Energy has issued a broad Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for projects that seek innovative transportation solutions for on-road and off-road vehicles. The agency will invest $88 million in ten separate topic areas, including one that focuses on agricultural uses. Concept papers are due April 1, 2025 with full applications due June 18, 2025. Award amounts will vary by topic area up to $6 million, with cost share requirements of up to 50 percent.

What is the purpose of the Vehicle Technology Office Program NOFO?

The research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RDD&D) activities to be funded under this NOFO will improve transportation by driving the innovation that can lead to the accelerated deployment of advanced technologies while also significantly improving U.S. competitiveness. This will lead to benefits including increased safety and reliability of batteries, more convenient travel options, decreased cost of driving, increased vehicle and system efficiency, and a more secure supply chain. Specifically, this NOFO is seeking innovative solutions for on-road and off-road vehicles in the areas of improved battery technology for both light-duty and heavy-duty applications, smart charging infrastructure, sustainable farming, workforce development, and demonstration and deployment of these new technologies.

What topic areas does this NOFO seek to fund?

This NOFO has 10 topic areas: 

• Topic Area 1 Technologies for Enhanced Lithium-Ion Cell Safety:  As more electric vehicles (EVs) enter the roadways, concerns over vehicle safety remain a top priority. This topic area focuses on the development of technologies to improve the abuse tolerance of lithium (Li)-ion cells of the type being used in plug-in electric vehicles.
• Topic Area 2a Low-Cost Production of Lithium:  This topic seeks innovative approaches for producing battery-grade lithium at a lower cost, with reduced energy consumption, improved production yield, and minimal environmental impact compared to the current process.
• Topic Area 2b Lithium-Metal Surface Protection:  This topic seeks to develop novel materials that can form a beneficial passivation layer on the surface of the Li foil for use in rechargeable Li batteries containing liquid or solid-state electrolytes.
• Topic Area 3a Ultra-Long-Cycle Life Li-Ion Batteries for Heavy-Duty Electric Trucks:  The subtopics under Topic Area 3 aim to accelerate a domestic battery industry that can support lower cost options for long-haul U.S. trucks. This subtopic seeks Li-ion battery chemistry innovations and design solutions that are readily adapted to multilayer pouch cells or cylindrical or prismatic cells to demonstrate extended cycle life.
• Topic Area 3b Standardized Battery Module Design for Heavy-Duty Electric Trucks:  This subtopic supports innovative standardized modules or scaled packs (for cell-to-pack design) suitable for Class 8 long-haul trucks.
• Topic Area 4 Thermal Technologies for Zero-Emission Vehicles (ZEVs):  The objective of this topic area is to research, develop, and demonstrate innovative technologies capable of significantly decreasing the on-board energy use of vehicle thermal systems for medium- and heavy-duty on-highway zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs).
• Topic Area 5 Optimized Grid Planning for Electric Vehicles using Advanced Metering Infrastructure:  The objective of this topic area is to research, develop, and validate novel and innovative tools leveraging Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) and smart metering as a sensory network to improve the EV charging infrastructure energization process, accelerate EV charging infrastructure deployment, and provide an efficient and secure EV load management platform.
• Topic Area 6 Co-located Renewable Fuel and Off-road vehicle Pilots (CROP):  Farms and agricultural communities rely on a wide range of off-road vehicles to till, plant, irrigate, harvest and transport crops. These vehicles have unique requirements for durability, power/torque density, and daily run times. Farms also possess a unique advantage as producers of fuel feedstocks, such as agricultural waste and animal manure, as well as ideal siting for local clean electricity production. Through a two-phased approach, proposals under this area of interest will demonstrate locally produced, renewable fuels for agricultural use.
• Topic Area 7 Vehicle Life Cycle Analysis Baseline:  The objective of this topic area is to conduct life cycle analysis (LCA) including energy usage, critical materials requirements, and greenhouse gas emissions on up to four vehicles.
• Topic Area 8 Quality Improvements of Battery Busbar Joining:  This topic area will focus on joining methods implemented for “foil-to-tab” manufacturing for use in EVs and the ability to monitor joining performance in real time.
• Topic Area 9 Electric Vehicle Workforce Development:  This topic area targets the development of local, state, regional, or national outreach, awareness, and partnership building efforts. VTO highly encourages project teams that include one or more Clean Cities and Communities coalition.
• Topic Area 10 Vehicle Technology Integration Open Topic:  The objective of this topic area is to explore novel solutions to transportation and related clean energy and infrastructure challenges through demonstration and deployment projects that will spur market development. The project team must include at least one active and DOE-designated Clean Cities and Communities coalition with a significant project role.

Who is eligible to apply?

The following types of domestic entities are eligible to apply:

• Institutions of higher education;
• For-profit organization;
• Nonprofit organization;
• State and local governmental entities;
• Indian Tribes, as defined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, 25 U.S.C. § 53041; and
• Consortia of entities as described in the bullets above.

To qualify as a domestic entity, the entity must be organized, chartered, or incorporated (or otherwise formed) under the laws of a particular state or territory of the United States or under the laws of the United States; have majority domestic ownership and control; and have a physical place of business in the United States. In general, foreign entities are not eligible to apply as either a recipient or subrecipient.

What are the funding details for each topic area?

Approximately $88 million in total funding is available across all topic areas.

What is the solicitation timeline?

Concept papers must be submitted electronically no later than 5 p.m. ET on April 1, 2025. Applicants encouraged to submit a full proposal must do so by 5 p.m. on June 18, 2025.

The NOFO can be found here.

For more information on this grant or how to apply with Morrison’s assistance, please contact the Morrison Grants Team by email at grants@morrisonco.net or call us at 530-893-4764.