Toyota Motors North America Secures $4.5 Million U.S. Department of Energy Grant

The Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy has provided funding to both Toyota and Redwood Materials to support the development of circular domestic supply chains for electric vehicle (EV) batteries.

Toyota Motor North America received a $4.5 million grant to lead a project aimed at extending the life of battery components, thereby reducing total emissions per mile. The project, led by the Toyota Research Institute of North America (TRINA), will develop a reduce, reuse, recycle battery facility of the future.

Nik Singh, project leader and principal scientist at TRINA, stated that the project will highlight avenues for battery circularity and prioritize the extension of battery life, facilitating battery reuse, and reducing battery waste. Singh and his team are collaborating with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and Baker Hughes' Waygate Technologies to develop a robotic disassembly process for batteries.

The goal is to generate processes to streamline reusing and refurbishing valuable battery cells and modules from end-of-life packs, without having to scan every single battery pack every single time. Researchers will also develop advanced diagnostic tools and a refabrication method for the recycling of battery cells into new energy systems.

The project aims to resolve bottlenecks in the current battery supply chain circularity, including the automation of battery pack disassembly, data-driven battery classification, and addressing cell degradation.

Meanwhile, Redwood Materials received a similar $4.5 million grant under the DOE's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy initiative. The focus of Redwood Materials' project is to support a circular supply chain for electric vehicle batteries.

The funding is part of the broader initiative to take advantage of government aid to transition to electric vehicle technology and foster its adoption. As end-of-life and battery scrap volumes increase from rising global EV adoption, a new approach is needed to extend the useful life of many standard battery pack components.

The DOE effort is driven by the growing need for EV battery recycling due to increasing electric vehicle usage. Marm Dixit, co-leading Oak Ridge National Laboratory's contributions to the project, stated that the goal is to generate processes to streamline reusing and refurbishing valuable battery cells and modules from end-of-life packs, without having to scan every single battery pack every single time.

The Toyota Research Institute of North America's project also aims to unveil the appropriate pathways to achieve priorities in battery circularity, extension of battery life, facilitation of battery reuse, and reduction of battery waste. The goal of the project is to develop an industry template for a reduce, reuse, recycle battery facility of the future.

Toyota Motors North America Secures $4.5 Million U.S. Department of Energy Grant