The California Energy Commission is to fund up to US$1.75m for research into the economic and environmental impacts of EV and PHEV battery packs in the state, including their acquisition and lifecycle costs and environmentally safe recycling/disposal costs. The Commission calls these battery packs ‘PEV (plug-in electric vehicle) battery packs’.
Research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) proposals are invited by the Commission in two fields:
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Techno-Economic Assessment of PEV Battery Pack Standards – Develop tools, methods, and analysis to inform the development of PEV battery pack standards that reduce the life-cycle costs of PEV batteries. The budget for this research extends to US$750,000.
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Large-Scale Recycling of California’s PEV Battery Packs – Develop and advance technologies, tools, data, and scientific knowledge that will be needed to enable large-scale recycling that avoids or minimises the disposal impacts of California’s PEV battery packs. The budget for the research in this field totals US$1m.
Match funding from applicants to undertake the research is encouraged but not required for selection, says the Commission, which is to hold a Pre-Application Workshop on 15 November.
