Request for Information (RFI) DE-FOA-0003027 on Achieving Circularity of the Domestic Battery Supply Chain | DE FOA 0003027

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0003027

Request for Information (RFI) DE-FOA-0003027, titled "Achieving Circularity of the Domestic Battery Supply Chain," is an information-gathering notice issued by the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). The agency is asking stakeholders to provide input that could shape a future ARPA-E research program aimed at building a more circular, domestic battery supply chain for a wide range of electric vehicles, not just passenger cars. The scope explicitly includes batteries used in scooters, cars, buses, trucks, trains, ships, and aircraft, signaling interest in approaches that can translate across multiple duty cycles, pack sizes, and safety and reliability requirements.

The central concept behind the RFI is "circularity," meaning keeping battery materials and products in use at their highest practical performance level for as long as possible, rather than following a linear make-use-dispose pathway. ARPA-E frames circularity as a system-level strategy that reduces material consumption, waste generation, and emissions by using regenerative materials and by designing batteries and manufacturing processes with sustainability and end-of-life handling in mind. The RFI also emphasizes the economic motivation: circular strategies can reduce supply chain risk, preserve value that is typically lost when packs are discarded or destructively processed, and potentially lower total lifecycle costs by extending useful life and enabling higher-value recovery of components and materials.

A key boundary of the potential program is what it is not focused on. ARPA-E states that the effort is not concerned with securing supplies of critical minerals, and it is not centered on existing battery recycling processes. Instead, the agency is looking beyond conventional recycling and toward alternative, implementable strategies that enable circularity earlier in the battery life and at higher value-retention stages. The RFI highlights servicing, upgrading, refurbishing, and remanufacturing as core pathways, which generally aim to maintain or restore battery functionality and value before resorting to materials recovery.

Within that framework, ARPA-E outlines three primary technical goals that would likely guide any future program. First is identifying battery materials that are amenable to in-cell regeneration, with examples including electrode materials, electrolytes, and adhesives. The idea is to find chemistries and associated treatments that allow degraded materials to be regenerated or performance to be restored, thereby prolonging cell life. Second is developing sustainable designs and manufacturing methods for cells, modules, and packs that make them easier to service, disassemble, refurbish, and recover components and/or materials at end of life. This is essentially a "design for serviceability and disassembly" focus that would make circular practices practical at scale. Third is minimizing waste, energy use, and greenhouse gas emissions across the battery lifecycle, including manufacturing and later-life handling, while maintaining battery performance and safety. ARPA-E is signaling that circularity solutions cannot come at the expense of real-world operational requirements, especially for applications where safety and reliability are paramount.

The RFI specifically requests information on transformative and implementable technologies in three broad categories. The first category covers approaches that extend the life of battery materials, cells, modules, and packs through regeneration, servicing or maintenance, reuse, refurbishment, and remanufacturing. As an illustration, ARPA-E mentions electrode materials that could be regenerated using thermomechanical, chemical, and/or electrochemical treatments, implying interest in practical rejuvenation methods rather than purely theoretical mechanisms. The second category seeks designs and manufacturing processes that enable easy disassembly of cells, modules, and packs so that servicing, reuse, refurbishment, or remanufacturing can be performed efficiently. The third category targets lifecycle-wide reductions in waste, energy consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions, including by avoiding design choices that force destructive disassembly. An explicit example is avoiding permanent bonding or fabrication approaches that require shredding to access internal components, which often downgrades the value of recoverable materials and complicates safe, selective recovery.

From an administrative standpoint, this notice is an RFI only and does not request or accept grant applications for funding. ARPA-E is using the RFI to gather ideas, technical perspectives, and stakeholder feedback that may inform a future Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), but the agency makes clear that no FOA exists at this time. The listing reflects ARPA-E as the issuing agency, indicates the opportunity category as discretionary, and notes "unrestricted" eligible applicants, which in the context of an RFI generally means input can come from a broad set of organizations and individuals. The RFI was created on February 27, 2023, with an original closing date of April 3, 2023, and it directs readers to the full text at https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov for complete details and any submission instructions that were included in the official posting.

• The Advanced Research Projects Agency Energy in the oz, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Request for Information (RFI) DE-FOA-0003027 on Achieving Circularity of the Domestic Battery Supply Chain" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.135.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-02-27.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-04-03. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted.

Apply for DE FOA 0003027

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