Exponent Team Receives DOE Funds to Advance EV Battery Technology

Exponent's Ryan Spray, Ph.D., principal scientist, along with colleagues from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the University of Texas, Austin, has received project funding from the Department of Energy's Electric Vehicles for American Low-Carbon Living (EVs4ALL) program. DOE awarded $42 million in funding for 12 projects developing next-generation electric vehicle battery technologies.

"Exponent has been a leader in evaluating battery performance, risk, and safety for our clients for over 20 years," said Dr. Spray. "We look forward to the opportunity, with NREL and UT, to apply our deep expertise toward evaluating the energy storage technologies of tomorrow to enable new transportation possibilities."

Deploying "clean" (zero emission) EVs is key to global decarbonization efforts. In the U.S., for instance, EVs4ALL reports that 80% adoption of EVs could reduce overall CO2 emissions by 800 million tons per year. However, the widespread adoption of EVs depends on developing more durable, faster-charging battery technologies that are effective at low temperatures.

Exponent's team will focus on characterizing the risks posed by next-generation cells from fundamental reaction-kinetics of the materials all the way to the battery pack level. The project will lead the charge by investigating failure modes and effects, revising testing standards, and new capabilities and tools to help de-risk adoption of next-generation cells for commercial applications.

The EVs4ALL program is managed by DOE's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). Lean more here.