Energy Department initiatives help drive innovation in the Motor City

Growing up, I always had a passion for cars. From working in my father's maintenance shop as a kid to restoring classic cars, the American automobile always held my attention.

It was the fulfillment of a dream to follow in my dad's footsteps to Ford Motor Co., where I worked on the leadership team. As I prepared to move to Dearborn, there were two things I heard about, and I could not wait to experience: the Woodward Dream Cruise and a Miller's Bar burger. Each lived up to the reputation.

During my time at Ford, I worked on advanced automotive technologies such as hybrid cars and autonomous vehicles and completed a rotation on the factory floor. And while it has been several years since my days at Ford and my last Miller's burger, the department I lead as secretary of energy continues to stoke my passion for cars through technological innovations driven by our national laboratories that keep America on the cutting edge of the automotive industry.

With electric vehicles set to play a key role in the industry's future, a crucial subject we are working on is next-generation battery development and energy storage. The U.S. Department of Energy is investing millions of dollars through its Vehicle Technologies Office on applied R&D on innovative ideas to revolutionize the battery market. Our work is built on a pedigree of success, including foundational research in the development of the lithium ion battery that led to two DOE researchers winning the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and the 2019 Global Energy Prize.

Last year, to ensure the sustainability of the battery supply chain, the department established a Battery Recycling Center aimed at developing cost-effective processes to reclaim and recycle critical battery materials, such as cobalt and lithium, to recover as much economic value as possible from spent lithium ion batteries. The goal of this effort is to develop technologies to profitably capture 90 percent of all lithium-based battery technologies in the United States.

In January we announced the launch of the Energy Storage Grand Challenge, a comprehensive program to accelerate the development, commercialization and utilization of next-generation energy storage technologies and sustain American global leadership in energy storage. The vision for this project is to, by 2030, create and sustain global leadership in energy storage utilization and exports, with a secure domestic manufacturing supply chain that is independent of foreign sources of critical materials.

Each of these projects will help the American auto industry solve the challenges facing electric car battery development and keep us technologically ahead of global competitors.

DOE is advancing critical work on a broad portfolio of advanced transportation technologies, including electrification, advanced engines and fuels, lightweight materials, hydrogen, energy efficient mobility systems and integrated systems analysis through a collaboration called U.S. DRIVE (Driving Research and Innovation for Vehicle efficiency and Energy sustainability). Working in concert with industry partners, U.S. DRIVE ensures that DOE remains focused on early-stage research needs that, if successful, will be transformative to industry with potential pathways to commercialization.

Since petroleum-based fuels will continue to play a major role in the automotive industry for years, DOE is supporting fuel and engine research to help make car engines more efficient and their emissions more environmentally friendly.

Through the Co-Optimization of Fuels and Engines Initiative, nine of our national labs are coordinating R&D on biofuels and their use with high-efficiency, low-emission vehicle engines. The expectation is that this multiyear project proves biofuels are a viable future fuel source for American automobiles.

Innovation and ingenuity born in Detroit gave our nation one of the most significant developments in automotive technology: the mass production of vehicles that allowed the average citizen to own a car. Since then, innovation has driven the industry to produce vehicles that are safer, more fuel efficient and more advanced. The Department of Energy is proud of our role in that history, and we look forward to working with the Motor City to advance the technologies of the future.

The department is fostering work on a range of advanced technology initiatives that stand to benefit Detroit innovation in the future.