President Biden issued an executive order Feb. 24 directing several federal agency actions to secure and strengthen U.S. supply chains. One of these actions is for the Department of Energy to submit a report to the president identifying risks in the supply chain for high-capacity batteries, including electric-vehicle batteries, as well as policy recommendations to address these risks.
Interested parties may submit comments by April 14 on any such risks. The DOE is particularly interested in the following information:
- critical materials, including battery grade nickel, cobalt, and lithium, underlying the supply chain for high-capacity batteries, including electric vehicle batteries
- manufacturing and other capabilities necessary to produce high-capacity batteries, including extraction of raw materials, refining, production of advanced cathode and anode powders, separators, electrolytes, current collectors, and advanced recycling technologies for high-capacity batteries
- availability of key skill sets and personnel necessary to sustain a competitive U.S. high-capacity batteries ecosystem, including domestic education and manufacturing workforce skills needed for high-capacity battery manufacturing, skills gaps therein, and any opportunities to meet future workforce needs
- risks or contingencies that may disrupt the high-capacity batteries supply chain (including defense, intelligence, cyber, homeland security, health, climate, environmental, natural, market, economic, geopolitical, human rights, or forced labor risks), as well as risks resulting from the lack of or failure to develop domestic manufacturing capabilities
- resilience and capacity of the high-capacity battery supply chain to support national and economic security and emergency preparedness
- potential impact of the failure to sustain or develop elements of the high-capacity supply chain in the U.S. on other key downstream capabilities, as well as potential impact of purchases of high-capacity batteries products by downstream customers, including volume and price, product generation, and alternate inputs
- policy recommendations or suggested executive, legislative, regulatory changes or actions to ensure a resilient supply chain for high-capacity batteries (e.g., reshoring, nearshoring or developing domestic suppliers, cooperation with allies to identify or develop alternative supply chains, building redundancy into supply chains, ways to address risks due to vulnerabilities in digital products or climate change)
- any additional comments relevant to the assessment of the high-capacity batteries manufacturing and advanced packing supply chains
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