Peters, Stabenow Applauded Over $8 Million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Funding for Michigan Technological University

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senators Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow today applauded the U.S. Department of Energy’s award to Michigan Technological University $8,137,783 to develop and advance critical technologies and processes needed to recycle and reuse electric vehicle batteries. This federal investment comes from the bipartisan infrastructure law that Peters and Stabenow helped enact a year ago.

“Michigan is a global leader in automotive innovation and developing advanced technologies, thanks in part to work being done at institutions like Michigan Tech,” said Senator Peters, Chairman of the Commerce Subcommittee on Surface Transportation, Maritime, Freight, and Ports. “This federal investment will help give Michigan Tech more resources to develop the technologies needed to recycle and reuse electric vehicle batteries and their materials – which will be absolutely critical to strengthening electric vehicle supply chains nationwide and the future of our automotive sector in Michigan.”

“Michigan workers are the best in the world and Michigan Tech is home to some of the brightest engineering minds,” said Senator Stabenow. “This funding not only recognizes Michigan Tech’s world class leadership in science and technology, but helps keep jobs in America and positions our state to lead the way on cutting edge battery recycling.”

“This robust investment will support Michigan Tech's researchers, faculty, and students’ continued efforts to develop and deploy the next generation of technologies to recycle electric vehicle batteries that will guide the future of the auto industry in Michigan and nationwide,” said Rick Koubek, President of Michigan Technological University. “We thank Senators Peters and Stabenow for their continued support, along with Professor Lei Pan for his leadership of this project.”

In roughly the past two years, more than 1.2 million electric vehicles have been sold in the U.S. – and demand for critical EV battery minerals, such as lithium and graphite, is projected to increase by as much as 4,000% in the coming decades. Advanced batteries are vital to the entire clean energy economy, but America currently does not produce enough of the critical minerals and battery materials needed to power these clean energy technologies. If unaddressed, the lack of domestic mining, processing, and recycling capacity will hinder clean energy and transportation development and adoption, leaving the nation dependent on unreliable foreign supply chains. This funding from the bipartisan infrastructure law will support efforts at Michigan Technological University to strengthen the recycle and reuse segment of the domestic battery supply chain – enabling accelerated battery production in the U.S. and helping to mitigate battery supply chain disruptions.

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