Fiscal Year 2025 Vehicle Technology Office Program Wide | DE FOA 0003514

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0003514

The Fiscal Year 2025 Vehicle Technology Office Program Wide funding opportunity (DE-FOA-0003514) is a federal competitive grant program focused on research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RDD&D) that can lower the energy use and overall cost of moving people and goods across the United States. The core idea is to speed up the adoption of advanced vehicle and infrastructure technologies so consumers and businesses have more practical options, while also strengthening U.S. competitiveness in transportation and clean energy industries. The program is framed around real-world outcomes such as safer and more reliable batteries, easier and more convenient travel and charging experiences, lower cost of driving, higher vehicle and system efficiency, and a more resilient and secure domestic supply chain.

The Notice of Funding Opportunity is looking for innovative solutions spanning both on-road and off-road vehicles. Priority topic areas called out in the description include improved battery technologies for light-duty and heavy-duty applications, smart charging infrastructure (including more intelligent and optimized ways to charge vehicles), sustainable farming-related technology pathways, workforce development efforts that build the talent pipeline needed to deploy and maintain these advanced systems, and projects that move beyond lab research into demonstration and deployment. In practical terms, this means the program is not limited to early-stage R&D; it also supports efforts that validate performance at scale, prove operability in the field, and help overcome deployment barriers that keep promising technology from reaching the market.

The funding instrument is a cooperative agreement, which typically means substantial federal involvement during the project period (for example, coordinated technical direction, shared milestones, and active project management compared to a standard grant). The opportunity is categorized as discretionary funding and falls under energy, environment, science and technology, other research and development, and transportation activity areas. The administering agency listed is the National Energy Technology Laboratory, and the CFDA/Assistance Listing number is 81.086.

Eligibility is listed as unrestricted, but applicants are still expected to follow the specific eligibility requirements described in Section II.A. of the NOFO, which is where any detailed conditions, exclusions, cost share expectations, teaming rules, or other compliance requirements would be spelled out. The application deadline is June 18, 2025, and the opportunity anticipates making around 47 awards. The maximum award amount (award ceiling) is $6,000,000 per award, indicating support for substantial, multi-partner, or multi-year projects that can meaningfully advance technology readiness, infrastructure readiness, or workforce capacity.

Overall, this opportunity is aimed at accelerating advanced vehicle technology progress across batteries, charging systems, and related transportation solutions, while also addressing deployment and workforce needs that determine whether innovations can scale. The emphasis on both light- and heavy-duty use cases, plus off-road and agricultural contexts, signals that the program is designed to improve transportation energy efficiency and emissions outcomes across a broad range of vehicles and industries, not just passenger cars.

• The National Energy Technology Laboratory in the energy, environment, science and technology and other research and development, transportation sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Fiscal Year 2025 Vehicle Technology Office Program Wide" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.086.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2025-01-17.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-06-18. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $6,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 47 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted.

Apply for DE FOA 0003514

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