Funding: Total: $60,000,000. Maximum awards: $3M-$30M, depending on project.
Dates: Pre-Application Workshop: April 21, 2022 at 10AM. Deadline for Written Questions: May 2, 2022. Deadline to Submit Full Applications: June 13, 2022.
Summary:
The CEC’s Clean Transportation Program announces the availability of up to $60 million in grant funds for projects that will increase in-state manufacturing of zero-emission vehicles (ZEV), ZEV components and batteries, and ZEV charging or refueling equipment.
Project Topic Areas:
This solicitation includes eligibility for four project categories based on the product(s) to be manufactured. Although Applicants can propose projects that fall within two or more project categories, Applicants will be asked to designate one primary category from the four product categories below to apply under that is most applicable to their project.
Category 1: Complete ZEV, which include:
- Battery-electric vehicles (BEV)
- Fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEV)
Category 2: ZEV infrastructure, which include, but not limited to:
- Electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE)
- Hydrogen refueling station equipment (HRSE)
- EVSE energy storage systems
- Vehicle Grid Integration (VGI)-related equipment
Category 3: ZEV and ZEV infrastructure components
Category 4: Batteries primarily for use in ZEVs and/or ZEV infrastructure.
Funding:
A total of $60 million is available for awards under this solicitation. Projects are eligible for awards up to 50 percent of total project costs or $30 million, whichever is less. A minimum grant award of $3 million has been set under this solicitation. Therefore, a total allowable project cost of at least $6 million is required to apply. Applications must include a minimum 50 percent match share of the total allowable project costs (i.e., the sum of CEC reimbursable share and Recipient’s match share). Applications must include a minimum cash match share contribution equal to at least 10 percent of CEC funding.
Project Requirements:
To be an “Eligible Project” under this solicitation, projects must be located in California and fit into one or more of the product categories listed below:
Category 1 are projects which manufacture, produce, and/or assemble:
- Complete light-, medium-, or heavy-duty zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs). The ZEV can be an on-road or off-road plug-in battery-electric vehicle (BEV) or fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV).
Category 2 are projects which manufacture, produce, and/or assemble:
- A complete off-board Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE)
- Hydrogen refueling station equipment (HRSE) systems which include but are not limited to; electrolyzers, storage, chillers, compressors, nozzles, refueling apparatus, dispensing equipment, safety equipment, and control systems
- Energy storage systems that connect to EVSE and/or HRSE systems
- Vehicle Grid Integration (VGI) hardware and equipment
Category 3 are projects which manufacture, produce, and/or assemble:
- ZEV components where the manufactured or final product is an integral component of a Complete ZEV. Components include, but are not limited to, power trains, fuel cells and fuel cell stacks, control and management systems, and on-board chargers. Components that are common to both ZEVs and internal combustion engine vehicles (e.g. windshields, tires, doors) are not included.
- ZEV infrastructure components where the manufactured or final product is an integral component of an EVSE, HRSE, and/or VGI system.
Category 4 are projects which manufacture, produce, and/or assemble:
- Battery and battery components primarily for the purpose of integrating into a ZEV, EVSE, and/or as part of an on-site energy storage system for ZEV infrastructure.
Applicants will have the ability to incorporate more than one product category into their funding application, if desired (e.g., a project incorporating both ZEV batteries and Complete ZEVs). However, Applicants will be asked in the application form to designate one primary category from the four product categories above to apply under that is most applicable to their project. The highest scoring application with a passing score within each product category will be recommended for funding, in order of their overall application score. If there are no applications with a passing score in a given category, that category will be omitted from this process. After one application from each project category has been recommended for funding, the remaining funds will then be allocated to the next overall highest scoring application(s) with a passing score, regardless of the product category, in ranked order until all funds available under this solicitation are exhausted. Applicants are only eligible to submit one application under this solicitation and must specify which product category they are applying under.
Eligible Applicants:
This solicitation is open to only private, for-profit businesses. To be eligible, Applicants must have a business presence in California. Applicants that are subsidiaries of the same parent company may apply jointly as a single Applicant. Similarly, a parent company and its subsidiary may apply jointly as a single Applicant. The application must identify which of the companies is the prime Applicant that, if awarded, would enter into a grant agreement with the CEC.