BIL - Notice of Intent (NOI) to Issue DE-FOA-0002881 Joint Office of Energy and Transportation Ride and Drive Electric, Fiscal Year 2023 Funding Opportunity Announcement | DE FOA 0002880

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002880

The Department of Energy (DOE), through the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), released a Notice of Intent (NOI) related to a forthcoming funding opportunity under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). The planned announcement is titled "Joint Office of Energy and Transportation Ride and Drive Electric, Fiscal Year 2023" and is associated with the future Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) number DE-FOA-0002881. The notice itself is informational only, meaning it serves as an early heads-up that DOE intends to open a competitive funding opportunity in this area, but it is not the actual solicitation where applicants can submit proposals.

This opportunity sits at the intersection of energy and transportation and is tied to CFDA/Assistance Listing 81.086, which commonly covers DOE energy-related financial assistance. The funding instrument type anticipated for awards under the eventual FOA is a cooperative agreement. In practical terms, cooperative agreements are similar to grants but usually involve a higher level of federal involvement during project execution, such as more substantial collaboration, technical input, or oversight from DOE compared to a standard grant.

Eligibility is described as "unrestricted," which generally indicates that a wide range of applicant types may apply (for example, private companies, nonprofits, universities, state and local governments, and other organizations), although final eligibility details would be confirmed in the actual FOA text. The activity categories are listed as Energy and Transportation, consistent with a program focused on advancing electric transportation and related infrastructure, outreach, or deployment strategies.

A key point in the notice is that applications are not accepted for the NOI itself. The Original Closing Date listed (April 3, 2023) should be understood as an administrative date tied to the notice posting rather than a deadline to submit an application package for funding. DOE also states it is not seeking comments on the information in the notice, reinforcing that the NOI is not a request for feedback and does not include an interactive pre-solicitation comment process.

Several fields in the notice reflect the fact that this is not yet the live FOA. For instance, "ExpectedAwards: 0" signals that DOE does not plan to make awards from the NOI, because the NOI is not the funding competition. The Award Ceiling is shown as "2," but because the record is for an intent notice rather than the final FOA, that figure should not be treated as a definitive cap on individual project awards without confirming it in DE-FOA-0002881 once issued. Similarly, the Funding Opportunity Number displayed in the source data appears as DE-FOA-0002880, while the narrative repeatedly references DE-FOA-0002881 as the forthcoming FOA. The consistent takeaway is that the actionable competition is expected under DE-FOA-0002881, not the NOI record itself.

Overall, the notice communicates DOE's plan to release a Fiscal Year 2023 funding opportunity focused on "Ride and Drive Electric" under the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation, using cooperative agreements as the award mechanism. Organizations interested in electric vehicle adoption and transportation electrification should treat this NOI as an advance alert to prepare for the actual FOA release, at which point the program goals, topic areas, total funding, cost share requirements (if any), application structure, and evaluation criteria would be spelled out in full.

• The Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory in the energy, transportation sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BIL - Notice of Intent (NOI) to Issue DE-FOA-0002881 Joint Office of Energy and Transportation Ride and Drive Electric, Fiscal Year 2023 Funding Opportunity Announcement" 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 Feb 15, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 03, 2023 This is a Notice of Intent to issue Funding Opportunity Announcement DE-FOA-0002881. Applications will not be accepted for the Notice of Intent.. (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 $2.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

Apply for DE FOA 0002880

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