Catenaa, Wednesday, October 08, 2025- The US Department of Energy is looking to cut billions more in federal funding, which could affect many promising startups and automakers Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis.
The proposed cuts would cancel more than $500 million of contracts awarded to more than a dozen startups, according to a TechCrunch analysis of an internal document that has not become public yet.
All of the proposed cuts are grants that had been awarded under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The proposed cancellations, many of which have not been reported before, come on top of more than $7.5 billion in contracts the Trump administration said it would cut last week.
Companies slated to lose grants worth hundreds of millions of dollars include Daimler Trucks North America, Ford, General Motors, Harley-Davidson, Mercedes-Benz Vans, Stellantis, and Volvo Technology of America.
General Motors could lose at least $500 million in grant money issued from a federal Domestic Manufacturing Conversion Grant program.
The money was going to be used to retool the Lansing Grand River Assembly Plant in Michigan. The automaker announced in July 2024 that it planned to produce electrified vehicles, including hybrids, at the plant.
Two awards on the chopping block topped $100 million, including a $189 million award granted to materials startup Brimstone. Those funds would have helped the company build a plant to produce Portland cement, alumina, and other materials using less carbon dioxide.
At least one of the proposed cancellations seemingly cuts against the administration’s goals of energy and AI dominance.
TS Conductor, which could lose $28.2 million in grant money, makes advanced conductors for electric lines that promise to double or triple capacity on existing transmission lines.
The technology could reduce bottlenecks on the grid and improve data centers’ likelihood of receiving power sooner.
