Cell & Pack Manufacturing

List of National Labs with R&D Battery Capabilities in US Institutions

Location

Battery Focus

Fabrication / Prototype Capability

Testing / Safety Capability

Notes / Facilities / Scope

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Menlo Park, CA

Materials → device translation; advanced characterization

Lab-scale prototype cell fabrication supporting materials and device research; no open foundry or manufacturing pilot line

Extensive cell cycling, informatics-driven testing, environmental testing; abuse testing in research context

Joint SLACStanford Battery Center; unique access to synchrotron and operando techniques tightly coupled to battery research

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory LBNL

Berkeley, CA

Fundamental materials, interfaces, scale bridging

Cell prototyping to support materials, interfaces, and electrolyte research; not positioned as an open pilot line

Cell testing, diagnostics, degradation analysis, safety research (program-specific)

Strong focus on electrochemistry, interfaces, and advanced diagnostics; closely integrated with UC Berkeley

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory LLNL

Livermore, CA

Battery safety science and diagnostics

Prototype cells and modules built for R&D programs; not a service pilot line

Battery safety, abuse testing, thermal runaway research, failure diagnostics, modeling + experimental validation

Known for multi-physics modeling, thermal/abuse testing, and advanced diagnostics rather than manufacturing scale-up

Idaho National Laboratory (INL

Idaho Falls, ID

System- and grid-scale validation

Limited cell/module fabrication tied to research programs; not an electrode or cell pilot line

Large-scale battery, module, and system testing; grid integration; safety and validation

Strength is in infrastructure-scale testing, grid integration, and operational validation

Argonne National Laboratory ANL

Lemont, IL

Lab-to-pilot battery development

Pilot-scale electrode processing and cell prototyping (coin, pouch, cylindrical) within structured programs

Extensive cell and module testing, abuse/safety testing, modeling

Home of JCESR; most complete end-to-end battery ecosystem among US national labs

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory PNNL

Richland, WA

Long-duration storage & system validation

Prototype cell and materials scale-bridging for research; not an open foundry

Cell and system testing, degradation studies, abuse/safety modeling, grid integration

Major contributor to Battery500 and long-duration energy storage programs

Oak Ridge National Laboratory ORNL

Oak Ridge, TN

Manufacturing science & scale-up physics

No dedicated battery cell pilot line; strengths are in manufacturing science and materials processing

Materials testing, manufacturing process validation, mechanical/thermal characterization

Battery work centers on manufacturing readiness, materials scale-up, and diagnostics rather than cell builds

National Renewable Energy Laboratory NREL

Golden, CO

Independent testing & grid integration

No battery cell pilot manufacturing line; prototype work limited to research support

Extensive battery testing, performance validation, degradation studies, safety research, module/system testing

Frequently used for third-party validation, modeling, and grid-connected storage evaluation

Extracted from the PDF; charts and images may read imperfectly.