Trump’s Doe proposes cutting billions in grants to GM, Ford and a lot of startups

The Department of Energy is looking to cut billions of dollars in federal funding, and several promising startups as well as automakers Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis could be affected by the Trump administration’s decision.

The proposed cuts would eliminate more than $500 million in contracts awarded to more than a dozen startups, according to a TechCrunch analysis of an internal document that has not yet become public. All of the proposed cuts are grants awarded under the bipartisan infrastructure bill. The proposed cancellation, which had not been previously reported, comes on top of the $7.5 billion in contracts the Trump administration said it would reduce last week.

Startups may not be the only losers. Other companies set 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, according to the document seen by Techcrunch. Sources confirmed with TechCrunch These are suggested cuts.

At least GM might lose $500 million in grant money Issued by the Federal Domestic Manufacturing Transformation Grant Program. The money was 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 factory.

Some awards are important, and if they are cut, it will undoubtedly affect the operations of startups. Several of the proposed cuts leaked last week are listed, but many are new and have not yet been announced. TechCrunch has reached out to several companies and will update this article if they respond.

Two prizes on the chopping block totaled $100 million, including a $189 million prize awarded to start-up materials. This money would have helped the company build a plant to produce portland cement, alumina and other materials that use carbon dioxide.

The other went to ANOVION, a Chicago-based startup that is building a factory to produce a domestic supply of synthetic graphite for lithium-ion batteries. Currently, Chinese companies dominate the graphite market.

Battery materials startup Li Industries received $55.2 million under the bipartisan LFP battery recycling infrastructure bill in an effort to patch up part of its supply chain from China.

Other startups are on the list too. Somerville, Massachusetts-based Sublime Systems received an $86.9 million award to build a low-carbon cement plant. Mountain View-based Furno, which makes a novel, modular cement kiln, will lose a $20 million grant to build a demonstration in Chicago.

Many building materials companies were on the list. Cleanfiber and Hempitecture, which makes insulation for homes and commercial buildings, are at risk of losing $10 million and $8.4 million each. Skyven Technologies, which makes industrial heat pumps, and Luxwall, which makes super-insulated windows, will lose $15 million and $31 million, respectively.

At least one of the proposed repeals appears to run counter to the administration’s goals for energy and AI dominance. TS Conductor, which could lose $28.2 million in grants, is working on advanced conductors for electrical lines that promise to double or triple capacity on existing transmission lines. The technology can reduce bottlenecks on the grid and improve the likelihood that data centers will receive power sooner.