Energy Efficient Mobility Systems (EEMS)

Energy Efficient Mobility Systems — R&D

Supports United States mobility teams building energy-efficient transport systems through partnerships.

The Energy Efficient Mobility Systems (EEMS) program is an ongoing research initiative within the DOE Transportation Technologies Office (TTO, formerly VTO, now under the CMEI office) that funds early-stage R&D at the vehicle, traveler, and system levels to increase energy productivity across the full mobility landscape. EEMS does not issue its own standalone FOA; instead, it channels funding through the annual TTO Program-Wide FOA and through the SMART Mobility Consortium — a multi-laboratory partnership coordinated across six DOE national laboratories. SMART 1.0 concluded in FY2020 after five national laboratories completed more than 30 projects; SMART 2.0 launched in FY2020 and continued into the current period, though its administrative survival under the 2026 DOE restructuring was not confirmed at the time of research.

EEMS organizes its work across five research pillars: Advanced Fueling Infrastructure (AFI), Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs), Mobility Decision Science (MDS), Multi-Modal Freight (MMF), and Urban Science. These pillars are intentionally cross-modal — addressing how fuel is delivered, how vehicles communicate, how routing and logistics decisions affect energy use, and how urban form shapes travel demand. Connected and automated vehicle work is less politically exposed than EV-specific battery work under the current administration, giving EEMS a degree of programmatic durability relative to other EERE-era clean-energy programs. Eligible applicants accessing EEMS funding through the annual TTO FOA include U.S.-registered for-profits, nonprofits, universities, and research organizations; individuals are not eligible.

Applicants targeting EEMS-relevant work should frame proposals around energy efficiency, fuel productivity, or system-level mobility optimization — language that aligns with TTO's current critical minerals and energy innovation mandate — rather than electrification framing. The most viable pathway is to monitor grants.gov and energy.gov/cmei/vehicles/funding-opportunities for open TTO Program-Wide FOA cycles and to identify which EEMS topic areas are included in each year's open topics. The SMART Mobility Consortium may also offer sub-award pathways for researchers affiliated with consortium partner organizations.