The Department of Energy’s Vehicle Technology Office (DOE-VTO) funds high-reward/high-risk research conducted by national laboratories, universities, and industry – to develop low-cost and high-performance automotive batteries necessary for the consumer acceptance of hybrid and plug-in electric vehicles (PEV) in the marketplace. In fiscal year 2015, VTO battery R&D funding totaled about $80 million. Current battery technology performance is far below its theoretically possible limit and in the near-term, opportunity exists to more than double the battery pack specific energy for lithium-ion technology by using new high-capacity cathode materials, higher voltage electrolytes, and by replacing graphite anodes with high capacity silicon or tin-based intermetallic alloys. In the longer term, certain “beyond Li-ion” battery chemistries) offer the possibility of specific energy values significantly higher than those of current lithium-ion batteries as well as the potential of significantly-reduced battery cost. Despite recent promising advances, more R&D is needed to achieve the requisite performance, lifetime and reduced cost needed for these new battery technologies to enter the market. The status of VTO-funded advanced automotive battery R&D projects for FY 2014-15 will be discussed in this talk and associated issues will be highlighted.