[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1085 Reported in Senate (RS)]
<DOC>
Calendar No. 186
116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1085
[Report No. 116-83]
To support research, development, and other activities to develop
innovative vehicle technologies, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 9, 2019
Mr. Peters (for himself, Mr. Alexander, and Ms. Stabenow) introduced
the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee
on Energy and Natural Resources
September 10, 2019
Reported by Ms. Murkowski, without amendment
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To support research, development, and other activities to develop
innovative vehicle technologies, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Vehicle Innovation Act of 2019''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the
Department of Energy.
(2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Energy.
SEC. 3. OBJECTIVES.
The objectives of this Act are--
(1) to establish a consistent and consolidated authority
for the vehicle technology program at the Department;
(2) to develop United States technologies and practices
that--
(A) improve the fuel efficiency and emissions of
all vehicles produced in the United States; and
(B) reduce vehicle reliance on petroleum-based
fuels;
(3) to support domestic research, development, engineering,
demonstration, and commercial application and manufacturing of
advanced vehicles, engines, and components;
(4) to enable vehicles to move larger volumes of goods and
more passengers with less energy and emissions;
(5) to develop cost-effective advanced technologies for
wide-scale utilization throughout the passenger, commercial,
government, and transit vehicle sectors;
(6) to allow for greater consumer choice of vehicle
technologies and fuels;
(7) shorten technology development and integration cycles
in the vehicle industry;
(8) to ensure a proper balance and diversity of Federal
investment in vehicle technologies; and
(9) to strengthen partnerships between Federal and State
governmental agencies and the private and academic sectors.
SEC. 4. COORDINATION AND NONDUPLICATION.
The Secretary shall ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, that
the activities authorized by this Act do not duplicate those of other
programs within the Department or other relevant research agencies.
SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for
research, development, engineering, demonstration, and commercial
application of vehicles and related technologies in the United States,
including activities authorized under this Act--
(1) for fiscal year 2020, $313,567,000;
(2) for fiscal year 2021, $326,109,000;
(3) for fiscal year 2022, $339,154,000;
(4) for fiscal year 2023, $352,720,000; and
(5) for fiscal year 2024, $366,829,000.
SEC. 6. REPORTING.
(a) Technologies Developed.--Not later than 18 months after the
date of enactment of this Act and annually thereafter through 2024, the
Secretary shall submit to Congress a report regarding the technologies
developed as a result of the activities authorized by this Act, with a
particular emphasis on whether the technologies were successfully
adopted for commercial applications, and if so, whether products
relying on those technologies are manufactured in the United States.
(b) Additional Matters.--At the end of each fiscal year through
2024, the Secretary shall submit to the relevant Congressional
committees of jurisdiction an annual report describing activities
undertaken in the previous year under this Act, active industry
participants, the status of public-private partnerships, progress of
the program in meeting goals and timelines, and a strategic plan for
funding of activities across agencies.
SEC. 7. VEHICLE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.
(a) Program.--
(1) Activities.--The Secretary shall conduct a program of
basic and applied research, development, engineering,
demonstration, and commercial application activities on
materials, technologies, and processes with the potential to
substantially reduce or eliminate petroleum use and the
emissions of the passenger and commercial vehicles of the
United States, including activities in the areas of--
(A) electrification of vehicle systems;
(B) batteries, ultracapacitors, and other energy
storage devices;
(C) power electronics;
(D) vehicle, component, and subsystem manufacturing
technologies and processes;
(E) engine efficiency and combustion optimization;
(F) waste heat recovery;
(G) transmission and drivetrains;
(H) hydrogen vehicle technologies, including fuel
cells and internal combustion engines, and hydrogen
infrastructure, including hydrogen energy storage to
enable renewables and provide hydrogen for fuel and
power;
(I) natural gas vehicle technologies;
(J) aerodynamics, rolling resistance (including
tires and wheel assemblies), and accessory power loads
of vehicles and associated equipment;
(K) vehicle weight reduction, including
lightweighting materials and the development of
manufacturing processes to fabricate, assemble, and use
dissimilar materials;
(L) friction and wear reduction;
(M) engine and component durability;
(N) innovative propulsion systems;
(O) advanced boosting systems;
(P) hydraulic hybrid technologies;
(Q) engine compatibility with and optimization for
a variety of transportation fuels including natural gas
and other liquid and gaseous fuels;
(R) predictive engineering, modeling, and
simulation of vehicle and transportation systems;
(S) refueling and charging infrastructure for
alternative fueled and electric or plug-in electric
hybrid vehicles, including the unique challenges facing
rural areas;
(T) gaseous fuels storage systems and system
integration and optimization;
(U) sensing, communications, and actuation
technologies for vehicle, electrical grid, and
infrastructure;
(V) efficient use, substitution, and recycling of
potentially critical materials in vehicles, including
rare earth elements and precious metals, at risk of
supply disruption;
(W) aftertreatment technologies;
(X) thermal management of battery systems;
(Y) retrofitting advanced vehicle technologies to
existing vehicles;
(Z) development of common standards,
specifications, and architectures for both
transportation and stationary battery applications;
(AA) advanced internal combustion engines;
(BB) mild hybrid;
(CC) engine down speeding;
(DD) vehicle-to-vehicle, vehicle-to-pedestrian, and
vehicle-to-infrastructure technologies; and
(EE) other research areas as determined by the
Secretary.
(2) Transformational technology.--The Secretary shall
ensure that the Department continues to support research,
development, engineering, demonstration, and commercial
application activities and maintains competency in mid- to
long-term transformational vehicle technologies with potential
to achieve reductions in emissions, including activities in the
areas of--
(A) hydrogen vehicle technologies, including fuel
cells, hydrogen storage, infrastructure, and activities
in hydrogen technology validation and safety codes and
standards;
(B) multiple battery chemistries and novel energy
storage devices, including nonchemical batteries and
electromechanical storage technologies such as
hydraulics, flywheels, and compressed air storage;
(C) communication and connectivity among vehicles,
infrastructure, and the electrical grid; and
(D) other innovative technologies research and
development, as determined by the Secretary.
(3) Industry participation.--
(A) In general.--To the maximum extent practicable,
activities under this Act shall be carried out in
partnership or collaboration with automotive
manufacturers, heavy commercial, vocational, and
transit vehicle manufacturers, qualified plug-in
electric vehicle manufacturers, compressed natural gas
vehicle manufacturers, vehicle and engine equipment and
component manufacturers, manufacturing equipment
manufacturers, advanced vehicle service providers, fuel
producers and energy suppliers, electric utilities,
universities, national laboratories, and independent
research laboratories.
(B) Requirements.--In carrying out this Act, the
Secretary shall--
(i) determine whether a wide range of
companies that manufacture or assemble vehicles
or components in the United States are
represented in ongoing public-private
partnership activities, including firms that
have not traditionally participated in
federally sponsored research and development
activities, and where possible, partner with
such firms that conduct significant and
relevant research and development activities in
the United States;
(ii) leverage the capabilities and
resources of, and formalize partnerships with,
industry-led stakeholder organizations,
nonprofit organizations, industry consortia,
and trade associations with expertise in the
research and development of, and education and
outreach activities in, advanced automotive and
commercial vehicle technologies;
(iii) develop more effective processes for
transferring research findings and technologies
to industry;
(iv) support public-private partnerships,
dedicated to overcoming barriers in commercial
application of transformational vehicle
technologies, that use such industry-led
technology development facilities of entities
with demonstrated expertise in successfully
designing and engineering pre-commercial
generations of such transformational
technology; and
(v) promote efforts to ensure that
technology research, development, engineering,
and commercial application activities funded
under this Act are carried out in the United
States.
(4) Interagency and intraagency coordination.--To the
maximum extent practicable, the Secretary shall coordinate
research, development, demonstration, and commercial
application activities among--
(A) relevant programs within the Department,
including--
(i) the Office of Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy;
(ii) the Office of Science;
(iii) the Office of Electricity Delivery
and Energy Reliability;
(iv) the Office of Fossil Energy;
(v) the Advanced Research Projects Agency--
Energy; and
(vi) other offices as determined by the
Secretary; and
(B) relevant technology research and development
programs within other Federal agencies, as determined
by the Secretary.
(5) Federal demonstration of technologies.--The Secretary
shall make information available to procurement programs of
Federal agencies regarding the potential to demonstrate
technologies resulting from activities funded through programs
under this Act.
(6) Intergovernmental coordination.--The Secretary shall
seek opportunities to leverage resources and support
initiatives of State and local governments in developing and
promoting advanced vehicle technologies, manufacturing, and
infrastructure.
(7) Criteria.--In awarding grants under the program under
this subsection, the Secretary shall give priority to those
technologies (either individually or as part of a system)
that--
(A) provide the greatest aggregate fuel savings
based on the reasonable projected sales volumes of the
technology; and
(B) provide the greatest increase in United States
employment.
(8) Secondary use applications.--
(A) In general.--The Secretary shall carry out a
research, development, and demonstration program that--
(i) builds on any work carried out under
section 915 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005
(42 U.S.C. 16195);
(ii) identifies possible uses of a vehicle
battery after the useful life of the battery in
a vehicle has been exhausted;
(iii) conducts long-term testing to verify
performance and degradation predictions and
lifetime valuations for secondary uses;
(iv) evaluates innovative approaches to
recycling materials from plug-in electric drive
vehicles and the batteries used in plug-in
electric drive vehicles;
(v)(I) assesses the potential for markets
for uses described in clause (ii) to develop;
and
(II) identifies any barriers to the
development of those markets; and
(vi) identifies the potential uses of a
vehicle battery--
(I) with the most promise for
market development; and
(II) for which market development
would be aided by a demonstration
project.
(B) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date
of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to
the appropriate committees of Congress an initial
report on the findings of the program described in
subparagraph (A), including recommendations for
stationary energy storage and other potential
applications for batteries used in plug-in electric
drive vehicles.
(C) Secondary use demonstration.--
(i) In general.--Based on the results of
the program described in subparagraph (A), the
Secretary shall develop guidelines for projects
that demonstrate the secondary uses and
innovative recycling of vehicle batteries.
(ii) Publication of guidelines.--Not later
than 18 months after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Secretary shall--
(I) publish the guidelines
described in clause (i); and
(II) solicit applications for
funding for demonstration projects.
(iii) Pilot demonstration program.--Not
later than 21 months after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall
select proposals for grant funding under this
subsection, based on an assessment of which
proposals are mostly likely to contribute to
the development of a secondary market for
batteries.
(b) Manufacturing.--The Secretary shall carry out a research,
development, engineering, demonstration, and commercial application
program of advanced vehicle manufacturing technologies and practices,
including innovative processes--
(1) to increase the production rate and decrease the cost
of advanced battery and fuel cell manufacturing;
(2) to vary the capability of individual manufacturing
facilities to accommodate different battery chemistries and
configurations;
(3) to reduce waste streams, emissions, and energy
intensity of vehicle, engine, advanced battery, and component
manufacturing processes;
(4) to recycle and remanufacture used batteries and other
vehicle components for reuse in vehicles or stationary
applications;
(5) to develop manufacturing processes to effectively
fabricate, assemble, and produce cost-effective lightweight
materials such as advanced aluminum and other metal alloys,
polymeric composites, and carbon fiber for use in vehicles;
(6) to produce lightweight high pressure storage systems
for gaseous fuels;
(7) to design and manufacture purpose-built hydrogen fuel
cell vehicles and components;
(8) to improve the calendar life and cycle life of advanced
batteries; and
(9) to produce permanent magnets for advanced vehicles.
SEC. 8. MEDIUM- AND HEAVY-DUTY COMMERCIAL AND TRANSIT VEHICLES PROGRAM.
The Secretary, in partnership with relevant research and
development programs in other Federal agencies, and a range of
appropriate industry stakeholders, shall carry out a program of
cooperative research, development, demonstration, and commercial
application activities on advanced technologies for medium- to heavy-
duty commercial, vocational, recreational, and transit vehicles,
including activities in the areas of--
(1) engine efficiency and combustion research;
(2) onboard storage technologies for compressed and
liquefied natural gas;
(3) development and integration of engine technologies
designed for natural gas operation of a variety of vehicle
platforms;
(4) waste heat recovery and conversion;
(5) improved aerodynamics and tire rolling resistance;
(6) energy and space-efficient emissions control systems;
(7) mild hybrid, heavy hybrid, hybrid hydraulic, plug-in
hybrid, and electric platforms, and energy storage
technologies;
(8) drivetrain optimization;
(9) friction and wear reduction;
(10) engine idle and parasitic energy loss reduction;
(11) electrification of accessory loads;
(12) onboard sensing and communications technologies;
(13) advanced lightweighting materials and vehicle designs;
(14) increasing load capacity per vehicle;
(15) thermal management of battery systems;
(16) recharging infrastructure;
(17) compressed natural gas infrastructure;
(18) advanced internal combustion engines;
(19) complete vehicle and power pack modeling, simulation,
and testing;
(20) hydrogen vehicle technologies, including fuel cells
and internal combustion engines, and hydrogen infrastructure,
including hydrogen energy storage to enable renewables and
provide hydrogen for fuel and power;
(21) retrofitting advanced technologies onto existing truck
fleets;
(22) advanced boosting systems;
(23) engine down speeding; and
(24) integration of these and other advanced systems onto a
single truck and trailer platform.
SEC. 9. CLASS 8 TRUCK AND TRAILER SYSTEMS DEMONSTRATION.
(a) In General.--The Secretary shall conduct a competitive grant
program to demonstrate the integration of multiple advanced
technologies on Class 8 truck and trailer platforms, including a
combination of technologies listed in section 8.
(b) Applicant Teams.--Applicant teams may be comprised of truck and
trailer manufacturers, engine and component manufacturers, fleet
customers, university researchers, and other applicants as appropriate
for the development and demonstration of integrated Class 8 truck and
trailer systems.
SEC. 10. TECHNOLOGY TESTING AND METRICS.
The Secretary, in coordination with the partners of the interagency
research program described in section 8--
(1) shall develop standard testing procedures and
technologies for evaluating the performance of advanced heavy
vehicle technologies under a range of representative duty
cycles and operating conditions, including for heavy hybrid
propulsion systems;
(2) shall evaluate heavy vehicle performance using work
performance-based metrics other than those based on miles per
gallon, including those based on units of volume and weight
transported for freight applications, and appropriate metrics
based on the work performed by nonroad systems; and
(3) may construct heavy duty truck and bus testing
facilities.
SEC. 11. NONROAD SYSTEMS PILOT PROGRAM.
The Secretary shall undertake a pilot program of research,
development, demonstration, and commercial applications of technologies
to improve total machine or system efficiency for nonroad mobile
equipment including agricultural, construction, air, and sea port
equipment, and shall seek opportunities to transfer relevant research
findings and technologies between the nonroad and on-highway equipment
and vehicle sectors.
SEC. 12. REPEAL OF EXISTING AUTHORITIES.
(a) In General.--Sections 706, 711, 712, and 933 of the Energy
Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16051, 16061, 16062, 16233) are repealed.
(b) Energy Efficiency.--Section 911 of the Energy Policy Act of
2005 (42 U.S.C. 16191) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ``vehicles,
buildings,'' and inserting ``buildings''; and
(B) in paragraph (2)--
(i) by striking subparagraph (A); and
(ii) by redesignating subparagraphs (B)
through (E) as subparagraphs (A) through (D),
respectively; and
(2) in subsection (c)--
(A) by striking paragraph (3);
(B) by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph
(3); and
(C) in paragraph (3) (as so redesignated), by
striking ``(a)(2)(D)'' and inserting ``(a)(2)(C)''.
Calendar No. 186
116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1085
[Report No. 116-83]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To support research, development, and other activities to develop
innovative vehicle technologies, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
September 10, 2019
Reported without amendment