I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4106 

To provide for a program of research, development, demonstration, and 

commercial application in vehicle technologies at the Department of Energy. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 19, 2015 

Mrs. DINGELL (for herself, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, and Mr. POCAN) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, 

and Technology 

A BILL 

To provide for a program of research, development, demonstration, and commercial application in vehicle technologies at the Department of Energy. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Vehicle Innovation Act of 2015’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. Objectives. 

Sec. 4. Definitions. 


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Sec. 5. Authorization of appropriations. 

TITLE I—VEHICLE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 

Sec. 101. Program. 

Sec. 102. Sensing and communications technologies. 

Sec. 103. Manufacturing. 

Sec. 104. User testing facilities. 

Sec. 105. Reporting. 

TITLE II—MEDIUM- AND HEAVY-DUTY COMMERCIAL AND 

TRANSIT VEHICLES 

Sec. 201. Program. 

Sec. 202. Class 8 truck and trailer systems demonstration. 

Sec. 203. Technology testing and metrics. 

Sec. 204. Nonroad systems pilot program. 

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) According to the Energy Information Ad4 ministration, the transportation sector accounts for 

5 approximately 28 percent of the United States pri6 mary energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions, 

7 and 21 percent of global oil demand. 

8 (2) The United States transportation sector is 

9 over 90-percent dependent on petroleum. 

10 (3) United States heavy truck fuel consumption 

11 will increase 27 percent by 2030. 

12 (4) The domestic automotive and commercial 

13 vehicle manufacturing sectors have increasingly lim14 ited resources for research, development, and engi15 neering of advanced technologies. 

16 (5) Vehicle, engine, and component manufactur17 ers are playing a more important role in vehicle 


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1 technology development, and should be better inte2 grated into Federal research efforts. 

3 (6) Priorities for the vehicle technologies re4 search of the Department of Energy have shifted 

5 drastically in recent years among diesel hybrids, hy6 drogen fuel cell vehicles, and plug-in electric hybrids, 

7 with little continuity among them. 

8 (7) The integration of vehicle, communication, 

9 and infrastructure technologies has great potential 

10 for efficiency gains through better management of 

11 the total transportation system. 

12 (8) The Federal Government should balance its 

13 role in researching longer-term exploratory concepts 

14 and developing nearer-term transformational tech15 nologies for vehicles. 

16 SEC. 3. OBJECTIVES. 

17 The objectives of this Act are— 

18 (1) to develop United States technologies and 

19 practices that— 

20 (A) improve the fuel efficiency and emis21 sions of all vehicles produced in the United 

22 States; and 

23 (B) reduce vehicle reliance on petroleum24 based fuels; 


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1 (2) to support domestic research, development, 

2 engineering, demonstration, and commercial applica3 tion and manufacturing of advanced vehicles, en4 gines, and components; 

5 (3) to enable vehicles to move larger volumes of 

6 goods and more passengers with less energy and 

7 emissions; 

8 (4) to develop cost-effective advanced tech9 nologies for wide-scale utilization throughout the 

10 passenger, commercial, government, and transit ve11 hicle sectors; 

12 (5) to allow for greater consumer choice of vehi13 cle technologies and fuels; 

14 (6) to shorten technology development and inte15 gration cycles in the vehicle industry; 

16 (7) to ensure a proper balance and diversity of 

17 Federal investment in vehicle technologies; and 

18 (8) to strengthen partnerships between Federal 

19 and State governmental agencies and the private 

20 and academic sectors. 

21 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

22 In this Act: 

23 (1) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 

24 means the Department of Energy. 


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1 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of Energy. 

3 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec5 retary for research, development, engineering, demonstra6 tion, and commercial application of vehicles and related 

7 technologies in the United States, including activities au8 thorized under this Act, such sums as may be necessary 

9 for fiscal years 2016 through 2020. 

10 TITLE I—VEHICLE RESEARCH 

11 AND DEVELOPMENT 

12 SEC. 101. PROGRAM. 

13 (a) ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary shall conduct a pro14 gram of basic and applied research, development, engi15 neering, demonstration, and commercial application activi16 ties on materials, technologies, and processes with the po17 tential to substantially reduce or eliminate petroleum use 

18 and the emissions of the Nation’s passenger and commer19 cial vehicles, including activities in the areas of— 

20 (1) hybridization or full electrification of vehicle 

21 systems; 

22 (2) batteries and other energy storage devices; 

23 (3) power electronics; 

24 (4) vehicle, component, and subsystem manu25 facturing technologies and processes; 


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1 (5) engine efficiency and combustion optimiza2 tion; 

3 (6) waste heat recovery; 

4 (7) transmission and drivetrains; 

5 (8) natural gas vehicle technologies; 

6 (9) aerodynamics, rolling resistance (including 

7 tires and wheel assemblies), and accessory power 

8 loads of vehicles and associated equipment; 

9 (10) vehicle weight reduction, including 

10 lightweighting materials and the development of 

11 manufacturing processes to fabricate, assemble, and 

12 use dissimilar materials; 

13 (11) friction and wear reduction; 

14 (12) engine and component durability; 

15 (13) innovative propulsion systems; 

16 (14) advanced boosting systems; 

17 (15) hydraulic hybrid technologies; 

18 (16) engine compatibility with and optimization 

19 for a variety of transportation fuels including nat20 ural gas and other liquid and gaseous fuels; 

21 (17) predictive engineering, modeling, and sim22 ulation of vehicle and transportation systems; 

23 (18) refueling and charging infrastructure for 

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1 brid vehicles, including the unique challenges facing 

2 rural areas; 

3 (19) gaseous fuels storage systems and system 

4 integration and optimization; 

5 (20) sensing, communications, and actuation 

6 technologies for vehicle, electrical grid, and infra7 structure; 

8 (21) efficient use, substitution, and recycling of 

9 potentially critical materials in vehicles, including 

10 rare earth elements and precious metals, at risk of 

11 supply disruption; 

12 (22) aftertreatment technologies; 

13 (23) thermal management of battery systems; 

14 (24) retrofitting advanced vehicle technologies 

15 to existing vehicles; 

16 (25) development of common standards, speci17 fications, and architectures for both transportation 

18 and stationary battery applications; 

19 (26) advanced internal combustion engines; 

20 (27) mild hybrid; 

21 (28) engine down speeding; and 

22 (29) other research areas as determined by the 

23 Secretary. 

24 (b) TRANSFORMATIONAL TECHNOLOGY.—The Sec25 retary shall ensure that the Department continues to supVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:05 Nov 25, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4106.IH H4106

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1 port research, development, engineering, demonstration, 

2 and commercial application activities and maintains com3 petency in mid- to long-term transformational vehicle tech4 nologies with potential to achieve deep reductions in petro5 leum use and emissions, including activities in the areas 

6 of— 

7 (1) hydrogen vehicle technologies, including fuel 

8 cells, hydrogen storage, infrastructure, and activities 

9 in hydrogen technology validation and safety codes 

10 and standards; 

11 (2) multiple battery chemistries and novel en12 ergy storage devices, including nonchemical batteries 

13 and electromechanical storage technologies such as 

14 hydraulics, flywheels, and compressed air storage; 

15 (3) communication and connectivity among ve16 hicles, infrastructure, and the electrical grid; and 

17 (4) other innovative technologies research and 

18 development, as determined by the Secretary. 

19 (c) INDUSTRY PARTICIPATION.—To the maximum 

20 extent practicable, activities under this Act shall be carried 

21 out in partnership or collaboration with automotive manu22 facturers, heavy commercial, vocational, and transit vehi23 cle manufacturers, qualified plug-in electric vehicle manu24 facturers, compressed natural gas vehicle manufacturers, 

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1 ers, manufacturing equipment manufacturers, advanced 

2 vehicle service providers, fuel producers and energy sup3 pliers, electric utilities, universities, national laboratories, 

4 and independent research laboratories. In carrying out 

5 this Act the Secretary shall— 

6 (1) determine whether a wide range of compa7 nies that manufacture or assemble vehicles or com8 ponents in the United States are represented in on9 going public private partnership activities, including 

10 firms that have not traditionally participated in fed11 erally sponsored research and development activities, 

12 and where possible, partner with such firms that 

13 conduct significant and relevant research and devel14 opment activities in the United States; 

15 (2) leverage the capabilities and resources of, 

16 and formalize partnerships with, industry-led stake17 holder organizations, nonprofit organizations, indus18 try consortia, and trade associations with expertise 

19 in the research and development of, and education 

20 and outreach activities in, advanced automotive and 

21 commercial vehicle technologies; 

22 (3) develop more effective processes for trans23 ferring research findings and technologies to indus24 try; 


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1 (4) give consideration to conversion of existing 

2 or former vehicle technology development or manu3 facturing facilities for the purposes of this Act; 

4 (5) support public-private partnerships, dedi5 cated to overcoming barriers in commercial applica6 tion of transformational vehicle technologies, that 

7 utilize such industry-led technology development fa8 cilities of entities with demonstrated expertise in 

9 successfully designing and engineering pre-commer10 cial generations of such transformational technology; 

11 and 

12 (6) promote efforts to ensure that technology 

13 research, development, engineering, and commercial 

14 application activities funded under this Act are car15 ried out in the United States. 

16 (d) INTERAGENCY AND INTRAAGENCY COORDINA17 TION.—To the maximum extent practicable, the Secretary 

18 shall coordinate research, development, demonstration, 

19 and commercial application activities among— 

20 (1) relevant programs within the Department, 

21 including— 

22 (A) the Office of Energy Efficiency and 

23 Renewable Energy; 

24 (B) the Office of Science; 


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1 (C) the Office of Electricity Delivery and 

2 Energy Reliability; 

3 (D) the Office of Fossil Energy; 

4 (E) the Advanced Research Projects Agen5 cy—Energy; and 

6 (F) other offices as determined by the Sec7 retary; and 

8 (2) relevant technology research and develop9 ment programs within other Federal agencies, as de10 termined by the Secretary. 

11 (e) COORDINATION AND NONDUPLICATION.—In co12 ordinating activities the Secretary shall ensure, to the 

13 maximum extent practicable, that activities do not dupli14 cate those of other programs within the Department or 

15 other relevant research agencies. 

16 (f) FEDERAL DEMONSTRATION OF TECH17 NOLOGIES.—The Secretary shall make information avail18 able to procurement programs of Federal agencies regard19 ing the potential to demonstrate technologies resulting 

20 from activities funded through programs under this Act. 

21 (g) INTERGOVERNMENTAL COORDINATION.—The 

22 Secretary shall seek opportunities to leverage resources 

23 and support initiatives of State and local governments in 

24 developing and promoting advanced vehicle technologies, 

25 manufacturing, and infrastructure. 


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1 (h) CRITERIA.—When awarding grants under this 

2 program, the Secretary shall give priority to those tech3 nologies (either individually or as part of a system) that— 

4 (1) provide the greatest aggregate fuel savings 

5 based on the reasonable projected sales volumes of 

6 the technology; and 

7 (2) provide the greatest increase in United 

8 States employment. 

9 SEC. 102. SENSING AND COMMUNICATIONS TECH10 NOLOGIES. 

11 The Secretary, in coordination with the relevant re12 search programs of other Federal agencies, shall conduct 

13 research, development, engineering, demonstration, and 

14 deployment activities on connectivity of vehicle roadway, 

15 vulnerable road users, traffic control systems, and trans16 portation data systems, including on sensing, data, com17 putation, communication, cybersecurity, and actuation 

18 technologies that allow for improved safety, reduced en19 ergy and fuel use, optimized traffic flow, and vehicle elec20 trification, including technologies for— 

21 (1) onboard vehicle, engine, transmission and 

22 component sensing, actuation, and calibration; 

23 (2) vehicle-to-vehicle sensing and communica24 tion; 


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1 (3) vehicle-to-infrastructure sensing and com2 munication; 

3 (4) vehicle-to-pedestrian and vehicle-to-bicyclist 

4 sensing and communication; and 

5 (5) vehicle integration with the electrical grid. 

6 SEC. 103. MANUFACTURING. 

7 The Secretary shall carry out a research, develop8 ment, engineering, demonstration, and commercial appli9 cation program of advanced vehicle manufacturing tech10 nologies and practices, including innovative processes— 

11 (1) to increase the production rate and decrease 

12 the cost of advanced battery and fuel cell manufac13 turing; 

14 (2) to vary the capability of individual manufac15 turing facilities to accommodate different battery 

16 chemistries and configurations; 

17 (3) to reduce waste streams, emissions, and en18 ergy intensity of vehicle, engine, advanced battery 

19 and component manufacturing processes; 

20 (4) to recycle and remanufacture used batteries 

21 and other vehicle components for reuse in vehicles or 

22 stationary applications; 

23 (5) to develop manufacturing processes to effec24 tively fabricate, assemble, and produce cost-effective 

25 lightweight materials such as advanced aluminum 


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1 and other metal alloys, polymeric composites, and 

2 carbon fiber for use in vehicles; 

3 (6) to produce lightweight high pressure storage 

4 systems for gaseous fuels; 

5 (7) to design and manufacture purpose-built hy6 drogen fuel cell vehicles and components; 

7 (8) to improve the calendar life and cycle life of 

8 advanced batteries; and 

9 (9) to produce permanent magnets for advanced 

10 vehicles. 

11 SEC. 104. USER TESTING FACILITIES. 

12 Activities under this Act may include construction, 

13 expansion, or modification of new and existing vehicle, en14 gine, and component research and testing facilities for— 

15 (1) testing or simulating interoperability of a 

16 variety of vehicle components and systems, including 

17 the technologies described in section 102; 

18 (2) subjecting whole or partial vehicle platforms 

19 to fully representative duty cycles and operating con20 ditions; 

21 (3) developing and demonstrating a range of 

22 chemistries and configurations for advanced vehicle 

23 battery manufacturing; 


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1 (4) developing and demonstrating test cycles for 

2 new and alternative fuels, and other advanced vehi3 cle technologies; 

4 (5) developing and demonstrating methods to 

5 charge electric vehicles and connect them to the elec6 tric grid; and 

7 (6) developing, testing, and demonstrating hy8 drogen and natural gas refueling station tech9 nologies. 

10 SEC. 105. REPORTING. 

11 (a) TECHNOLOGIES DEVELOPED.—Not later than 18 

12 months after the date of enactment of this Act and annu13 ally thereafter through 2020, the Secretary shall submit 

14 to Congress a report regarding the technologies developed 

15 as a result of the activities authorized by this title, with 

16 a particular emphasis on whether the technologies were 

17 successfully adopted for commercial applications, and if 

18 so, whether products relying on those technologies are 

19 manufactured in the United States. 

20 (b) ADDITIONAL MATTERS.—At the end of each fis21 cal year through 2020 the Secretary shall submit to the 

22 relevant Congressional committees of jurisdiction an an23 nual report describing activities undertaken in the pre24 vious year under this title, active industry participants, ef25 forts to recruit new participants committed to design, enVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:05 Nov 25, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4106.IH H4106

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1 gineering, and manufacturing of advanced vehicle tech2 nologies in the United States, progress of the program in 

3 meeting goals and timelines, and a strategic plan for fund4 ing of activities across agencies. 

5 TITLE II—MEDIUM- AND HEAVY6 DUTY COMMERCIAL AND 

7 TRANSIT VEHICLES 

8 SEC. 201. PROGRAM. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in partnership 

10 with relevant research and development programs in other 

11 Federal agencies, and a range of appropriate industry 

12 stakeholders, shall carry out a program of cooperative re13 search, development, demonstration, and commercial ap14 plication activities on advanced technologies for medium15 to heavy-duty commercial, vocational, recreational, and 

16 transit vehicles, including activities in the areas of— 

17 (1) engine efficiency and combustion research; 

18 (2) onboard storage technologies for compressed 

19 and liquefied natural gas; 

20 (3) development and integration of engine tech21 nologies designed for natural gas operation of a vari22 ety of vehicle platforms; 

23 (4) waste heat recovery and conversion; 

24 (5) improved aerodynamics and tire rolling re25 sistance; 


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1 (6) energy and space-efficient emissions control 

2 systems; 

3 (7) mild hybrid, heavy hybrid, hybrid hydraulic, 

4 plug-in hybrid, and electric platforms, and energy 

5 storage technologies; 

6 (8) drivetrain optimization; 

7 (9) friction and wear reduction; 

8 (10) engine idle and parasitic energy loss reduc9 tion; 

10 (11) electrification of accessory loads; 

11 (12) onboard sensing and communications tech12 nologies; 

13 (13) advanced lightweighting materials and ve14 hicle designs; 

15 (14) increasing load capacity per vehicle; 

16 (15) thermal management of battery systems; 

17 (16) recharging infrastructure; 

18 (17) compressed natural gas infrastructure; 

19 (18) advanced internal combustion engines; 

20 (19) complete vehicle and power pack modeling, 

21 simulation, and testing; 

22 (20) hydrogen vehicle technologies, including 

23 fuel cell and hydrogen storage technologies; 

24 (21) retrofitting advanced technologies onto ex25 isting truck fleets; 


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1 (22) advanced boosting systems; 

2 (23) engine down speeding; and 

3 (24) integration of these and other advanced 

4 systems onto a single truck and trailer platform. 

5 (b) REPORTING.—At the end of each fiscal year 

6 through fiscal year 2020, the Secretary shall submit to 

7 Congress an annual report describing activities under8 taken in the previous year, active industry participants, 

9 efforts to recruit new participants, progress of the pro10 gram in meeting goals and timelines, and a strategic plan 

11 for funding of activities across agencies. 

12 SEC. 202. CLASS 8 TRUCK AND TRAILER SYSTEMS DEM13 ONSTRATION. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct a 

15 competitive grant program to demonstrate the integration 

16 of multiple advanced technologies on Class 8 truck and 

17 trailer platforms, including a combination of technologies 

18 listed in section 201(a). 

19 (b) APPLICANT TEAMS.—Applicant teams may be 

20 comprised of truck and trailer manufacturers, engine and 

21 component manufacturers, fleet customers, university re22 searchers, and other applicants as appropriate for the de23 velopment and demonstration of integrated Class 8 truck 

24 and trailer systems. 


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1 SEC. 203. TECHNOLOGY TESTING AND METRICS. 

2 The Secretary, in coordination with the partners of 

3 the interagency research program described in section 

4 201(a)— 

5 (1) shall develop standard testing procedures 

6 and technologies for evaluating the performance of 

7 advanced heavy vehicle technologies under a range of 

8 representative duty cycles and operating conditions, 

9 including for heavy hybrid propulsion systems; 

10 (2) shall evaluate heavy vehicle performance 

11 using work performance-based metrics other than 

12 those based on miles per gallon, including those 

13 based on units of volume and weight transported for 

14 freight applications, and appropriate metrics based 

15 on the work performed by nonroad systems; and 

16 (3) may construct heavy duty truck and bus 

17 testing facilities. 

18 SEC. 204. NONROAD SYSTEMS PILOT PROGRAM. 

19 The Secretary shall undertake a pilot program of re20 search, development, demonstration, and commercial ap21 plications of technologies to improve total machine or sys22 tem efficiency for nonroad mobile equipment including ag23 ricultural, construction, air, and sea port equipment, and 

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1 ings and technologies between the nonroad and on-high2 way equipment and vehicle sectors. 

Æ 


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