II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3618 

To establish a research, development, demonstration, and commercial application program to promote research of appropriate technologies for heavy 

duty plug-in hybrid vehicles, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 26 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 17), 2008 

Ms. COLLINS (for herself and Mrs. FEINSTEIN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To establish a research, development, demonstration, and 

commercial application program to promote research of 

appropriate technologies for heavy duty plug-in hybrid 

vehicles, and for other purposes. 

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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Heavy Duty Hybrid 

5 Vehicle Research, Development, and Demonstration Act of 

6 2008’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ADVANCED HEAVY DUTY HYBRID VEHICLE TECH2 NOLOGY RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, DEM3 ONSTRATION, AND COMMERCIAL APPLICA4 TION PROGRAM. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) ADVANCED HEAVY DUTY HYBRID VEHI7 CLE.—The term ‘‘advanced heavy duty hybrid vehi8 cle’’ means a vehicle with a gross weight of more 

9 than 14,000 pounds but less than 33,000 pounds 

10 that is fueled, in part, by a rechargeable energy stor11 age system. 

12 (2) GREENHOUSE GAS.—The term ‘‘greenhouse 

13 gas’’ means— 

14 (A) carbon dioxide; 

15 (B) methane; 

16 (C) nitrous oxide; 

17 (D) hydrofluorocarbons; 

18 (E) perfluorocarbons; or 

19 (F) sulfur hexafluoride. 

20 (3) PLUG-IN HYBRID VEHICLE.—The term 

21 ‘‘plug-in hybrid’’ means a vehicle fueled, in part, by 

22 electrical power that can be recharged by connecting 

23 the vehicle to an electric power source. 

24 (4) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 

25 the competitive research, development, demonstraVerDate Aug 31 2005 01:11 Sep 29, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3618.IS S3618

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1 tion, and commercial application program estab2 lished under this section. 

3 (5) RETROFIT.—The term ‘‘retrofit’’ means the 

4 process of creating an advanced heavy duty hybrid 

5 vehicle by converting an existing, fuel-powered vehi6 cle. 

7 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

8 the Secretary of Energy. 

9 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 

10 a competitive research, development, demonstration, and 

11 commercial application program under which the Sec12 retary shall provide grants to eligible applicants to carry 

13 out projects to advance research and development, and to 

14 demonstrate technologies, for advanced heavy duty hybrid 

15 vehicles. 

16 (c) APPLICATIONS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 

18 requirements for applying for grants under the pro19 gram. 

20 (2) SELECTION CRITERIA.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall es22 tablish selection criteria for awarding grants 

23 under the program. 

24 (B) FACTORS.—In evaluating applications, 

25 the Secretary shall— 


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1 (i) consider the ability of applicants to 

2 successfully complete both phases described 

3 in subsection (d); and 

4 (ii) give priority to applicants who, as 

5 determined by the Secretary, are best able 

6 to— 

7 (I) fill existing research gaps and 

8 achieve the greatest advances beyond 

9 the state of current technology; and 

10 (II) achieve the greatest reduc11 tion in fuel consumption and emis12 sions. 

13 (3) PARTNERS.—An applicant for a grant 

14 under this section may carry out a project in part15 nership with other entities. 

16 (4) SCHEDULE.— 

17 (A) APPLICATION REQUEST.— 

18 (i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 

19 days after the date of the enactment of 

20 this Act, the Secretary shall publish in the 

21 Federal Register, and elsewhere as appro22 priate, a request for applications to under23 take projects under the program. 


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1 (ii) APPLICATION DEADLINE.—The 

2 applications shall be due not later than 90 

3 days after the date of the publication. 

4 (B) APPLICATION SELECTION.—Not later 

5 than 90 days after the date on which applica6 tions for grants under the program are due, the 

7 Secretary shall select, through a competitive 

8 process, all applicants to be awarded a grant 

9 under the program. 

10 (5) NUMBER OF GRANTS.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall de12 termine the number of grants to be awarded 

13 under the program based on the technical mer14 its of the applications received. 

15 (B) MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM NUMBER.— 

16 The number of grants awarded under the pro17 gram shall be not less than 3 and not more 

18 than 7 grants. 

19 (C) PLUG-IN HYBRID VEHICLE TECH20 NOLOGY.—At least half of the grants awarded 

21 under this section shall be used to promote 

22 plug-in hybrid vehicle technology. 

23 (6) AWARD AMOUNTS.—The Secretary shall 

24 award not more than $3,000,000 to a recipient per 

25 year for each of the 3 years of the project. 


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1 (d) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS; 2 PHASES.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—As a condition of the receipt 

3 of a grant under this section, each grant recipient 

4 shall be required to complete 2 phases in accordance 

5 with this subsection. 

6 (2) PHASE 1.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—In phase 1, the recipi8 ent shall conduct research and demonstrate ad9 vanced hybrid technology by producing or retro10 fitting 1 or more advanced heavy duty hybrid 

11 vehicles. 

12 (B) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days 

13 after the completion of phase 1, the recipient 

14 shall submit to the Secretary a report con15 taining data and analysis of— 

16 (i) the performance of each vehicle in 

17 carrying out the testing procedures devel18 oped by the Secretary under subparagraph 

19 (E); 

20 (ii) the performance during the test21 ing of the components of each vehicle, in22 cluding the battery, energy management 

23 system, charging system, and power con24 trols; 


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1 (iii) the projected cost of each vehicle, 

2 including acquisition, operating, and main3 tenance costs; and 

4 (iv) the emission levels of each vehicle, 

5 including greenhouse gas levels. 

6 (C) TERMINATION.—The Secretary may 

7 terminate the grant program with respect to the 

8 project of a recipient at the conclusion of phase 

9 1 if the Secretary determines that the recipient 

10 cannot successfully complete the requirements 

11 of phase 2. 

12 (D) TIMING.—Phase 1 shall— 

13 (i) begin on the date of receipt of a 

14 grant under the program; and 

15 (ii) have a duration of 1 year. 

16 (E) TESTING PROCEDURES.— 

17 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

18 develop standard testing procedures to be 

19 used by recipients in testing each vehicle. 

20 (ii) VEHICLE PERFORMANCE.—The 

21 procedures shall include testing the per22 formance of a vehicle under typical oper23 ating conditions. 

24 (3) PHASE 2.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—In phase 2, the recipi2 ent shall demonstrate advanced manufacturing 

3 processes and technologies by producing or ret4 rofitting 50 advanced heavy duty hybrid vehi5 cles. 

6 (B) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days 

7 after the completion of phase 2, the recipient 

8 shall submit to the Secretary a report con9 taining an analysis of — 

10 (i) the technological challenges en11 countered by the recipient in the develop12 ment of the vehicles; 

13 (ii) the technological challenges in14 volved in mass producing the vehicles; and 

15 (iii) the manufacturing cost of each 

16 vehicle, the estimated sale price of each ve17 hicle, and the cost of a comparable non-hy18 brid vehicle. 

19 (C) TIMING.—Phase 2 shall— 

20 (i) begins on the conclusion of phase 

21 1; and 

22 (ii) have a duration of 2 years. 

23 (e) RESEARCH ON VEHICLE USAGE AND ALTER24 NATIVE DRIVE TRAINS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct 

2 research into alternative power train designs for use 

3 in advanced heavy duty hybrid vehicles. 

4 (2) COMPARISON.—The research shall compare 

5 the estimated cost (including operating and mainte6 nance costs, the cost of emission reductions, and fuel 

7 savings) of each design with similar nonhybrid power 

8 train designs under the conditions in which those ve9 hicles are typically used, including (for each vehicle 

10 type)— 

11 (A) the number of miles driven; 

12 (B) time spent with the engine at idle; 

13 (C) horsepower requirements; 

14 (D) the length of time the maximum or 

15 near maximum power output of the vehicle is 

16 needed; and 

17 (E) any other factors that the Secretary 

18 considers appropriate. 

19 (f) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 60 days 

20 after the date the Secretary receives the reports from 

21 grant recipients under subsection (d)(3)(B), the Secretary 

22 shall submit to Congress a report containing a description 

23 of— 

24 (1) the grant recipients and the projects fund25 ed; 


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1 (2) all applicants who submitted applications 

2 for the program; 

3 (3) all data contained in reports submitted by 

4 grant recipients under subsection (d); 

5 (4) the vehicles produced or retrofitted by re6 cipients in phases 1 and 2 of the program, including 

7 an analysis of the fuel efficiency of the vehicles; and 

8 (5) the results of the research carried out under 

9 subsections (e) and (i). 

10 (g) COORDINATION AND NONDUPLICATION.—To the 

11 maximum extent practicable, the Secretary shall coordi12 nate, and not duplicate, activities under this section with 

13 other programs and laboratories of the Department of En14 ergy and other Federal research programs. 

15 (h) COST SHARING.—Section 988 of the Energy Pol16 icy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16352) shall apply to the pro17 gram. 

18 (i) ELECTRICAL GRID RESEARCH PILOT PRO19 GRAM.—The Secretary, acting through the National Lab20 oratories and Technology Centers of the Department of 

21 Energy, shall establish a pilot program to research and 

22 test the effects on the domestic electric power grid of the 

23 widespread use of plug-in hybrid vehicles, including plug24 in hybrid vehicles that are advanced heavy duty hybrid ve25 hicles. 


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1 (j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

3 appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this sec4 tion $16,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2009 

5 through 2011. 

6 (2) LIMITATIONS.—Of the funds authorized 

7 under paragraph (1), not more than $1,000,000 of 

8 the amount made available for a fiscal year may be 

9 used— 

10 (A) to carry out the research required 

11 under subsection (e); 

12 (B) to carry out the pilot program required 

13 under subsection (i); and 

14 (C) to administer the program. 

15 SEC. 3. EXPANDING RESEARCH IN HYBRID TECHNOLOGY 

16 FOR LARGE VEHICLES. 

17 Subsection (g)(1) of the United States Energy Stor18 age Competitiveness Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17231(g)(1)) 

19 is amended by inserting ‘‘vehicles with a gross weight over 

20 16,000 pounds,’’ before ‘‘stationary applications,’’. 

Æ 


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