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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. 

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 ‘‘Vehicle Innovation Act 

5 of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

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

4 means the Department of Energy. 

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

6 the Secretary of Energy. 

7 SEC. 3. OBJECTIVES. 

8 The objectives of this Act are— 

9 (1) to establish a consistent and consolidated 

10 authority for the vehicle technology program at the 

11 Department; 

12 (2) to develop United States technologies and 

13 practices that— 

14 (A) improve the fuel efficiency and emis15 sions of all vehicles produced in the United 

16 States; and 

17 (B) reduce vehicle reliance on petroleum18 based fuels; 

19 (3) to support domestic research, development, 

20 engineering, demonstration, and commercial applica21 tion and manufacturing of advanced vehicles, en22 gines, and components; 

23 (4) to enable vehicles to move larger volumes of 

24 goods and more passengers with less energy and 

25 emissions; 


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1 (5) to develop cost-effective advanced tech2 nologies for wide-scale utilization throughout the 

3 passenger, commercial, government, and transit ve4 hicle sectors; 

5 (6) to allow for greater consumer choice of vehi6 cle technologies and fuels; 

7 (7) shorten technology development and inte8 gration cycles in the vehicle industry; 

9 (8) to ensure a proper balance and diversity of 

10 Federal investment in vehicle technologies; and 

11 (9) to strengthen partnerships between Federal 

12 and State governmental agencies and the private 

13 and academic sectors. 

14 SEC. 4. COORDINATION AND NONDUPLICATION. 

15 The Secretary shall ensure, to the maximum extent 

16 practicable, that the activities authorized by this Act do 

17 not duplicate those of other programs within the Depart18 ment or other relevant research agencies. 

19 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

20 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec21 retary for research, development, engineering, demonstra22 tion, and commercial application of vehicles and related 

23 technologies in the United States, including activities au24 thorized under this Act— 

25 (1) for fiscal year 2020, $313,567,000; 


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1 (2) for fiscal year 2021, $326,109,000; 

2 (3) for fiscal year 2022, $339,154,000; 

3 (4) for fiscal year 2023, $352,720,000; and 

4 (5) for fiscal year 2024, $366,829,000. 

5 SEC. 6. REPORTING. 

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

7 months after the date of enactment of this Act and annu8 ally thereafter through 2024, the Secretary shall submit 

9 to Congress a report regarding the technologies developed 

10 as a result of the activities authorized by this Act, with 

11 a particular emphasis on whether the technologies were 

12 successfully adopted for commercial applications, and if 

13 so, whether products relying on those technologies are 

14 manufactured in the United States. 

15 (b) ADDITIONAL MATTERS.—At the end of each fis16 cal year through 2024, the Secretary shall submit to the 

17 relevant Congressional committees of jurisdiction an an18 nual report describing activities undertaken in the pre19 vious year under this Act, active industry participants, the 

20 status of public-private partnerships, progress of the pro21 gram in meeting goals and timelines, and a strategic plan 

22 for funding of activities across agencies. 

23 SEC. 7. VEHICLE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT. 

24 (a) PROGRAM.— 


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1 (1) ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary shall conduct a 

2 program of basic and applied research, development, 

3 engineering, demonstration, and commercial applica4 tion activities on materials, technologies, and proc5 esses with the potential to substantially reduce or 

6 eliminate petroleum use and the emissions of the 

7 passenger and commercial vehicles of the United 

8 States, including activities in the areas of— 

9 (A) electrification of vehicle systems; 

10 (B) batteries, ultracapacitors, and other 

11 energy storage devices; 

12 (C) power electronics; 

13 (D) vehicle, component, and subsystem 

14 manufacturing technologies and processes; 

15 (E) engine efficiency and combustion opti16 mization; 

17 (F) waste heat recovery; 

18 (G) transmission and drivetrains; 

19 (H) hydrogen vehicle technologies, includ20 ing fuel cells and internal combustion engines, 

21 and hydrogen infrastructure, including hydro22 gen energy storage to enable renewables and 

23 provide hydrogen for fuel and power; 

24 (I) natural gas vehicle technologies; 


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1 (J) aerodynamics, rolling resistance (in2 cluding tires and wheel assemblies), and acces3 sory power loads of vehicles and associated 

4 equipment; 

5 (K) vehicle weight reduction, including 

6 lightweighting materials and the development of 

7 manufacturing processes to fabricate, assemble, 

8 and use dissimilar materials; 

9 (L) friction and wear reduction; 

10 (M) engine and component durability; 

11 (N) innovative propulsion systems; 

12 (O) advanced boosting systems; 

13 (P) hydraulic hybrid technologies; 

14 (Q) engine compatibility with and optimi15 zation for a variety of transportation fuels in16 cluding natural gas and other liquid and gas17 eous fuels; 

18 (R) predictive engineering, modeling, and 

19 simulation of vehicle and transportation sys20 tems; 

21 (S) refueling and charging infrastructure 

22 for alternative fueled and electric or plug-in 

23 electric hybrid vehicles, including the unique 

24 challenges facing rural areas; 


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1 (T) gaseous fuels storage systems and sys2 tem integration and optimization; 

3 (U) sensing, communications, and actu4 ation technologies for vehicle, electrical grid, 

5 and infrastructure; 

6 (V) efficient use, substitution, and recy7 cling of potentially critical materials in vehicles, 

8 including rare earth elements and precious met9 als, at risk of supply disruption; 

10 (W) aftertreatment technologies; 

11 (X) thermal management of battery sys12 tems; 

13 (Y) retrofitting advanced vehicle tech14 nologies to existing vehicles; 

15 (Z) development of common standards, 

16 specifications, and architectures for both trans17 portation and stationary battery applications; 

18 (AA) advanced internal combustion en19 gines; 

20 (BB) mild hybrid; 

21 (CC) engine down speeding; 

22 (DD) vehicle-to-vehicle, vehicle-to-pedes23 trian, and vehicle-to-infrastructure technologies; 

24 and 


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1 (EE) other research areas as determined 

2 by the Secretary. 

3 (2) TRANSFORMATIONAL TECHNOLOGY.—The 

4 Secretary shall ensure that the Department con5 tinues to support research, development, engineer6 ing, demonstration, and commercial application ac7 tivities and maintains competency in mid- to long8 term transformational vehicle technologies with po9 tential to achieve reductions in emissions, including 

10 activities in the areas of— 

11 (A) hydrogen vehicle technologies, includ12 ing fuel cells, hydrogen storage, infrastructure, 

13 and activities in hydrogen technology validation 

14 and safety codes and standards; 

15 (B) multiple battery chemistries and novel 

16 energy storage devices, including nonchemical 

17 batteries and electromechanical storage tech18 nologies such as hydraulics, flywheels, and com19 pressed air storage; 

20 (C) communication and connectivity among 

21 vehicles, infrastructure, and the electrical grid; 

22 and 

23 (D) other innovative technologies research 

24 and development, as determined by the Sec25 retary. 


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1 (3) INDUSTRY PARTICIPATION.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—To the maximum ex3 tent practicable, activities under this Act shall 

4 be carried out in partnership or collaboration 

5 with automotive manufacturers, heavy commer6 cial, vocational, and transit vehicle manufactur7 ers, qualified plug-in electric vehicle manufac8 turers, compressed natural gas vehicle manufac9 turers, vehicle and engine equipment and com10 ponent manufacturers, manufacturing equip11 ment manufacturers, advanced vehicle service 

12 providers, fuel producers and energy suppliers, 

13 electric utilities, universities, national labora14 tories, and independent research laboratories. 

15 (B) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out this 

16 Act, the Secretary shall— 

17 (i) determine whether a wide range of 

18 companies that manufacture or assemble 

19 vehicles or components in the United 

20 States are represented in ongoing public21 private partnership activities, including 

22 firms that have not traditionally partici23 pated in federally sponsored research and 

24 development activities, and where possible, 

25 partner with such firms that conduct sigVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Sep 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1085.RS S1085

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1 nificant and relevant research and develop2 ment activities in the United States; 

3 (ii) leverage the capabilities and re4 sources of, and formalize partnerships 

5 with, industry-led stakeholder organiza6 tions, nonprofit organizations, industry 

7 consortia, and trade associations with ex8 pertise in the research and development of, 

9 and education and outreach activities in, 

10 advanced automotive and commercial vehi11 cle technologies; 

12 (iii) develop more effective processes 

13 for transferring research findings and tech14 nologies to industry; 

15 (iv) support public-private partner16 ships, dedicated to overcoming barriers in 

17 commercial application of transformational 

18 vehicle technologies, that use such indus19 try-led technology development facilities of 

20 entities with demonstrated expertise in 

21 successfully designing and engineering pre22 commercial generations of such trans23 formational technology; and 

24 (v) promote efforts to ensure that 

25 technology research, development, engiVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Sep 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1085.RS S1085

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1 neering, and commercial application activi2 ties funded under this Act are carried out 

3 in the United States. 

4 (4) INTERAGENCY AND INTRAAGENCY COORDI5 NATION.—To the maximum extent practicable, the 

6 Secretary shall coordinate research, development, 

7 demonstration, and commercial application activities 

8 among— 

9 (A) relevant programs within the Depart10 ment, including— 

11 (i) the Office of Energy Efficiency 

12 and Renewable Energy; 

13 (ii) the Office of Science; 

14 (iii) the Office of Electricity Delivery 

15 and Energy Reliability; 

16 (iv) the Office of Fossil Energy; 

17 (v) the Advanced Research Projects 

18 Agency—Energy; and 

19 (vi) other offices as determined by the 

20 Secretary; and 

21 (B) relevant technology research and devel22 opment programs within other Federal agen23 cies, as determined by the Secretary. 

24 (5) FEDERAL DEMONSTRATION OF TECH25 NOLOGIES.—The Secretary shall make information 


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1 available to procurement programs of Federal agen2 cies regarding the potential to demonstrate tech3 nologies resulting from activities funded through 

4 programs under this Act. 

5 (6) INTERGOVERNMENTAL COORDINATION.— 

6 The Secretary shall seek opportunities to leverage 

7 resources and support initiatives of State and local 

8 governments in developing and promoting advanced 

9 vehicle technologies, manufacturing, and infrastruc10 ture. 

11 (7) CRITERIA.—In awarding grants under the 

12 program under this subsection, the Secretary shall 

13 give priority to those technologies (either individually 

14 or as part of a system) that— 

15 (A) provide the greatest aggregate fuel 

16 savings based on the reasonable projected sales 

17 volumes of the technology; and 

18 (B) provide the greatest increase in United 

19 States employment. 

20 (8) SECONDARY USE APPLICATIONS.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

22 carry out a research, development, and dem23 onstration program that— 


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1 (i) builds on any work carried out 

2 under section 915 of the Energy Policy Act 

3 of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16195); 

4 (ii) identifies possible uses of a vehicle 

5 battery after the useful life of the battery 

6 in a vehicle has been exhausted; 

7 (iii) conducts long-term testing to 

8 verify performance and degradation pre9 dictions and lifetime valuations for sec10 ondary uses; 

11 (iv) evaluates innovative approaches to 

12 recycling materials from plug-in electric 

13 drive vehicles and the batteries used in 

14 plug-in electric drive vehicles; 

15 (v)(I) assesses the potential for mar16 kets for uses described in clause (ii) to de17 velop; and 

18 (II) identifies any barriers to the de19 velopment of those markets; and 

20 (vi) identifies the potential uses of a 

21 vehicle battery— 

22 (I) with the most promise for 

23 market development; and 


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1 (II) for which market develop2 ment would be aided by a demonstra3 tion project. 

4 (B) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after 

5 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

6 shall submit to the appropriate committees of 

7 Congress an initial report on the findings of the 

8 program described in subparagraph (A), includ9 ing recommendations for stationary energy stor10 age and other potential applications for bat11 teries used in plug-in electric drive vehicles. 

12 (C) SECONDARY USE DEMONSTRATION.— 

13 (i) IN GENERAL.—Based on the re14 sults of the program described in subpara15 graph (A), the Secretary shall develop 

16 guidelines for projects that demonstrate 

17 the secondary uses and innovative recycling 

18 of vehicle batteries. 

19 (ii) PUBLICATION OF GUIDELINES.— 

20 Not later than 18 months after the date of 

21 enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

22 shall— 

23 (I) publish the guidelines de24 scribed in clause (i); and 


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1 (II) solicit applications for fund2 ing for demonstration projects. 

3 (iii) PILOT DEMONSTRATION PRO4 GRAM.—Not later than 21 months after 

5 the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec6 retary shall select proposals for grant 

7 funding under this subsection, based on an 

8 assessment of which proposals are mostly 

9 likely to contribute to the development of 

10 a secondary market for batteries. 

11 (b) MANUFACTURING.—The Secretary shall carry out 

12 a research, development, engineering, demonstration, and 

13 commercial application program of advanced vehicle man14 ufacturing technologies and practices, including innovative 

15 processes— 

16 (1) to increase the production rate and decrease 

17 the cost of advanced battery and fuel cell manufac18 turing; 

19 (2) to vary the capability of individual manufac20 turing facilities to accommodate different battery 

21 chemistries and configurations; 

22 (3) to reduce waste streams, emissions, and en23 ergy intensity of vehicle, engine, advanced battery, 

24 and component manufacturing processes; 


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1 (4) to recycle and remanufacture used batteries 

2 and other vehicle components for reuse in vehicles or 

3 stationary applications; 

4 (5) to develop manufacturing processes to effec5 tively fabricate, assemble, and produce cost-effective 

6 lightweight materials such as advanced aluminum 

7 and other metal alloys, polymeric composites, and 

8 carbon fiber for use in vehicles; 

9 (6) to produce lightweight high pressure storage 

10 systems for gaseous fuels; 

11 (7) to design and manufacture purpose-built hy12 drogen fuel cell vehicles and components; 

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

14 advanced batteries; and 

15 (9) to produce permanent magnets for advanced 

16 vehicles. 

17 SEC. 8. MEDIUM- AND HEAVY-DUTY COMMERCIAL AND 

18 TRANSIT VEHICLES PROGRAM. 

19 The Secretary, in partnership with relevant research 

20 and development programs in other Federal agencies, and 

21 a range of appropriate industry stakeholders, shall carry 

22 out a program of cooperative research, development, dem23 onstration, and commercial application activities on ad24 vanced technologies for medium- to heavy-duty commerVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Sep 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1085.RS S1085

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1 cial, vocational, recreational, and transit vehicles, includ2 ing activities in the areas of— 

3 (1) engine efficiency and combustion research; 

4 (2) onboard storage technologies for compressed 

5 and liquefied natural gas; 

6 (3) development and integration of engine tech7 nologies designed for natural gas operation of a vari8 ety of vehicle platforms; 

9 (4) waste heat recovery and conversion; 

10 (5) improved aerodynamics and tire rolling re11 sistance; 

12 (6) energy and space-efficient emissions control 

13 systems; 

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

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

16 storage technologies; 

17 (8) drivetrain optimization; 

18 (9) friction and wear reduction; 

19 (10) engine idle and parasitic energy loss reduc20 tion; 

21 (11) electrification of accessory loads; 

22 (12) onboard sensing and communications tech23 nologies; 

24 (13) advanced lightweighting materials and ve25 hicle designs; 


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1 (14) increasing load capacity per vehicle; 

2 (15) thermal management of battery systems; 

3 (16) recharging infrastructure; 

4 (17) compressed natural gas infrastructure; 

5 (18) advanced internal combustion engines; 

6 (19) complete vehicle and power pack modeling, 

7 simulation, and testing; 

8 (20) hydrogen vehicle technologies, including 

9 fuel cells and internal combustion engines, and hy10 drogen infrastructure, including hydrogen energy 

11 storage to enable renewables and provide hydrogen 

12 for fuel and power; 

13 (21) retrofitting advanced technologies onto ex14 isting truck fleets; 

15 (22) advanced boosting systems; 

16 (23) engine down speeding; and 

17 (24) integration of these and other advanced 

18 systems onto a single truck and trailer platform. 

19 SEC. 9. CLASS 8 TRUCK AND TRAILER SYSTEMS DEM20 ONSTRATION. 

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

22 competitive grant program to demonstrate the integration 

23 of multiple advanced technologies on Class 8 truck and 

24 trailer platforms, including a combination of technologies 

25 listed in section 8. 


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

2 comprised of truck and trailer manufacturers, engine and 

3 component manufacturers, fleet customers, university re4 searchers, and other applicants as appropriate for the de5 velopment and demonstration of integrated Class 8 truck 

6 and trailer systems. 

7 SEC. 10. TECHNOLOGY TESTING AND METRICS. 

8 The Secretary, in coordination with the partners of 

9 the interagency research program described in section 8— 

10 (1) shall develop standard testing procedures 

11 and technologies for evaluating the performance of 

12 advanced heavy vehicle technologies under a range of 

13 representative duty cycles and operating conditions, 

14 including for heavy hybrid propulsion systems; 

15 (2) shall evaluate heavy vehicle performance 

16 using work performance-based metrics other than 

17 those based on miles per gallon, including those 

18 based on units of volume and weight transported for 

19 freight applications, and appropriate metrics based 

20 on the work performed by nonroad systems; and 

21 (3) may construct heavy duty truck and bus 

22 testing facilities. 

23 SEC. 11. NONROAD SYSTEMS PILOT PROGRAM. 

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1 plications of technologies to improve total machine or sys2 tem efficiency for nonroad mobile equipment including ag3 ricultural, construction, air, and sea port equipment, and 

4 shall seek opportunities to transfer relevant research find5 ings and technologies between the nonroad and on-high6 way equipment and vehicle sectors. 

7 SEC. 12. REPEAL OF EXISTING AUTHORITIES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Sections 706, 711, 712, and 933 

9 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16051, 

10 16061, 16062, 16233) are repealed. 

11 (b) ENERGY EFFICIENCY.—Section 911 of the En12 ergy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16191) is amended— 

13 (1) in subsection (a)— 

14 (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘vehi15 cles, buildings,’’ and inserting ‘‘buildings’’; and 

16 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

17 (i) by striking subparagraph (A); and 

18 (ii) by redesignating subparagraphs 

19 (B) through (E) as subparagraphs (A) 

20 through (D), respectively; and 

21 (2) in subsection (c)— 

22 (A) by striking paragraph (3); 

23 (B) by redesignating paragraph (4) as 

24 paragraph (3); and 


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1 (C) in paragraph (3) (as so redesignated), 

2 by striking ‘‘(a)(2)(D)’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘(a)(2)(C)’’. 


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Calendar No. 186 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1085 

[Report No. 116–83] 

A BILL 

To support research, development, and other activiand for other purposes. ties to develop innovative vehicle technologies, 

SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 

Reported without amendment 


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