II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1085 

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 

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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

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

9 means the Department of Energy. 


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

2 the Secretary of Energy. 

3 SEC. 3. OBJECTIVES. 

4 The objectives of this Act are— 

5 (1) to establish a consistent and consolidated 

6 authority for the vehicle technology program at the 

7 Department; 

8 (2) to develop United States technologies and 

9 practices that— 

10 (A) improve the fuel efficiency and emis11 sions of all vehicles produced in the United 

12 States; and 

13 (B) reduce vehicle reliance on petroleum14 based fuels; 

15 (3) to support domestic research, development, 

16 engineering, demonstration, and commercial applica17 tion and manufacturing of advanced vehicles, en18 gines, and components; 

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

20 goods and more passengers with less energy and 

21 emissions; 

22 (5) to develop cost-effective advanced tech23 nologies for wide-scale utilization throughout the 

24 passenger, commercial, government, and transit ve25 hicle sectors; 


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1 (6) to allow for greater consumer choice of vehi2 cle technologies and fuels; 

3 (7) shorten technology development and inte4 gration cycles in the vehicle industry; 

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

6 Federal investment in vehicle technologies; and 

7 (9) to strengthen partnerships between Federal 

8 and State governmental agencies and the private 

9 and academic sectors. 

10 SEC. 4. COORDINATION AND NONDUPLICATION. 

11 The Secretary shall ensure, to the maximum extent 

12 practicable, that the activities authorized by this Act do 

13 not duplicate those of other programs within the Depart14 ment or other relevant research agencies. 

15 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

16 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec17 retary for research, development, engineering, demonstra18 tion, and commercial application of vehicles and related 

19 technologies in the United States, including activities au20 thorized under this Act— 

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

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

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

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

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


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1 SEC. 6. REPORTING. 

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

3 months after the date of enactment of this Act and annu4 ally thereafter through 2024, the Secretary shall submit 

5 to Congress a report regarding the technologies developed 

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

7 a particular emphasis on whether the technologies were 

8 successfully adopted for commercial applications, and if 

9 so, whether products relying on those technologies are 

10 manufactured in the United States. 

11 (b) ADDITIONAL MATTERS.—At the end of each fis12 cal year through 2024, the Secretary shall submit to the 

13 relevant Congressional committees of jurisdiction an an14 nual report describing activities undertaken in the pre15 vious year under this Act, active industry participants, the 

16 status of public-private partnerships, progress of the pro17 gram in meeting goals and timelines, and a strategic plan 

18 for funding of activities across agencies. 

19 SEC. 7. VEHICLE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT. 

20 (a) PROGRAM.— 

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

22 program of basic and applied research, development, 

23 engineering, demonstration, and commercial applica24 tion activities on materials, technologies, and proc25 esses with the potential to substantially reduce or 

26 eliminate petroleum use and the emissions of the 


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1 passenger and commercial vehicles of the United 

2 States, including activities in the areas of— 

3 (A) electrification of vehicle systems; 

4 (B) batteries, ultracapacitors, and other 

5 energy storage devices; 

6 (C) power electronics; 

7 (D) vehicle, component, and subsystem 

8 manufacturing technologies and processes; 

9 (E) engine efficiency and combustion opti10 mization; 

11 (F) waste heat recovery; 

12 (G) transmission and drivetrains; 

13 (H) hydrogen vehicle technologies, includ14 ing fuel cells and internal combustion engines, 

15 and hydrogen infrastructure, including hydro16 gen energy storage to enable renewables and 

17 provide hydrogen for fuel and power; 

18 (I) natural gas vehicle technologies; 

19 (J) aerodynamics, rolling resistance (in20 cluding tires and wheel assemblies), and acces21 sory power loads of vehicles and associated 

22 equipment; 

23 (K) vehicle weight reduction, including 

24 lightweighting materials and the development of 


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1 manufacturing processes to fabricate, assemble, 

2 and use dissimilar materials; 

3 (L) friction and wear reduction; 

4 (M) engine and component durability; 

5 (N) innovative propulsion systems; 

6 (O) advanced boosting systems; 

7 (P) hydraulic hybrid technologies; 

8 (Q) engine compatibility with and optimi9 zation for a variety of transportation fuels in10 cluding natural gas and other liquid and gas11 eous fuels; 

12 (R) predictive engineering, modeling, and 

13 simulation of vehicle and transportation sys14 tems; 

15 (S) refueling and charging infrastructure 

16 for alternative fueled and electric or plug-in 

17 electric hybrid vehicles, including the unique 

18 challenges facing rural areas; 

19 (T) gaseous fuels storage systems and sys20 tem integration and optimization; 

21 (U) sensing, communications, and actu22 ation technologies for vehicle, electrical grid, 

23 and infrastructure; 

24 (V) efficient use, substitution, and recy25 cling of potentially critical materials in vehicles, 


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1 including rare earth elements and precious met2 als, at risk of supply disruption; 

3 (W) aftertreatment technologies; 

4 (X) thermal management of battery sys5 tems; 

6 (Y) retrofitting advanced vehicle tech7 nologies to existing vehicles; 

8 (Z) development of common standards, 

9 specifications, and architectures for both trans10 portation and stationary battery applications; 

11 (AA) advanced internal combustion en12 gines; 

13 (BB) mild hybrid; 

14 (CC) engine down speeding; 

15 (DD) vehicle-to-vehicle, vehicle-to-pedes16 trian, and vehicle-to-infrastructure technologies; 

17 and 

18 (EE) other research areas as determined 

19 by the Secretary. 

20 (2) TRANSFORMATIONAL TECHNOLOGY.—The 

21 Secretary shall ensure that the Department con22 tinues to support research, development, engineer23 ing, demonstration, and commercial application ac24 tivities and maintains competency in mid- to long25 term transformational vehicle technologies with poVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1085.IS S1085

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1 tential to achieve reductions in emissions, including 

2 activities in the areas of— 

3 (A) hydrogen vehicle technologies, includ4 ing fuel cells, hydrogen storage, infrastructure, 

5 and activities in hydrogen technology validation 

6 and safety codes and standards; 

7 (B) multiple battery chemistries and novel 

8 energy storage devices, including nonchemical 

9 batteries and electromechanical storage tech10 nologies such as hydraulics, flywheels, and com11 pressed air storage; 

12 (C) communication and connectivity among 

13 vehicles, infrastructure, and the electrical grid; 

14 and 

15 (D) other innovative technologies research 

16 and development, as determined by the Sec17 retary. 

18 (3) INDUSTRY PARTICIPATION.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—To the maximum ex20 tent practicable, activities under this Act shall 

21 be carried out in partnership or collaboration 

22 with automotive manufacturers, heavy commer23 cial, vocational, and transit vehicle manufactur24 ers, qualified plug-in electric vehicle manufac25 turers, compressed natural gas vehicle manufacVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1085.IS S1085

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1 turers, vehicle and engine equipment and com2 ponent manufacturers, manufacturing equip3 ment manufacturers, advanced vehicle service 

4 providers, fuel producers and energy suppliers, 

5 electric utilities, universities, national labora6 tories, and independent research laboratories. 

7 (B) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out this 

8 Act, the Secretary shall— 

9 (i) determine whether a wide range of 

10 companies that manufacture or assemble 

11 vehicles or components in the United 

12 States are represented in ongoing public13 private partnership activities, including 

14 firms that have not traditionally partici15 pated in federally sponsored research and 

16 development activities, and where possible, 

17 partner with such firms that conduct sig18 nificant and relevant research and develop19 ment activities in the United States; 

20 (ii) leverage the capabilities and re21 sources of, and formalize partnerships 

22 with, industry-led stakeholder organiza23 tions, nonprofit organizations, industry 

24 consortia, and trade associations with ex25 pertise in the research and development of, 


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1 and education and outreach activities in, 

2 advanced automotive and commercial vehi3 cle technologies; 

4 (iii) develop more effective processes 

5 for transferring research findings and tech6 nologies to industry; 

7 (iv) support public-private partner8 ships, dedicated to overcoming barriers in 

9 commercial application of transformational 

10 vehicle technologies, that use such indus11 try-led technology development facilities of 

12 entities with demonstrated expertise in 

13 successfully designing and engineering pre14 commercial generations of such trans15 formational technology; and 

16 (v) promote efforts to ensure that 

17 technology research, development, engi18 neering, and commercial application activi19 ties funded under this Act are carried out 

20 in the United States. 

21 (4) INTERAGENCY AND INTRAAGENCY COORDI22 NATION.—To the maximum extent practicable, the 

23 Secretary shall coordinate research, development, 

24 demonstration, and commercial application activities 

25 among— 


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1 (A) relevant programs within the Depart2 ment, including— 

3 (i) the Office of Energy Efficiency 

4 and Renewable Energy; 

5 (ii) the Office of Science; 

6 (iii) the Office of Electricity Delivery 

7 and Energy Reliability; 

8 (iv) the Office of Fossil Energy; 

9 (v) the Advanced Research Projects 

10 Agency—Energy; and 

11 (vi) other offices as determined by the 

12 Secretary; and 

13 (B) relevant technology research and devel14 opment programs within other Federal agen15 cies, as determined by the Secretary. 

16 (5) FEDERAL DEMONSTRATION OF TECH17 NOLOGIES.—The Secretary shall make information 

18 available to procurement programs of Federal agen19 cies regarding the potential to demonstrate tech20 nologies resulting from activities funded through 

21 programs under this Act. 

22 (6) INTERGOVERNMENTAL COORDINATION.— 

23 The Secretary shall seek opportunities to leverage 

24 resources and support initiatives of State and local 

25 governments in developing and promoting advanced 


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1 vehicle technologies, manufacturing, and infrastruc2 ture. 

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

4 program under this subsection, the Secretary shall 

5 give priority to those technologies (either individually 

6 or as part of a system) that— 

7 (A) provide the greatest aggregate fuel 

8 savings based on the reasonable projected sales 

9 volumes of the technology; and 

10 (B) provide the greatest increase in United 

11 States employment. 

12 (8) SECONDARY USE APPLICATIONS.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

14 carry out a research, development, and dem15 onstration program that— 

16 (i) builds on any work carried out 

17 under section 915 of the Energy Policy Act 

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

19 (ii) identifies possible uses of a vehicle 

20 battery after the useful life of the battery 

21 in a vehicle has been exhausted; 

22 (iii) conducts long-term testing to 

23 verify performance and degradation pre24 dictions and lifetime valuations for sec25 ondary uses; 


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1 (iv) evaluates innovative approaches to 

2 recycling materials from plug-in electric 

3 drive vehicles and the batteries used in 

4 plug-in electric drive vehicles; 

5 (v)(I) assesses the potential for mar6 kets for uses described in clause (ii) to de7 velop; and 

8 (II) identifies any barriers to the de9 velopment of those markets; and 

10 (vi) identifies the potential uses of a 

11 vehicle battery— 

12 (I) with the most promise for 

13 market development; and 

14 (II) for which market develop15 ment would be aided by a demonstra16 tion project. 

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

18 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

19 shall submit to the appropriate committees of 

20 Congress an initial report on the findings of the 

21 program described in subparagraph (A), includ22 ing recommendations for stationary energy stor23 age and other potential applications for bat24 teries used in plug-in electric drive vehicles. 

25 (C) SECONDARY USE DEMONSTRATION.— 


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1 (i) IN GENERAL.—Based on the re2 sults of the program described in subpara3 graph (A), the Secretary shall develop 

4 guidelines for projects that demonstrate 

5 the secondary uses and innovative recycling 

6 of vehicle batteries. 

7 (ii) PUBLICATION OF GUIDELINES.— 

8 Not later than 18 months after the date of 

9 enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

10 shall— 

11 (I) publish the guidelines de12 scribed in clause (i); and 

13 (II) solicit applications for fund14 ing for demonstration projects. 

15 (iii) PILOT DEMONSTRATION PRO16 GRAM.—Not later than 21 months after 

17 the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec18 retary shall select proposals for grant 

19 funding under this subsection, based on an 

20 assessment of which proposals are mostly 

21 likely to contribute to the development of 

22 a secondary market for batteries. 

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

24 a research, development, engineering, demonstration, and 

25 commercial application program of advanced vehicle manVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1085.IS S1085

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1 ufacturing technologies and practices, including innovative 

2 processes— 

3 (1) to increase the production rate and decrease 

4 the cost of advanced battery and fuel cell manufac5 turing; 

6 (2) to vary the capability of individual manufac7 turing facilities to accommodate different battery 

8 chemistries and configurations; 

9 (3) to reduce waste streams, emissions, and en10 ergy intensity of vehicle, engine, advanced battery, 

11 and component manufacturing processes; 

12 (4) to recycle and remanufacture used batteries 

13 and other vehicle components for reuse in vehicles or 

14 stationary applications; 

15 (5) to develop manufacturing processes to effec16 tively fabricate, assemble, and produce cost-effective 

17 lightweight materials such as advanced aluminum 

18 and other metal alloys, polymeric composites, and 

19 carbon fiber for use in vehicles; 

20 (6) to produce lightweight high pressure storage 

21 systems for gaseous fuels; 

22 (7) to design and manufacture purpose-built hy23 drogen fuel cell vehicles and components; 

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

25 advanced batteries; and 


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1 (9) to produce permanent magnets for advanced 

2 vehicles. 

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

4 TRANSIT VEHICLES PROGRAM. 

5 The Secretary, in partnership with relevant research 

6 and development programs in other Federal agencies, and 

7 a range of appropriate industry stakeholders, shall carry 

8 out a program of cooperative research, development, dem9 onstration, and commercial application activities on ad10 vanced technologies for medium- to heavy-duty commer11 cial, vocational, recreational, and transit vehicles, includ12 ing activities in the areas of— 

13 (1) engine efficiency and combustion research; 

14 (2) onboard storage technologies for compressed 

15 and liquefied natural gas; 

16 (3) development and integration of engine tech17 nologies designed for natural gas operation of a vari18 ety of vehicle platforms; 

19 (4) waste heat recovery and conversion; 

20 (5) improved aerodynamics and tire rolling re21 sistance; 

22 (6) energy and space-efficient emissions control 

23 systems; 


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

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

3 storage technologies; 

4 (8) drivetrain optimization; 

5 (9) friction and wear reduction; 

6 (10) engine idle and parasitic energy loss reduc7 tion; 

8 (11) electrification of accessory loads; 

9 (12) onboard sensing and communications tech10 nologies; 

11 (13) advanced lightweighting materials and ve12 hicle designs; 

13 (14) increasing load capacity per vehicle; 

14 (15) thermal management of battery systems; 

15 (16) recharging infrastructure; 

16 (17) compressed natural gas infrastructure; 

17 (18) advanced internal combustion engines; 

18 (19) complete vehicle and power pack modeling, 

19 simulation, and testing; 

20 (20) hydrogen vehicle technologies, including 

21 fuel cells and internal combustion engines, and hy22 drogen infrastructure, including hydrogen energy 

23 storage to enable renewables and provide hydrogen 

24 for fuel and power; 


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1 (21) retrofitting advanced technologies onto ex2 isting truck fleets; 

3 (22) advanced boosting systems; 

4 (23) engine down speeding; and 

5 (24) integration of these and other advanced 

6 systems onto a single truck and trailer platform. 

7 SEC. 9. CLASS 8 TRUCK AND TRAILER SYSTEMS DEM8 ONSTRATION. 

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

10 competitive grant program to demonstrate the integration 

11 of multiple advanced technologies on Class 8 truck and 

12 trailer platforms, including a combination of technologies 

13 listed in section 8. 

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

15 comprised of truck and trailer manufacturers, engine and 

16 component manufacturers, fleet customers, university re17 searchers, and other applicants as appropriate for the de18 velopment and demonstration of integrated Class 8 truck 

19 and trailer systems. 

20 SEC. 10. TECHNOLOGY TESTING AND METRICS. 

21 The Secretary, in coordination with the partners of 

22 the interagency research program described in section 8— 

23 (1) shall develop standard testing procedures 

24 and technologies for evaluating the performance of 

25 advanced heavy vehicle technologies under a range of 


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1 representative duty cycles and operating conditions, 

2 including for heavy hybrid propulsion systems; 

3 (2) shall evaluate heavy vehicle performance 

4 using work performance-based metrics other than 

5 those based on miles per gallon, including those 

6 based on units of volume and weight transported for 

7 freight applications, and appropriate metrics based 

8 on the work performed by nonroad systems; and 

9 (3) may construct heavy duty truck and bus 

10 testing facilities. 

11 SEC. 11. NONROAD SYSTEMS PILOT PROGRAM. 

12 The Secretary shall undertake a pilot program of re13 search, development, demonstration, and commercial ap14 plications of technologies to improve total machine or sys15 tem efficiency for nonroad mobile equipment including ag16 ricultural, construction, air, and sea port equipment, and 

17 shall seek opportunities to transfer relevant research find18 ings and technologies between the nonroad and on-high19 way equipment and vehicle sectors. 

20 SEC. 12. REPEAL OF EXISTING AUTHORITIES. 

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

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

23 16061, 16062, 16233) are repealed. 

24 (b) ENERGY EFFICIENCY.—Section 911 of the En25 ergy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16191) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a)— 

2 (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘vehi3 cles, buildings,’’ and inserting ‘‘buildings’’; and 

4 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

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

6 (ii) by redesignating subparagraphs 

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

8 through (D), respectively; and 

9 (2) in subsection (c)— 

10 (A) by striking paragraph (3); 

11 (B) by redesignating paragraph (4) as 

12 paragraph (3); and 

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

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

15 ‘‘(a)(2)(C)’’. 

Æ 


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