I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2399 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 24, 2011 

Mr. SENSENBRENNER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

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 2011’’. 


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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) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 

6 a competitive research, development, demonstration, and 

7 commercial application program (referred to in this Act 

8 as the ‘‘program’’) to provide grants to applicants to carry 

9 out projects to advance research and development and to 

10 demonstrate technologies for advanced heavy duty hybrid 

11 vehicles. 

12 (b) APPLICATIONS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall issue re14 quirements for applying for grants under the pro15 gram. 

16 (2) SELECTION CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall 

17 establish selection criteria for awarding grants under 

18 the program. In evaluating applications, the Sec19 retary shall— 

20 (A) consider the ability of applicants to 

21 successfully complete both phases described in 

22 subsection (c); 

23 (B) give priority to applicants who are best 

24 able to— 


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1 (i) fill existing research gaps and 

2 achieve the greatest advances beyond the 

3 state of current technology; and 

4 (ii) achieve the greatest reduction in 

5 fuel consumption and emissions; and 

6 (C) ensure that plug-in hybrid vehicles eli7 gible under the program are in compliance with 

8 standard J1772 or other appropriate Society of 

9 Automotive Engineers requirements. 

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

11 under this section may carry out a project in part12 nership with other entities. 

13 (4) SCHEDULE.— 

14 (A) APPLICATION REQUEST.—Not later 

15 than 180 days after the date of the enactment 

16 of this Act, the Secretary shall publish in the 

17 Federal Register, and elsewhere as appropriate, 

18 a request for applications to undertake projects 

19 under the program. Applications shall be due 

20 not later than 90 days after the date of such 

21 publication. 

22 (B) APPLICATION SELECTION.—Not later 

23 than 90 days after the date on which applica24 tions for grants under the program are due, the 

25 Secretary shall select, through a competitive 


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1 process, all applicants to be awarded a grant 

2 under the program. 

3 (5) NUMBER OF GRANTS.—The Secretary shall 

4 determine the number of grants to be awarded 

5 under the program based on the technical merits of 

6 the applications received. The number of grants 

7 awarded under the program shall not be less than 

8 three or more than seven, and at least half of the 

9 grants awarded shall be for plug-in hybrid tech10 nology. 

11 (6) AWARD AMOUNTS.—The Secretary shall 

12 award not more than $3,000,000 to each recipient 

13 per year for each of the 3 years of the project. 

14 (c) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS; TWO PHASES.—Each 

15 grant recipient shall be required to complete two phases: 

16 (1) PHASE ONE.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—In phase one, the re18 cipient shall research and demonstrate ad19 vanced hybrid technology by producing or retro20 fitting one or more advanced heavy duty hybrid 

21 vehicles. 

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

23 after the completion of phase one, the recipient 

24 shall submit to the Secretary a report con25 taining data and analysis of— 


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1 (i) the performance of each vehicle in 

2 carrying out the testing procedures devel3 oped by the Secretary under subparagraph 

4 (E); 

5 (ii) the performance during such test6 ing of each vehicle’s components, including 

7 the battery, energy management system, 

8 charging system, and power controls; 

9 (iii) the projected cost of each vehicle, 

10 including acquisition, operating, produc11 tion, testing, validation, and maintenance 

12 costs; and 

13 (iv) the emissions levels of each vehi14 cle, including greenhouse gas levels. 

15 (C) TERMINATION.—The Secretary may 

16 terminate the grant program with respect to the 

17 project of a recipient at the conclusion of phase 

18 one if the Secretary determines that the recipi19 ent cannot successfully complete the require20 ments of phase two. 

21 (D) TIMING.—Phase one begins upon re22 ceipt of a grant under the program and has a 

23 duration of one year. 

24 (E) TESTING PROCEDURES.—The Sec25 retary shall develop standard testing procedures 


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1 to be used by recipients in testing each vehicle. 

2 Such procedures shall include testing a vehicle’s 

3 performance under typical operating conditions 

4 and through the vehicle’s anticipated duty cycle. 

5 (2) PHASE TWO.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—In phase two, the re7 cipient shall demonstrate advanced manufac8 turing processes and technologies by producing 

9 or retrofitting a minimum of fifty advanced 

10 heavy duty hybrid vehicles. 

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

12 after the completion of phase two, the recipient 

13 shall submit to the Secretary a report con14 taining— 

15 (i) an analysis of the technological 

16 challenges encountered by the recipient in 

17 the development of the vehicles; 

18 (ii) an analysis of the technological 

19 challenges involved in mass producing the 

20 vehicles; and 

21 (iii) the manufacturing cost of each 

22 vehicle, the estimated sale price of each ve23 hicle, and the cost of a comparable non-hy24 brid vehicle. 


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1 (C) TIMING.—Phase two begins at the con2 clusion of phase one and has a duration of two 

3 years. 

4 (d) RESEARCH ON VEHICLE USAGE AND ALTER5 NATIVE DRIVE TRAINS.—The Secretary shall conduct re6 search into alternative power train designs for use in ad7 vanced heavy duty hybrid vehicles. Such research shall 

8 compare the estimated cost, including operating and main9 tenance costs, emissions reductions, and fuel savings of 

10 each design with similar non-hybrid power train designs 

11 under the conditions in which these vehicles are typically 

12 used, including, for each vehicle type— 

13 (1) number of miles driven; 

14 (2) time spent with the engine at idle; 

15 (3) horsepower requirements; 

16 (4) length of time the maximum or near max17 imum power output of the vehicle is needed; and 

18 (5) any other factors that the Secretary con19 siders appropriate. 

20 (e) REPORT TO THE CONGRESS.—Not later than 60 

21 days after the Secretary receives the reports from grant 

22 recipients under subsection (c)(2)(B), the Secretary shall 

23 submit to the Congress a report containing— 

24 (1) an identification of the grant recipients and 

25 a description of the projects to be funded; 


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1 (2) an identification of all applicants who sub2 mitted applications for the program; 

3 (3) all data contained in reports submitted by 

4 grant recipients under subsection (c); 

5 (4) a description of the vehicles produced or 

6 retrofitted by recipients in phase one and phase two 

7 of the project, including an analysis of the fuel effi8 ciency of such vehicles; and 

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

10 subsections (d) and (h). 

11 (f) COORDINATION AND NONDUPLICATION.—To the 

12 maximum extent practicable, the Secretary shall coordi13 nate, and not duplicate, activities under this Act with 

14 other programs and laboratories of the Department of En15 ergy and other Federal research programs. 

16 (g) COST SHARING.—Section 988 of the Energy Pol17 icy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16352) shall apply to phase 

18 two of the program established pursuant to this section. 

19 (h) ELECTRICAL GRID RESEARCH PILOT PRO20 GRAM.—The Secretary shall establish a pilot program 

21 through the National Laboratories and Technology Cen22 ters of the Department of Energy to research and test 

23 the effects on the domestic electric power grid of the wide24 spread use of plug-in hybrid vehicles, including plug-in hy25 brid vehicles that are advanced heavy duty hybrid vehicles. 


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1 (i) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

2 (1) ADVANCED HEAVY DUTY HYBRID VEHI3 CLE.—The term ‘‘advanced heavy duty hybrid vehi4 cle’’ means a vehicle with a gross weight between 

5 14,000 and 56,000 pounds that is fueled, in part, by 

6 a rechargeable energy storage system, excluding 

7 truck tractors. 

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

9 gas’’ means— 

10 (A) carbon dioxide; 

11 (B) methane; 

12 (C) nitrous oxide; 

13 (D) hydrofluorocarbons; 

14 (E) perfluorocarbons; or 

15 (F) sulfur hexafluoride. 

16 (3) PLUG-IN HYBRID.—The term ‘‘plug-in hy17 brid’’ means a vehicle fueled, in part, by electrical 

18 power that can be recharged by connecting the vehi19 cle to an electric power source. 

20 (4) RETROFIT.—The term ‘‘retrofit’’ means the 

21 process of creating an advanced heavy duty hybrid 

22 vehicle by converting an existing, fuel-powered vehi23 cle. 

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

25 the Secretary of Energy. 


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1 (6) TRUCK TRACTOR.—The term ‘‘truck trac2 tor’’ has the meaning given such term in section 

3 31111(a)(3) of title 49, United States Code. 

4 (j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—(1) 

5 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary 

6 $16,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2012 through 2014 

7 to carry out this section. 

8 (2) Of the funds authorized under paragraph (1), not 

9 more than $1,000,000 per fiscal year may be used for— 

10 (A) carrying out the studies required under 

11 subsection (d); 

12 (B) carrying out the pilot program required 

13 under subsection (h); and 

14 (C) the administration of the program. 

15 (3) Notwithstanding paragraphs (1) through (6) of 

16 subsection (p) of section 641 of the Energy Independence 

17 and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17231), the total 

18 amount authorized to be appropriated under that sub19 section shall not exceed $279,000,000 for each of the fis20 cal years 2012 through 2014. 

21 SEC. 3. EXPANDING RESEARCH IN HYBRID TECHNOLOGY 

22 FOR LARGE VEHICLES. 

23 Subsection (g)(1) of the United States Energy Stor24 age Competitiveness Act of 2007 (enacted as section 

25 641(g)(1) of the Energy Independence and Security Act 


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1 of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17231(g)(1))) is amended by inserting 

2 ‘‘vehicles with a gross weight over 16,000 pounds,’’ before 

3 ‘‘stationary applications’’. 

Æ 


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