IB 

Union Calendar No. 142 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3246 

[Report No. 111–254] 

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 

JULY 17, 2009 

Mr. PETERS (for himself and Mrs. BIGGERT) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Science and Technology 

SEPTEMBER 11, 2009 

Additional sponsors: Mr. KILDEE, Mr. DAVIS of Alabama, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. MASSA, Mr. FOSTER, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. SCHAUER, Ms. SUTTON, Mr. BOREN, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. 

QUIGLEY, Mr. WEXLER, and Mr. GORDON of Tennessee 

SEPTEMBER 11, 2009 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on July 17, 2009] 


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A BILL 

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


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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 ‘‘Advanced Vehicle Tech5 nology Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) According to the Energy Information Admin9 istration, the transportation sector accounts for ap10 proximately 28 percent of the United States primary 

11 energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions, and 24 

12 percent of global oil demand. 

13 (2) The United States transportation sector is 

14 over 95 percent dependent on petroleum, and over 60 

15 percent of petroleum demand is met by imported sup16 plies. 

17 (3) United States heavy truck fuel consumption 

18 will increase 23 percent by 2030, while overall trans19 portation energy use will decline by 1 percent. 

20 (4) The domestic automotive and commercial ve21 hicle manufacturing sectors have increasingly limited 

22 resources for research and development of advanced 

23 technologies. 

24 (5) Vehicle, engine, and component manufactur25 ers are playing a more important role in vehicle techVerDate Nov 24 2008 20:32 Sep 11, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3246.RH H3246

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1 nology development, and should be better integrated 

2 into Federal research efforts. 

3 (6) Priorities for the Department of Energy’s ve4 hicle technologies research have shifted drastically in 

5 recent years among diesel hybrids, hydrogen fuel cell 

6 vehicles, and plug-in electric hybrids, with little con7 tinuity among them. 

8 (7) The integration of vehicle, communication, 

9 and infrastructure technologies has great potential for 

10 efficiency gains through better management of the 

11 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 to— 

18 (1) develop technologies and practices that— 

19 (A) improve the fuel efficiency and emis20 sions of all vehicles produced in the United 

21 States; and 

22 (B) reduce vehicle reliance on petroleum23 based fuels; 

24 (2) support domestic research, development, dem25 onstration, and commercial application and manuVerDate Nov 24 2008 20:32 Sep 11, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3246.RH H3246

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1 facturing of advanced vehicles, engines, and compo2 nents; 

3 (3) enable vehicles to move larger volumes of 

4 goods and more passengers with less energy and emis5 sions; 

6 (4) develop cost-effective advanced technologies 

7 for wide-scale utilization throughout the passenger, 

8 commercial, government, and transit vehicle sectors; 

9 (5) allow for greater consumer choice of vehicle 

10 technologies and fuels; 

11 (6) shorten technology development and integra12 tion cycles in the vehicle industry; 

13 (7) ensure a proper balance and diversity of 

14 Federal investment in vehicle technologies; and 

15 (8) strengthen partnerships between Federal and 

16 State governmental agencies and the private and aca17 demic sectors. 

18 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

19 For the purposes of this Act: 

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

21 means the Department of Energy. 

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

23 the Secretary of Energy. 


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1 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The following sums are authorized 

3 to be appropriated to the Secretary for research, develop4 ment, demonstration, and commercial application of vehi5 cles and related technologies, including activities authorized 

6 under this Act: 

7 (1) $550,000,000 for fiscal year 2010. 

8 (2) $560,000,000 for fiscal year 2011. 

9 (3) $570,000,000 for fiscal year 2012. 

10 (4) $580,000,000 for fiscal year 2013. 

11 (5) $590,000,000 for fiscal year 2014. 

12 (b) MEDIUM AND HEAVY DUTY COMMERCIAL VEHI13 CLES.—From the amounts authorized under subsection (a), 

14 there are authorized to be appropriated for carrying out 

15 title II— 

16 (1) $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; 

17 (2) $210,000,000 for fiscal year 2011; 

18 (3) $220,000,000 for fiscal year 2012; 

19 (4) $230,000,000 for fiscal year 2013; and 

20 (5) $240,000,000 for fiscal year 2014. 

21 (c) USER FACILITIES.—From the amounts authorized 

22 under subsection (a), there are authorized to be appro23 priated for carrying out section 104— 

24 (1) $35,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; 

25 (2) $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2011; 

26 (3) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2012; 


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1 (4) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2013; and 

2 (5) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2014. 

3 (d) NON-ROAD PILOT PROGRAM.—From the amounts 

4 authorized under subsection (a), there are authorized to be 

5 appropriated for carrying out section 204— 

6 (1) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; 

7 (2) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2011; and 

8 (3) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2012. 

9 TITLE I—VEHICLE RESEARCH 

10 AND DEVELOPMENT 

11 SEC. 101. PROGRAM. 

12 (a) ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary shall conduct a pro13 gram of basic and applied research, development, dem14 onstration, and commercial application activities on mate15 rials, technologies, and processes with the potential to sub16 stantially reduce or eliminate petroleum use and the emis17 sions of the Nation’s passenger and commercial vehicles, in18 cluding activities in the areas of— 

19 (1) hybridization or full electrification of vehicle 

20 systems; 

21 (2) batteries and other energy storage devices; 

22 (3) power electronics; 

23 (4) vehicle, component, and subsystem manufac24 turing 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) hydrogen vehicle technologies, including fuel 

6 cells and internal combustion engines, and hydrogen 

7 infrastructure; 

8 (9) aerodynamics, rolling resistance, and acces9 sory power loads of vehicles and associated equip10 ment; 

11 (10) vehicle weight reduction; 

12 (11) friction and wear reduction; 

13 (12) engine and component durability; 

14 (13) innovative propulsion systems; 

15 (14) advanced boosting systems; 

16 (15) hydraulic hybrid technologies; 

17 (16) engine compatibility with and optimization 

18 for a variety of transportation fuels including liquid 

19 and gaseous fuels; 

20 (17) predictive engineering, modeling, and sim21 ulation of vehicle and transportation systems; 

22 (18) refueling and charging infrastructure for al23 ternative fueled and electric or plug-in electric hybrid 

24 vehicles; 


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1 (19) gaseous fuels storage system integration and 

2 optimization; 

3 (20) sensing, communications, and actuation 

4 technologies for vehicle, electrical grid, and infrastruc5 ture; 

6 (21) efficient use and recycling of rare earth ma7 terials, and reduction of precious metals and other 

8 high-cost materials in vehicles; 

9 (22) aftertreatment technologies; 

10 (23) thermal management of battery systems; 

11 (24) development of common standards, speci12 fications, and architectures for both transportation 

13 and stationary battery applications; and 

14 (25) other research areas as determined by the 

15 Secretary. 

16 (b) TRANSFORMATIONAL TECHNOLOGY.—The Sec17 retary shall ensure that the Department continues to sup18 port activities and maintains competency in mid- to long19 term transformational vehicle technologies with potential to 

20 achieve deep reductions in petroleum use and emissions, in21 cluding activities in the areas of— 

22 (1) hydrogen vehicle technologies, including fuel 

23 cells, internal combustion engines, hydrogen storage, 

24 infrastructure, and activities in hydrogen technology 

25 validation and safety codes and standards; 


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1 (2) multiple battery chemistries and novel energy 

2 storage devices, including electromechanical batteries 

3 and other nonchemical batteries; 

4 (3) communication and connectivity among ve5 hicles, infrastructure, and the electrical grid; and 

6 (4) other innovative technologies research and de7 velopment, as determined by the Secretary. 

8 (c) INDUSTRY PARTICIPATION.—To the maximum ex9 tent practicable, activities under this Act shall be carried 

10 out in partnership or collaboration with automotive manu11 facturers, heavy commercial and transit vehicle manufac12 turers, vehicle and engine equipment and component manu13 facturers, manufacturing equipment manufacturers, ad14 vanced vehicle service providers, fuel producers and energy 

15 suppliers, electric utilities, universities, national labora16 tories, and independent research laboratories. In carrying 

17 out this Act the Secretary shall— 

18 (1) determine whether a wide range of companies 

19 that manufacture or assemble vehicles or components 

20 in the United States are represented in ongoing pub21 lic private partnership activities, including firms that 

22 have not traditionally participated in federally-spon23 sored research and development activities, and where 

24 possible, partner with such firms that conduct signifiVerDate Nov 24 2008 20:32 Sep 11, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3246.RH H3246

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1 cant and relevant research and development activities 

2 in the United States; 

3 (2) leverage the capabilities and resources of, and 

4 formalize partnerships with, industry-led stakeholder 

5 organizations, nonprofit organizations, industry con6 sortia, and trade associations with expertise in the re7 search and development of, and education and out8 reach activities in, advanced automotive and commer9 cial vehicle technologies; 

10 (3) develop more efficient processes for transfer11 ring research findings and technologies to industry; 

12 (4) give consideration to conversion of existing or 

13 former vehicle technology manufacturing facilities for 

14 the purposes of this Act; and 

15 (5) promote efforts to ensure that technologies de16 veloped under this Act are produced in the United 

17 States. 

18 (d) INTERAGENCY AND INTRAAGENCY COORDINA19 TION.—To the maximum extent practicable, the Secretary 

20 shall coordinate research, development, demonstration, and 

21 commercial application activities among— 

22 (1) relevant programs within the Department, 

23 including— 

24 (A) the Office of Energy Efficiency and Re25 newable Energy; 


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1 (B) the Office of Science; 

2 (C) the Office of Electricity Delivery and 

3 Energy Reliability; 

4 (D) the Office of Fossil Energy; 

5 (E) the Advanced Research Projects Agen6 cy—Energy; and 

7 (F) other offices as determined by the Sec8 retary; and 

9 (2) relevant technology research and development 

10 programs within other Federal agencies, as deter11 mined by the Secretary. 

12 (e) COORDINATION AND NONDUPLICATION.—In coordi13 nating activities the Secretary shall ensure, to the max14 imum extent practicable, that activities do not duplicate 

15 those of other programs within the Department or other rel16 evant research agencies. 

17 (f) FEDERAL DEMONSTRATION OF TECHNOLOGIES.— 

18 The Secretary shall make information available to procure19 ment programs of Federal agencies regarding the potential 

20 to demonstrate technologies resulting from activities funded 

21 through programs under this Act. 

22 (g) INTERGOVERNMENTAL COORDINATION.—The Sec23 retary shall seek opportunities to leverage resources and 

24 support initiatives of State and local governments in develVerDate Nov 24 2008 20:32 Sep 11, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3246.RH H3246

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1 oping and promoting advanced vehicle technologies, manu2 facturing, and infrastructure. 

3 SEC. 102. SENSING AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGIES. 

4 The Secretary, in coordination with the relevant re5 search programs of other Federal agencies, shall conduct re6 search, development, and demonstration activities on 

7 connectivity of vehicle and transportation systems, includ8 ing on sensing, computation, communication, and actu9 ation technologies that allow for reduced fuel use, optimized 

10 traffic flow, and vehicle electrification, including tech11 nologies for— 

12 (1) onboard vehicle, engine, and component sens13 ing and actuation; 

14 (2) vehicle-to-vehicle sensing and communica15 tion; 

16 (3) vehicle-to-infrastructure sensing and commu17 nication; and 

18 (4) vehicle integration with the electrical grid. 

19 SEC. 103. MANUFACTURING. 

20 The Secretary shall carry out a research, development, 

21 demonstration, and commercial application program of ad22 vanced vehicle manufacturing technologies and practices, 

23 including innovative processes to— 

24 (1) increase the production rate and decrease the 

25 cost of advanced battery manufacturing; 


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1 (2) vary the capability of individual manufac2 turing facilities to accommodate different battery 

3 chemistries and configurations; 

4 (3) reduce waste streams, emissions, and energy5 intensity of vehicle, engine, and component manufac6 turing processes; 

7 (4) recycle and remanufacture used batteries and 

8 other vehicle components for reuse in vehicles or sta9 tionary applications; 

10 (5) produce cost-effective lightweight materials 

11 such as advanced metal alloys, polymeric composites, 

12 and carbon fiber; 

13 (6) produce lightweight high pressure storage 

14 systems for gaseous fuels; 

15 (7) design and manufacture purpose-built hydro16 gen and fuel cell vehicles and components; and 

17 (8) produce permanent magnets for advanced ve18 hicles. 

19 SEC. 104. USER TESTING FACILITIES. 

20 Activities under this Act may include construction, ex21 pansion, or modification of new and existing vehicle, en22 gine, and component research and testing facilities for— 

23 (1) testing or simulating interoperability of a 

24 variety of vehicle components and systems; 


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1 (2) subjecting whole or partial vehicle platforms 

2 to fully representative duty cycles and operating con3 ditions; 

4 (3) developing and demonstrating a range of 

5 chemistries and configurations for advanced vehicle 

6 battery manufacturing; and 

7 (4) developing and demonstrating test cycles for 

8 new and alternative fuels, and other advanced vehicle 

9 technologies. 

10 TITLE II—MEDIUM AND HEAVY 

11 DUTY COMMERCIAL AND 

12 TRANSIT VEHICLES 

13 SEC. 201. PROGRAM. 

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

15 relevant research and development programs in other Fed16 eral agencies, and a range of appropriate industry stake17 holders, shall carry out a program of cooperative research, 

18 development, demonstration, and commercial application 

19 activities on advanced technologies for medium- to heavy20 duty commercial and transit vehicles, including activities 

21 in the areas of— 

22 (1) engine efficiency and combustion research; 

23 (2) on board storage technologies for compressed 

24 and liquefied natural gas; 


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1 (3) development and integration of engine tech2 nologies designed for natural gas operation of a vari3 ety of vehicle platforms; 

4 (4) waste heat recovery and conversion; 

5 (5) improved aerodynamics and tire rolling re6 sistance; 

7 (6) energy and space-efficient emissions control 

8 systems; 

9 (7) heavy hybrid, hybrid hydraulic, plug-in hy10 brid, and electric platforms, and energy storage tech11 nologies; 

12 (8) drivetrain optimization; 

13 (9) friction and wear reduction; 

14 (10) engine idle and parasitic energy loss reduc15 tion; 

16 (11) electrification of accessory loads; 

17 (12) onboard sensing and communications tech18 nologies; 

19 (13) advanced lightweighting materials and vehi20 cle designs; 

21 (14) increasing load capacity per vehicle; 

22 (15) thermal management of battery systems; 

23 (16) recharging infrastructure; 

24 (17) complete vehicle modeling and simulation; 


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1 (18) hydrogen vehicle technologies, including fuel 

2 cells and internal combustion engines, and hydrogen 

3 infrastructure; 

4 (19) retrofitting advanced technologies onto exist5 ing truck fleets; and 

6 (20) integration of these and other advanced sys7 tems onto a single truck and trailer platform. 

8 (b) LEADERSHIP.—The Secretary shall appoint a full9 time Director to coordinate research, development, dem10 onstration, and commercial application activities in 

11 medium- to heavy-duty commercial and transit vehicle 

12 technologies. Responsibilities of the Director shall be to— 

13 (1) improve coordination and develop consensus 

14 between government agency and industry partners, 

15 and propose new processes for program management 

16 and priority setting to better align activities and 

17 budgets among partners; 

18 (2) regularly convene workshops, site visits, dem19 onstrations, conferences, investor forums, and other 

20 events in which information and research findings 

21 are shared among program participants and inter22 ested stakeholders; 

23 (3) develop a budget for the Department’s activi24 ties with regard to the interagency program, and proVerDate Nov 24 2008 20:32 Sep 11, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3246.RH H3246

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1 vide consultation and guidance on vehicle technology 

2 funding priorities across agencies; 

3 (4) determine a process for reviewing program 

4 technical goals, targets, and timetables and, where ap5 plicable, aided by life-cycle impact and cost analysis, 

6 propose revisions or elimination based on program 

7 progress, available funding, and rate of technology 

8 adoption; 

9 (5) evaluate ongoing activities of the program 

10 and recommend project modifications, including the 

11 termination of projects, where applicable; 

12 (6) recruit new industry participants to the 

13 interagency program, including truck, trailer, and 

14 component manufacturers who have not traditionally 

15 participated in federally sponsored research and tech16 nology development activities; and 

17 (7) other responsibilities as determined by the 

18 Secretary, in consultation with interagency and in19 dustry partners. 

20 (c) REPORTING.—At the end of each fiscal year the 

21 partnership shall submit to the Secretary and relevant Con22 gressional committees of jurisdiction an annual report de23 scribing activities undertaken in the previous year, active 

24 industry participants, efforts to recruit new participants, 


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1 progress of the program in meeting goals and timelines, and 

2 a strategic plan for funding of activities across agencies. 

3 SEC. 202. CLASS 8 TRUCK AND TRAILER SYSTEMS DEM4 ONSTRATION. 

5 The Secretary shall conduct a competitive grant pro6 gram to demonstrate the integration of multiple advanced 

7 technologies on Class 8 truck and trailer platforms with a 

8 goal of improving overall freight efficiency, as measured in 

9 tons and volume of freight hauled or other work perform10 ance-based metrics, by 50 percent, including a combination 

11 of technologies listed in section 201(a). Applicant teams 

12 may be comprised of truck and trailer manufacturers, en13 gine and component manufacturers, fleet customers, univer14 sity researchers, and other applicants as appropriate for 

15 the development and demonstration of integrated Class 8 

16 truck and trailer systems. 

17 SEC. 203. TECHNOLOGY TESTING AND METRICS. 

18 The Secretary, in coordination with the partners of the 

19 interagency research program described in section 201(a)— 

20 (1) shall develop standard testing procedures and 

21 technologies for evaluating the performance of ad22 vanced heavy vehicle technologies under a range of 

23 representative duty cycles and operating conditions, 

24 including for heavy hybrid propulsion systems; 


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1 (2) shall evaluate heavy vehicle performance 

2 using work performance-based metrics other than 

3 those based on miles per gallon, including those based 

4 on units of volume and weight transported for freight 

5 applications, and appropriate metrics based on the 

6 work performed by nonroad systems; and 

7 (3) may construct heavy duty truck and bus test8 ing facilities. 

9 SEC. 204. NONROAD SYSTEMS PILOT PROGRAM. 

10 The Secretary shall undertake a pilot program of re11 search, development, demonstration, and commercial appli12 cations of technologies to improve total machine or system 

13 efficiency for heavy duty nonroad equipment, and shall seek 

14 opportunities to transfer relevant research findings and 

15 technologies between the nonroad and on-highway equip16 ment and vehicle sectors. 


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Union Calendar No. 142 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3246 

[Report No. 111–254] 

A BILL 

To provide for a program of research, development, 

hicle technologies at the Department of Energy. demonstration, and commercial application in veSEPTEMBER 11, 2009 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


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