111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3246 

AN ACT 

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

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Advanced Vehicle 

3 Technology Act of 2009’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) According to the Energy Information Ad7 ministration, the transportation sector accounts for 

8 approximately 28 percent of the United States pri9 mary energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions, 

10 and 24 percent of global oil demand. 

11 (2) The United States transportation sector is 

12 over 95 percent dependent on petroleum, and over 

13 60 percent of petroleum demand is met by imported 

14 supplies. 

15 (3) United States heavy truck fuel consumption 

16 will increase 23 percent by 2030, while overall trans17 portation energy use will decline by 1 percent. 

18 (4) The domestic automotive and commercial 

19 vehicle manufacturing sectors have increasingly lim20 ited resources for research and development of ad21 vanced technologies. 

22 (5) Vehicle, engine, and component manufactur23 ers are playing a more important role in vehicle 

24 technology development, and should be better inte25 grated into Federal research efforts. 
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1 (6) Priorities for the Department of Energy’s 

2 vehicle technologies research have shifted drastically 

3 in recent years among diesel hybrids, hydrogen fuel 

4 cell vehicles, and plug-in electric hybrids, with little 

5 continuity among them. 

6 (7) The integration of vehicle, communication, 

7 and infrastructure technologies has great potential 

8 for efficiency gains through better management of 

9 the total transportation system. 

10 (8) The Federal Government should balance its 

11 role in researching longer-term exploratory concepts 

12 and developing nearer-term transformational tech13 nologies for vehicles. 

14 SEC. 3. OBJECTIVES. 

15 The objectives of this Act are to— 

16 (1) develop technologies and practices that— 

17 (A) improve the fuel efficiency and emis18 sions of all vehicles produced in the United 

19 States; and 

20 (B) reduce vehicle reliance on petroleum21 based fuels; 

22 (2) support domestic research, development, 

23 demonstration, and commercial application and man24 ufacturing of advanced vehicles, engines, and compo25 nents; 
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1 (3) enable vehicles to move larger volumes of 

2 goods and more passengers with less energy and 

3 emissions; 

4 (4) develop cost-effective advanced technologies 

5 for wide-scale utilization throughout the passenger, 

6 commercial, government, and transit vehicle sectors; 

7 (5) allow for greater consumer choice of vehicle 

8 technologies and fuels; 

9 (6) shorten technology development and inte10 gration cycles in the vehicle industry; 

11 (7) ensure a proper balance and diversity of 

12 Federal investment in vehicle technologies; and 

13 (8) strengthen partnerships between Federal 

14 and State governmental agencies and the private 

15 and academic sectors. 

16 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

17 For the purposes of this Act: 

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

19 means the Department of Energy. 

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

21 the Secretary of Energy. 

22 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The following sums are author24 ized to be appropriated to the Secretary for research, de25 velopment, demonstration, and commercial application of 
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1 vehicles and related technologies, including activities au2 thorized under this Act: 

3 (1) $550,000,000 for fiscal year 2010. 

4 (2) $560,000,000 for fiscal year 2011. 

5 (3) $570,000,000 for fiscal year 2012. 

6 (4) $580,000,000 for fiscal year 2013. 

7 (5) $590,000,000 for fiscal year 2014. 

8 (b) MEDIUM AND HEAVY DUTY COMMERCIAL VEHI9 CLES.—From the amounts authorized under subsection 

10 (a), there are authorized to be appropriated for carrying 

11 out title II— 

12 (1) $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; 

13 (2) $210,000,000 for fiscal year 2011; 

14 (3) $220,000,000 for fiscal year 2012; 

15 (4) $230,000,000 for fiscal year 2013; and 

16 (5) $240,000,000 for fiscal year 2014. 

17 (c) USER FACILITIES.—From the amounts author18 ized under subsection (a), there are authorized to be ap19 propriated for carrying out section 104— 

20 (1) $35,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; 

21 (2) $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2011; 

22 (3) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2012; 

23 (4) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2013; and 

24 (5) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2014. 
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1 (d) NON-ROAD PILOT PROGRAM.—From the 

2 amounts authorized under subsection (a), there are au3 thorized to be appropriated for carrying out section 204— 

4 (1) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; 

5 (2) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2011; and 

6 (3) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2012. 

7 TITLE I—VEHICLE RESEARCH 

8 AND DEVELOPMENT 

9 SEC. 101. PROGRAM. 

10 (a) ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary shall conduct a pro11 gram of basic and applied research, development, dem12 onstration, and commercial application activities on mate13 rials, technologies, and processes with the potential to sub14 stantially reduce or eliminate petroleum use and the emis15 sions of the Nation’s passenger and commercial vehicles, 

16 including activities in the areas of— 

17 (1) hybridization or full electrification of vehicle 

18 systems; 

19 (2) batteries and other energy storage devices; 

20 (3) power electronics; 

21 (4) vehicle, component, and subsystem manu22 facturing technologies and processes; 

23 (5) engine efficiency and combustion optimiza24 tion; 

25 (6) waste heat recovery; 
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1 (7) transmission and drivetrains; 

2 (8) hydrogen vehicle technologies, including fuel 

3 cells and internal combustion engines, and hydrogen 

4 infrastructure; 

5 (9) aerodynamics, rolling resistance, and acces6 sory power loads of vehicles and associated equip7 ment; 

8 (10) vehicle weight reduction; 

9 (11) friction and wear reduction; 

10 (12) engine and component durability; 

11 (13) innovative propulsion systems; 

12 (14) advanced boosting systems; 

13 (15) hydraulic hybrid technologies; 

14 (16) engine compatibility with and optimization 

15 for a variety of transportation fuels including liquid 

16 and gaseous fuels; 

17 (17) predictive engineering, modeling, and sim18 ulation of vehicle and transportation systems; 

19 (18) refueling and charging infrastructure for 

20 alternative fueled and electric or plug-in electric hy21 brid vehicles, including the unique challenges facing 

22 rural areas; 

23 (19) gaseous fuels storage system integration 

24 and optimization; 
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1 (20) sensing, communications, and actuation 

2 technologies for vehicle, electrical grid, and infra3 structure; 

4 (21) efficient use and recycling of rare earth 

5 materials, and reduction of precious metals and 

6 other high-cost materials in vehicles; 

7 (22) aftertreatment technologies; 

8 (23) thermal management of battery systems; 

9 (24) retrofitting advanced vehicle technologies 

10 to existing vehicles; 

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

13 and stationary battery applications; and 

14 (26) 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 

20 to achieve deep reductions in petroleum use and emissions, 

21 including 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 en2 ergy storage devices, including nonchemical batteries 

3 and electromechanical storage technologies such as 

4 hydraulics, flywheels, and compressed air storage; 

5 (3) communication and connectivity among ve6 hicles, infrastructure, and the electrical grid; and 

7 (4) other innovative technologies research and 

8 development, as determined by the Secretary. 

9 (c) INDUSTRY PARTICIPATION.—To the maximum 

10 extent practicable, activities under this Act shall be carried 

11 out in partnership or collaboration with automotive manu12 facturers, heavy commercial and transit vehicle manufac13 turers, qualified plug-in electric vehicle manufacturers, ve14 hicle and engine equipment and component manufactur15 ers, manufacturing equipment manufacturers, advanced 

16 vehicle service providers, fuel producers and energy sup17 pliers, electric utilities, universities, national laboratories, 

18 and independent research laboratories. In carrying out 

19 this Act the Secretary shall— 

20 (1) determine whether a wide range of compa21 nies that manufacture or assemble vehicles or com22 ponents in the United States are represented in on23 going public private partnership activities, including 

24 firms that have not traditionally participated in fed25 erally-sponsored research and development activities, 
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1 and where possible, partner with such firms that 

2 conduct significant and relevant research and devel3 opment activities in the United States; 

4 (2) leverage the capabilities and resources of, 

5 and formalize partnerships with, industry-led stake6 holder organizations, nonprofit organizations, indus7 try consortia, and trade associations with expertise 

8 in the research and development of, and education 

9 and outreach activities in, advanced automotive and 

10 commercial vehicle technologies; 

11 (3) develop more efficient processes for trans12 ferring research findings and technologies to indus13 try; 

14 (4) give consideration to conversion of existing 

15 or former vehicle technology development or manu16 facturing facilities for the purposes of this Act, and 

17 support public-private partnerships dedicated to 

18 overcoming barriers in commercial application of 

19 transformational vehicle technologies that utilize 

20 such industry-led facilities; and 

21 (5) promote efforts to ensure that technologies 

22 developed under this Act are produced in the United 

23 States. 

24 (d) INTERAGENCY AND INTRAAGENCY COORDINA25 TION.—To the maximum extent practicable, the Secretary 
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1 shall coordinate research, development, demonstration, 

2 and commercial application activities among— 

3 (1) relevant programs within the Department, 

4 including— 

5 (A) the Office of Energy Efficiency and 

6 Renewable Energy; 

7 (B) the Office of Science; 

8 (C) the Office of Electricity Delivery and 

9 Energy Reliability; 

10 (D) the Office of Fossil Energy; 

11 (E) the Advanced Research Projects Agen12 cy—Energy; and 

13 (F) other offices as determined by the Sec14 retary; and 

15 (2) relevant technology research and develop16 ment programs within other Federal agencies, as de17 termined by the Secretary. 

18 (e) COORDINATION AND NONDUPLICATION.—In co19 ordinating activities the Secretary shall ensure, to the 

20 maximum extent practicable, that activities do not dupli21 cate those of other programs within the Department or 

22 other relevant research agencies. 

23 (f) FEDERAL DEMONSTRATION OF TECH24 NOLOGIES.—The Secretary shall make information avail25 able to procurement programs of Federal agencies regard-
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1 ing the potential to demonstrate technologies resulting 

2 from activities funded through programs under this Act. 

3 (g) INTERGOVERNMENTAL COORDINATION.—The 

4 Secretary shall seek opportunities to leverage resources 

5 and support initiatives of State and local governments in 

6 developing and promoting advanced vehicle technologies, 

7 manufacturing, and infrastructure. 

8 SEC. 102. SENSING AND COMMUNICATIONS TECH9 NOLOGIES. 

10 The Secretary, in coordination with the relevant re11 search programs of other Federal agencies, shall conduct 

12 research, development, and demonstration activities on 

13 connectivity of vehicle and transportation systems, includ14 ing on sensing, computation, communication, and actu15 ation technologies that allow for reduced fuel use, opti16 mized traffic flow, and vehicle electrification, including 

17 technologies for— 

18 (1) onboard vehicle, engine, and component 

19 sensing and actuation; 

20 (2) vehicle-to-vehicle sensing and communica21 tion; 

22 (3) vehicle-to-infrastructure sensing and com23 munication; and 

24 (4) vehicle integration with the electrical grid. 
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1 SEC. 103. MANUFACTURING. 

2 The Secretary shall carry out a research, develop3 ment, demonstration, and commercial application program 

4 of advanced vehicle manufacturing technologies and prac5 tices, including innovative processes to— 

6 (1) increase the production rate and decrease 

7 the cost of advanced battery manufacturing; 

8 (2) vary the capability of individual manufac9 turing facilities to accommodate different battery 

10 chemistries and configurations; 

11 (3) reduce waste streams, emissions, and en12 ergy-intensity of vehicle, engine, advanced battery 

13 and component manufacturing processes; 

14 (4) recycle and remanufacture used batteries 

15 and other vehicle components for reuse in vehicles or 

16 stationary applications; 

17 (5) produce cost-effective lightweight materials 

18 such as advanced metal alloys, polymeric composites, 

19 and carbon fiber; 

20 (6) produce lightweight high pressure storage 

21 systems for gaseous fuels; 

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

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

25 advanced batteries; and 
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1 (9) produce permanent magnets for advanced 

2 vehicles. 

3 SEC. 104. USER TESTING FACILITIES. 

4 Activities under this Act may include construction, 

5 expansion, or modification of new and existing vehicle, en6 gine, and component research and testing facilities for— 

7 (1) testing or simulating interoperability of a 

8 variety of vehicle components and systems; 

9 (2) subjecting whole or partial vehicle platforms 

10 to fully representative duty cycles and operating con11 ditions; 

12 (3) developing and demonstrating a range of 

13 chemistries and configurations for advanced vehicle 

14 battery manufacturing; and 

15 (4) developing and demonstrating test cycles for 

16 new and alternative fuels, and other advanced vehi17 cle technologies. 

18 SEC. 105. REPORTING. 

19 Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment 

20 of this Act and annually thereafter through 2015, the Sec21 retary of Energy shall transmit to Congress a report re22 garding the technologies developed as a result of the ac23 tivities authorized by this title, with a particular emphasis 

24 on whether the technologies were successfully adopted for 
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1 commercial applications, and if so, whether those tech2 nologies are manufactured in the United States. 

3 SEC. 106. REPORTING. 

4 At the end of each fiscal year the Secretary shall sub5 mit to the relevant Congressional committees of jurisdic6 tion an annual report describing activities undertaken in 

7 the previous year under this title, active industry partici8 pants, efforts to recruit new participants, progress of the 

9 program in meeting goals and timelines, and a strategic 

10 plan for funding of activities across agencies. 

11 SEC. 107. INNOVATIVE AUTOMOTIVE DEMONSTRATION 

12 PROGRAM. 

13 The Secretary shall establish an Innovative Auto14 motive Demonstration Program, within the existing Vehi15 cle Technologies Program, to encourage the introduction 

16 of new vehicles into the marketplace that are designed in 

17 their entirety to achieve very high energy efficiency but 

18 still provide the capabilities required by the American con19 sumer. This program shall encourage introduction of new 

20 light duty vehicles into the marketplace capable of achiev21 ing energy efficiencies significantly greater than required 

22 under current and pending Federal Corporate Average 

23 Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. This program shall 

24 also encourage the use of materials and manufacturing 

25 techniques that minimize environmental impacts. Awards 
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1 under this section shall be made on a competitive basis 

2 for demonstration of vehicles that— 

3 (1) carry at least four passengers; 

4 (2) meet all Federal safety requirements; 

5 (3) achieve at least 70 miles per gallon or the 

6 equivalent on the Environmental Protection Agency 

7 drive cycle; 

8 (4) provide vehicle performance that is judged 

9 acceptable to the United States consumer; 

10 (5) be affordable to the American consumer; 

11 (6) use materials and manufacturing processes 

12 that minimize environmental impacts; 

13 (7) meet all Federal and State emission re14 quirements; and 

15 (8) provide new high technology engineering 

16 and production employment opportunities. 

17 TITLE II—MEDIUM AND HEAVY 

18 DUTY COMMERCIAL AND 

19 TRANSIT VEHICLES 

20 SEC. 201. PROGRAM. 

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

22 with relevant research and development programs in other 

23 Federal agencies, and a range of appropriate industry 

24 stakeholders, shall carry out a program of cooperative re25 search, development, demonstration, and commercial ap-
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1 plication activities on advanced technologies for medium2 to heavy-duty commercial, recreational, and transit vehi3 cles, including activities in the areas of— 

4 (1) engine efficiency and combustion research; 

5 (2) on board storage technologies for com6 pressed and liquefied natural gas; 

7 (3) development and integration of engine tech8 nologies designed for natural gas operation of a vari9 ety of vehicle platforms; 

10 (4) waste heat recovery and conversion; 

11 (5) improved aerodynamics and tire rolling re12 sistance; 

13 (6) energy and space-efficient emissions control 

14 systems; 

15 (7) heavy hybrid, hybrid hydraulic, plug-in hy16 brid, and electric platforms, and energy storage 

17 technologies; 

18 (8) drivetrain optimization; 

19 (9) friction and wear reduction; 

20 (10) engine idle and parasitic energy loss reduc21 tion; 

22 (11) electrification of accessory loads; 

23 (12) onboard sensing and communications tech24 nologies; 
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1 (13) advanced lightweighting materials and ve2 hicle designs; 

3 (14) increasing load capacity per vehicle; 

4 (15) thermal management of battery systems; 

5 (16) recharging infrastructure; 

6 (17) complete vehicle modeling and simulation; 

7 (18) hydrogen vehicle technologies, including 

8 fuel cells and internal combustion engines, and hy9 drogen infrastructure; 

10 (19) retrofitting advanced technologies onto ex11 isting truck fleets; and 

12 (20) integration of these and other advanced 

13 systems onto a single truck and trailer platform. 

14 (b) LEADERSHIP.—The Secretary shall appoint a 

15 full-time Director to coordinate research, development, 

16 demonstration, and commercial application activities in 

17 medium- to heavy-duty commercial, recreational, and tran18 sit vehicle technologies. Responsibilities of the Director 

19 shall be to— 

20 (1) improve coordination and develop consensus 

21 between government agency and industry partners, 

22 and propose new processes for program management 

23 and priority setting to better align activities and 

24 budgets among partners; 
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1 (2) regularly convene workshops, site visits, 

2 demonstrations, conferences, investor forums, and 

3 other events in which information and research find4 ings are shared among program participants and in5 terested stakeholders; 

6 (3) develop a budget for the Department’s ac7 tivities with regard to the interagency program, and 

8 provide consultation and guidance on vehicle tech9 nology funding priorities across agencies; 

10 (4) determine a process for reviewing program 

11 technical goals, targets, and timetables and, where 

12 applicable, aided by life-cycle impact and cost anal13 ysis, propose revisions or elimination based on pro14 gram progress, available funding, and rate of tech15 nology adoption; 

16 (5) evaluate ongoing activities of the program 

17 and recommend project modifications, including the 

18 termination of projects, where applicable; 

19 (6) recruit new industry participants to the 

20 interagency program, including truck, trailer, and 

21 component manufacturers who have not traditionally 

22 participated in federally sponsored research and 

23 technology development activities; and 
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1 (7) other responsibilities as determined by the 

2 Secretary, in consultation with interagency and in3 dustry partners. 

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

5 Secretary shall submit to the Congress an annual report 

6 describing activities undertaken in the previous year, ac7 tive industry participants, efforts to recruit new partici8 pants, progress of the program in meeting goals and 

9 timelines, and a strategic plan for funding of activities 

10 across agencies. 

11 SEC. 202. CLASS 8 TRUCK AND TRAILER SYSTEMS DEM12 ONSTRATION. 

13 The Secretary shall conduct a competitive grant pro14 gram to demonstrate the integration of multiple advanced 

15 technologies on Class 8 truck and trailer platforms with 

16 a goal of improving overall freight efficiency, as measured 

17 in tons and volume of freight hauled or other work per18 formance-based metrics, by 50 percent, including a com19 bination of technologies listed in section 201(a). Applicant 

20 teams may be comprised of truck and trailer manufactur21 ers, engine and component manufacturers, fleet cus22 tomers, university researchers, and other applicants as ap23 propriate for the development and demonstration of inte24 grated Class 8 truck and trailer systems. 
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1 SEC. 203. TECHNOLOGY TESTING AND METRICS. 

2 The Secretary, in coordination with the partners of 

3 the interagency research program described in section 

4 201(a)— 

5 (1) shall develop standard testing procedures 

6 and technologies for evaluating the performance of 

7 advanced heavy vehicle technologies under a range of 

8 representative duty cycles and operating conditions, 

9 including for heavy hybrid propulsion systems; 

10 (2) shall evaluate heavy vehicle performance 

11 using work performance-based metrics other than 

12 those based on miles per gallon, including those 

13 based on units of volume and weight transported for 

14 freight applications, and appropriate metrics based 

15 on the work performed by nonroad systems; and 

16 (3) may construct heavy duty truck and bus 

17 testing facilities. 

18 SEC. 204. NONROAD SYSTEMS PILOT PROGRAM. 

19 The Secretary shall undertake a pilot program of re20 search, development, demonstration, and commercial ap21 plications of technologies to improve total machine or sys22 tem efficiency for nonroad mobile equipment including ag23 ricultural and construction equipment, and shall seek op24 portunities to transfer relevant research findings and tech-
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1 nologies between the nonroad and on-highway equipment 

2 and vehicle sectors. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 16, 

2009. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3246 

AN ACT 

To provide for a program of research, development, 

hicle technologies at the Department of Energy. demonstration, and commercial application in ve-