Topic: Energy — R&D
Subject: Energy
Date: 2011-04-05 00:00:00

Advanced Vehicle Technology Act of 2011 - Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary of Energy for research, development, demonstration, and commercial application of vehicles and related technologies for FY2012-FY2016. Directs the Secretary to: (1) conduct a program of basic and applied research, development, engineering, demonstration, and commercial application activities on materials, technologies, and processes with the potential to substantially reduce or eliminate petroleum use and related emissions of the nation's passenger and commercial vehicles; (2) ensure that the Department of Energy (DOE) continues to support research, development, engineering, demonstration, and commercial application activities and maintains competency in mid- to long-term transformational vehicle technologies with potential to achieve deep reductions in petroleum use and emissions; (3) carry out activities under this Act in collaboration with automotive manufacturers, heavy commercial, vocational, and transit vehicle manufacturers, qualified plug-in electric vehicle manufacturers, compressed natural gas vehicle manufacturers, vehicle and engine equipment and component manufacturers, manufacturing equipment manufacturers, advanced vehicle service providers, fuel producers and energy suppliers, electric utilities, universities, national laboratories, and independent research laboratories; (4) coordinate research, development, demonstration, and commercial application activities among relevant programs of the Department and other federal agencies and ensure that there is no duplication of activities among programs; (5) seek opportunities to leverage resources and support state and local initiatives in developing and promoting advanced vehicle technologies, manufacturing, and infrastructure; (6) coordinate with other agencies to conduct research, development, engineering, and demonstration activities on connectivity of vehicle and transportation systems; (7) carry out a research, development, demonstration, engineering, and commercial application program of advanced vehicle manufacturing technologies and practices; and (8) report annually on the technologies developed as a result of the activities authorized by this Act, with emphasis on whether the technologies were successfully adopted for commercial applications and whether products relying on those technologies are manufactured in the United States. Directs the Secretary to: (1) carry out a program of cooperative research, development, demonstration, and commercial application activities on advanced technologies for medium- to heavy-duty commercial, vocational, recreational, and transit vehicles and appoint a Director to coordinate such activities; (2) conduct a competitive grant program to demonstrate the integration of multiple advanced technologies on Class 8 truck and trailer platforms with a goal of improving overall freight efficiency by 50%; (3) develop standard testing procedures and technologies for evaluating the performance of advanced heavy vehicle technologies under a range of representative duty cycles and operating conditions; and (4) evaluate heavy vehicle performance using work performance-based metrics, other than those based on miles per gallon, and appropriate metrics based on the work performed by nonroad systems. Requires the Secretary to undertake a pilot program of research, development, demonstration, and commercial applications of technologies to improve total machine or system efficiency for nonroad equipment and to seek opportunities to transfer research findings and technologies between the nonroad and on-highway equipment and vehicle sectors.