Sec. 2043. Vehicle research and development program
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The Secretary shall 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 the emissions of passenger and commercial vehicles in the United States, including activities in the areas of— hybridization or full electrification of vehicle systems; batteries and other energy storage devices; power electronics; vehicle, component, and subsystem manufacturing technologies and processes; engine efficiency and combustion optimization; waste heat recovery; transmission and drivetrains; hydrogen vehicle technologies, including fuel cells and internal combustion engines, and hydrogen infrastructure, including hydrogen energy storage to enable renewables and provide hydrogen for fuel and power; natural gas vehicle technologies; aerodynamics, rolling resistance (including tires and wheel assemblies), and accessory power loads of vehicles and associated equipment; vehicle weight reduction, including lightweighting materials and the development of manufacturing processes to fabricate, assemble, and use dissimilar materials; friction and wear reduction; engine and component durability; innovative propulsion systems; advanced boosting systems; hydraulic hybrid technologies; engine compatibility with and optimization for a variety of transportation fuels including natural gas and other liquid and gaseous fuels; predictive engineering, modeling, and simulation of vehicle and transportation systems; refueling and charging infrastructure for alternative fueled and electric or plug-in electric hybrid vehicles, including the unique challenges facing rural areas; gaseous fuels storage systems and system integration and optimization; sensing, communications, and actuation technologies for vehicle, electrical grid, and infrastructure; efficient use, substitution, and recycling of potentially critical materials in vehicles, including rare earth elements and precious metals, at risk of supply disruption; aftertreatment technologies; thermal management of battery systems; retrofitting advanced vehicle technologies to existing vehicles; development of common standards, specifications, and architectures for both transportation and stationary battery applications; advanced internal combustion engines; mild hybrid; engine down speeding; and other research areas as determined by the Secretary.
The Secretary shall ensure that the Department 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, including activities in the areas of— hydrogen vehicle technologies, including fuel cells, hydrogen storage, infrastructure, and activities in hydrogen technology validation and safety codes and standards; multiple battery chemistries and novel energy storage devices, including nonchemical batteries and electromechanical storage technologies such as hydraulics, flywheels, and compressed air storage; communication and connectivity among vehicles, infrastructure, and the electrical grid; and other innovative technologies research and development, as determined by the Secretary.
To the maximum extent practicable, activities under this section shall be carried out in partnership or 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, institutions of higher education, the National Laboratories (as that term is defined in section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 ( 42 U.S.C. 15801 )), and independent research laboratories.
In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall— determine whether a wide range of companies that manufacture or assemble vehicles or components in the United States are represented in ongoing public private partnership activities, including firms that have not traditionally participated in federally sponsored research and development activities; and if possible, partner with firms described in subclause
(II)that conduct significant and relevant research and development activities in the United States; leverage the capabilities and resources of, and formalize partnerships with, industry-led stakeholder organizations, nonprofit organizations, industry consortia, and trade associations with expertise in the research and development of, and education and outreach activities in, advanced automotive and commercial vehicle technologies; develop more effective processes for transferring research findings and technologies to industry; give consideration to conversion of existing or former vehicle technology development or manufacturing facilities for the purposes of this section; support public-private partnerships dedicated to overcoming barriers in commercial application of transformational vehicle technologies that use the industry-led technology development facilities of entities with demonstrated expertise in successfully designing and engineering pre-commercial generations of transformational vehicle technology; and promote efforts to ensure that technology research, development, engineering, and commercial application activities funded under this section are carried out in the United States. To the maximum extent practicable, the Secretary shall coordinate research, development, demonstration, and commercial application activities among— relevant programs within the Department, including— the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy; the Office of Science; the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability; the Office of Fossil Energy; the Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy; and other offices as determined by the Secretary; and relevant technology research and development programs within other Federal agencies, as determined by the Secretary. In coordinating activities carried out under this section, the Secretary shall ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, that the activities do not duplicate those of other programs within the Department or other relevant research agencies. The Secretary shall make information available to procurement programs of Federal agencies regarding the potential to demonstrate technologies resulting from activities funded through programs under this section. The Secretary shall seek opportunities to leverage resources and support initiatives of State and local governments in developing and promoting advanced vehicle technologies, manufacturing, and infrastructure. In awarding grants under this program, the Secretary shall give priority to those technologies (either individually or as part of a system) that— provide the greatest aggregate fuel savings based on the reasonable projected sales volumes of the technology; and provide the greatest increase in employment in the United States. The Secretary, in coordination with the relevant research programs of other Federal agencies, shall conduct research, development, engineering, demonstration, and deployment activities on connectivity of vehicle roadway, vulnerable road users, traffic control systems, and transportation data systems, including on sensing, data, computation, communication, cybersecurity, and actuation technologies that allow for improved safety, reduced energy and fuel use, optimized traffic flow, and vehicle electrification, including technologies for— onboard vehicle, engine, transmission and component sensing, actuation, and calibration; vehicle-to-vehicle sensing and communication; vehicle-to-infrastructure sensing and communication; vehicle-to-pedestrian and vehicle-to-bicyclist sensing and communication; and vehicle integration with the electrical grid. The Secretary shall carry out a research, development, engineering, demonstration, and commercial application program of advanced vehicle manufacturing technologies and practices, including innovative processes— to increase the production rate and decrease the cost of advanced battery and fuel cell manufacturing; to vary the capability of individual manufacturing facilities to accommodate different battery chemistries and configurations; to reduce waste streams, emissions, and energy intensity of vehicle, engine, advanced battery and component manufacturing processes; to recycle and remanufacture used batteries and other vehicle components for reuse in vehicles or stationary applications; to develop manufacturing processes to effectively fabricate, assemble, and produce cost-effective lightweight materials such as advanced aluminum and other metal alloys, polymeric composites, and carbon fiber for use in vehicles; to produce lightweight high pressure storage systems for gaseous fuels; to design and manufacture purpose-built hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and components; to improve the calendar life and cycle life of advanced batteries; and to produce permanent magnets for advanced vehicles. Activities under this section may include construction, expansion, or modification of new and existing vehicle, engine, and component research and testing facilities for— testing or simulating interoperability of a variety of vehicle components and systems, including the technologies described in subsection (b); subjecting whole or partial vehicle platforms to fully representative duty cycles and operating conditions; developing and demonstrating a range of chemistries and configurations for advanced vehicle battery manufacturing; developing and demonstrating test cycles for new and alternative fuels, and other advanced vehicle technologies; developing and demonstrating methods to charge electric vehicles and connect them to the electric grid; and developing, testing, and demonstrating hydrogen and natural gas refueling station technologies. Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act and annually thereafter through 2020, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report regarding the technologies developed as a result of the activities authorized by this section, with a particular emphasis on whether the technologies were successfully adopted for commercial applications, and if so, whether products relying on those technologies are manufactured in the United States. At the end of each fiscal year through 2020 the Secretary shall submit to the relevant Congressional committees of jurisdiction an annual report describing activities undertaken in the previous year under this section, active industry participants, efforts to recruit new participants committed to design, engineering, and manufacturing of advanced vehicle technologies in the United States, progress of the program in meeting goals and timelines, and a strategic plan for funding of activities across agencies.
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Sec. 2043
Vehicle research and development program
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