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Title II — Medium and Heavy Duty Commercial and Transit Vehicles

S. 488 · 113th Congress · Mar 7, 2013 · Lineage

II Medium and Heavy Duty Commercial and Transit Vehicles

201. Program

(a)
In general— The Secretary, in partnership with relevant research and development programs in other Federal agencies, and a range of appropriate industry stakeholders, shall 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, including activities in the areas of—
(1)
engine efficiency and combustion research;
(2)
onboard storage technologies for compressed natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas;
(3)
development and integration of engine technologies designed for compressed natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas operation of a variety of vehicle platforms;
(4)
waste heat recovery and conversion;
(5)
improved aerodynamics and tire rolling resistance;
(6)
energy and space-efficient emissions control systems;
(7)
heavy hybrid, hybrid hydraulic, plug-in hybrid, and electric platforms, and energy storage technologies;
(8)
drivetrain optimization;
(9)
friction and wear reduction;
(10)
engine idle and parasitic energy loss reduction;
(11)
electrification of accessory loads;
(12)
onboard sensing and communications technologies;
(13)
advanced lightweighting materials and vehicle designs;
(14)
increasing load capacity per vehicle;
(15)
thermal management of battery systems;
(16)
recharging infrastructure;
(17)
compressed natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas infrastructure;
(18)
advanced internal combustion engines;
(19)
complete vehicle modeling and simulation;
(20)
hydrogen vehicle technologies, including fuel cells and internal combustion engines, and hydrogen infrastructure;
(21)
retrofitting advanced technologies onto existing truck fleets; and
(22)
integration of these and other advanced systems onto a single truck and trailer platform.
(b)
Leadership— The Secretary shall appoint a full-time Director to coordinate research, development, demonstration, and commercial application activities in medium- to heavy-duty commercial, recreational, and transit vehicle technologies. Responsibilities of the Director shall be to—
(1)
improve coordination and develop consensus between government agency and industry partners, and propose new processes for program management and priority setting to better align activities and budgets among partners;
(2)
regularly convene workshops, site visits, demonstrations, conferences, investor forums, and other events in which information and research findings are shared among program participants and interested stakeholders;
(3)
develop a budget for the Department’s activities with regard to the interagency program, and provide consultation and guidance on vehicle technology funding priorities across agencies;
(4)
determine a process for reviewing program technical goals, targets, and timetables and, where applicable, aided by life-cycle impact and cost analysis, propose revisions or elimination based on program progress, available funding, and rate of technology adoption;
(5)
evaluate ongoing activities of the program and recommend project modifications, including the termination of projects, where applicable;
(6)
recruit new industry participants to the interagency program, including truck, trailer, and component manufacturers who have not traditionally participated in federally sponsored research and technology development activities; and
(7)
other responsibilities as determined by the Secretary, in consultation with interagency and industry partners.
(c)
Reporting— At the end of each fiscal year, the Secretary shall submit to the Congress an annual report describing activities undertaken in the previous year, active industry participants, efforts to recruit new participants, progress of the program in meeting goals and timelines, and a strategic plan for funding of activities across agencies.

202. Class 8 truck and trailer systems demonstration

The Secretary shall 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, as measured in tons and volume of freight hauled or other work performance-based metrics, by 50 percent, including a combination of technologies listed in section 201(a). Applicant teams may be comprised of truck and trailer manufacturers, engine and component manufacturers, fleet customers, university researchers, and other applicants as appropriate for the development and demonstration of integrated Class 8 truck and trailer systems.

203. Technology testing and metrics

The Secretary, in coordination with the partners of the interagency research program described in section 201(a)—
(1)
shall 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, including for heavy hybrid propulsion systems;
(2)
shall evaluate heavy vehicle performance using work performance-based metrics other than those based on miles per gallon, including those based on units of volume and weight transported for freight applications, and appropriate metrics based on the work performed by nonroad systems; and
(3)
may construct heavy duty truck and bus testing facilities.

204. Nonroad systems pilot program

The Secretary shall undertake a pilot program of research, development, demonstration, and commercial applications of technologies to improve total machine or system efficiency for nonroad mobile equipment including agricultural and construction equipment, and shall seek opportunities to transfer relevant research findings and technologies between the nonroad and on-highway equipment and vehicle sectors.

205. Repeal of existing authorities

(a)
In general— Sections 706, 711, 712, and 933 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16051, 16061, 16062, 16233) are repealed.
(b)
Energy efficiency— Section 911 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16191) is amended—
(1)
in subsection (a)—
(A)
in paragraph (1)(A), by striking “vehicles, buildings,” and inserting “buildings”; and
(B)
in paragraph (2)—
(i)
by striking subparagraph (A); and
(ii)
by redesignating subparagraphs (B) through (E) as subparagraphs (A) through (D), respectively; and
(2)
in subsection (c)—
(A)
by striking paragraph (3);
(B)
by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph (3); and
(C)
in paragraph (3) (as so redesignated), by striking “(a)(2)(D)” and inserting “(a)(2)(C)”.
(c)
Energy storage competitiveness— Section 641 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17231) is amended—
(1)
by striking subsection (j);
(2)
by redesignating subsections (k) through (p) as subsections (j) through (o), respectively; and
(3)
in subsection (o) (as so redesignated)—
(A)
in paragraph (2), by striking “and;” after the semicolon at the end;
(B)
in paragraph (4), by inserting “and” after the semicolon at the end;
(C)
by striking paragraph (5);
(D)
by redesignating paragraph (6) as paragraph (5); and
(E)
in paragraph (5) (as so redesignated), by striking “subsection (k)” and inserting “subsection (j)”.