S. HRG. 115–499 THE ROAD TO TOMORROW: ENERGY INNOVATION IN AUTOMOTIVE TECHNOLOGIES FIELD HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION TO EXAMINE THE OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES FACING VEHICLE TECHNOLOGIES, ESPECIALLY ENERGY-RELEVANT TECHNOLOGIES JANUARY 25, 2018 ( Printed for the use of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 28–696 WASHINGTON : 2019 COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska, Chairman JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming MARIA CANTWELL, Washington JAMES E. RISCH, Idaho RON WYDEN, Oregon MIKE LEE, Utah BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont JEFF FLAKE, Arizona DEBBIE STABENOW, Michigan STEVE DAINES, Montana JOE MANCHIN III, West Virginia CORY GARDNER, Colorado MARTIN HEINRICH, New Mexico LAMAR ALEXANDER, Tennessee MAZIE K. HIRONO, Hawaii JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota ANGUS S. KING, JR., Maine BILL CASSIDY, Louisiana TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois ROB PORTMAN, Ohio CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia TINA SMITH, Minnesota BRIAN HUGHES, Staff Director PATRICK J. MCCORMICK III, Chief Counsel DR. BENJAMIN REINKE, Professional Staff Member MELISSA ENRIQUEZ, Executive Assistant MARY LOUISE WAGNER, Democratic Staff Director SAM E. FOWLER, Democratic Chief Counsel NICK SUTTER, Democratic Professional Staff Member (II) C O N T E N T S OPENING STATEMENTS Page Murkowski, Hon. Lisa, Chairman and a U.S. Senator from Alaska ................... 1 Stabenow, Hon. Debbie, a U.S. Senator from Michigan ....................................... 3 Manchin III, Hon. Joe, a U.S. Senator from West Virginia ................................. 4 WITNESSES Khaleel, Dr. Mohammad A., Associate Laboratory Director for Energy and Environmental Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory ............................... 6 Bailo, Carla, President and CEO, Center for Automotive Research ................... 29 Dorobantu, Dr. Mihai, Director, Technology Planning and Government Af- fairs, Eaton – Vehicle Group ............................................................................... 62 Gross, Britta, Director, Advanced Vehicle Commercialization Policy, General Motors Company .................................................................................................. 68 Wimmer, Robert, Director, Energy & Environmental Research, Toyota Motor North America, Inc. ............................................................................................. 75 ALPHABETICAL LISTING AND APPENDIX MATERIAL SUBMITTED Bailo, Carla: Opening Statement ........................................................................................... 29 Written Testimony ............................................................................................ 31 Responses to Questions for the Record ........................................................... 112 Dorobantu, Dr. Mihai: Opening Statement ........................................................................................... 62 Written Testimony ............................................................................................ 64 Gross, Britta: Opening Statement ........................................................................................... 68 Written Testimony ............................................................................................ 70 Responses to Questions for the Record ........................................................... 115 Khaleel, Dr. Mohammad A.: Opening Statement ........................................................................................... 6 Written Testimony ............................................................................................ 9 Responses to Questions for the Record ........................................................... 106 Manchin III, Hon. Joe: Opening Statement ........................................................................................... 4 Murkowski, Hon. Lisa: Opening Statement ........................................................................................... 1 Stabenow, Hon. Debbie: Opening Statement ........................................................................................... 3 Wimmer, Robert: Opening Statement ........................................................................................... 75 Written Testimony ............................................................................................ 77 Responses to Questions for the Record ........................................................... 117 (III) THE ROAD TO TOMORROW: ENERGY INNOVATION IN AUTOMOTIVE TECHNOLOGIES THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2018 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES, Washington, DC. The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:10 a.m. at the Washington Convention Center, West Salon Room, 801 Mount Vernon Place NW, Washington, DC, Hon. Lisa Murkowski, Chair- man of the Committee, presiding. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. LISA MURKOWSKI, U.S. SENATOR FROM ALASKA The CHAIRMAN. Good morning. The Committee will come to order. It is a little bit unusual to be here at the convention center for an energy hearing, but I think it is certainly appropriate given the subject matter that we are discussing today. I certainly did not mind the short commute over here, and it is a great setting to be at the Auto Show surrounded by the latest and the greatest the auto industry has to offer. I am joined this morning by Senator Stabenow, from the great State of Michigan, and she has encouraged me that while the Washington Auto Show is good, the Detroit Auto Show is great. [Laughter.] So that might be the locale for our next field hearing—— Senator STABENOW. That’s right. The CHAIRMAN. ——next year on this same subject. I appreciate you standing in or sitting in here this morning for Senator Cantwell, our Ranking Member on the Committee. I understand that Senator Manchin will also be with us, but he is enjoying the Auto Show right now and he will be here as soon as he can peel himself away from some of the latest and the great- est. I do want to thank the City of Washington for hosting us. I also want to thank the Washington Area New Auto Dealers Association, which puts on this Auto Show every year, for helping us coordinate the hearing. I really do think that this is an exciting time for the automotive sector, a host of new technologies that have emerged in the recent years. Lightweight materials like carbon fiber, titanium, aluminum and composites are increasing vehicle efficiency while boosting per- formance. (1) 2 At the same time, advanced manufacturing technologies, like 3D printing, are decreasing the time and the cost of bringing new con- cepts to market. This has increased the productivity of our auto- motive suppliers, allowing U.S. manufacturers to thrive in a hypercompetitive global market. Lithium-ion battery prices are fall- ing precipitously and a new generation of batteries is powering to- day’s electric vehicles, like the Chevy Bolt and Tesla’s Model 3. Meanwhile, sales and consumer adoption have increased for other alternative fuel vehicles, including the hydrogen-powered Toyota Mirai. While technologies are changing, so, too, are policies, in many countries across the map. In the past year a number of nations have issued new targets, mandates and regulations. India, for in- stance, has committed to banning petroleum-powered vehicles by the year 2030. France has made that same commitment by 2040. China, which has the world’s largest automotive market, has man- dated that 10 percent of the vehicles sold by an automaker be elec- tric by the year 2019, with annual target increases after that. Here in the United States, I think we are going to do what we do best, probably better than anyone in the world, and that is innovate. I am particularly interested in hearing from our witnesses this morning about the status of their efforts, whether at private com- panies or national laboratories, and how research across the tech- nology readiness spectrum can be brought to market. As we think about new automotive technologies, I think it is im- portant that we ensure that our federal policies are modern, that they are neutral and that they are working as intended. We also need to make this a holistic determination by considering how elec- tric and hydrogen vehicles will affect, and be affected by, our en- ergy system. I was mentioning as we were gathering in the back just before this, that in Alaska, in our capital city of Juneau, which is on an island, we have a burgeoning electric vehicle market. The local util- ity provides nearly 100 percent renewable power to its customers by way of five hydroelectric plants, and it is engaged in a pretty successful demand response program to incentivize charging at spe- cific times during the day. These efforts are cutting costs and emis- sions and the result that we are seeing in Juneau is one new EV registration per week which in a smaller community, it is about 35,000 people there in our capital, that is meaningful. That is meaningful, and it is really kind of exciting. Many of our remote communities up in the state are completely disconnected from a traditional grid, and yet we are innovating in some ways that are pretty unique, bringing local resources together to decrease costs in very high cost rural areas. Last year, we held a field hearing, Senator Cantwell was able to join us. We were in Cordova, a little fishing village in southcentral