    [Senate Hearing 115-499]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                                                         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

                                   __________

    [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

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                   Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

            Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov

                                   __________

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    28-696 PDF                  WASHINGTON : 2019

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                   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

                                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 Affairs, 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

                             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, Chairman 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 greatest.
        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 performance.
        At the same time, advanced manufacturing technologies, like
    3D printing, are decreasing the time and the cost of bringing
    new concepts to market. This has increased the productivity of
    our automotive suppliers, allowing U.S. manufacturers to thrive
    in a hypercompetitive global market. Lithium-ion battery prices
    are falling precipitously and a new generation of batteries is
    powering today'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 instance, 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 mandated that 10 percent of the vehicles sold by an
    automaker be electric 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 companies or national laboratories, and how research
    across the technology readiness spectrum can be brought to
    market.
        As we think about new automotive technologies, I think it
    is important 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 electric and hydrogen vehicles will affect, and
    be affected by, our energy 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 utility 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 specific times during the day. These
    efforts are cutting costs and emissions 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 Alaska, not connected by road to anywhere
    else--not a transportation grid and not an electric grid. We
    focused on hybrid microgrids. Now Cordova's innovators are
    working with the national labs, with the University of Alaska
    and industry to further test the bounds of their microgrids.
    One of their next steps will be installing four EV chargers at
    their city center and studying how EV charging can benefit
    their microgrid. So we are testing applications even in the
    furthest north of this country.
        This morning, I am happy to welcome a distinguished panel
    of witnesses to tell us about the next generation of advanced
    vehicle technologies. We have representation from across the
    automotive sector and across multiple technology development
    stages, from research to suppliers to automakers.
        We have considerable opportunities in front of us, but we
    also have a lot of work to do to realize them, whether it is
    moving our most promising concepts from the lab benchtop to the
    dealership lot and out onto the road; or whether it is
    addressing lesser recognized challenges, such as our mineral
    security, which could make or break entire technologies. We
    cannot allow that to worsen as advanced vehicle technologies
    are increasingly adopted.
        So again, I thank our witnesses in advance of your
    testimonies for being here this morning and all who helped make
    the hearing possible.
        I will now turn to Senator Stabenow for any comments that
    you wish to make, and I am pleased that you are with us this
    morning.

                  STATEMENT OF HON. DEBBIE STABENOW,
                       U.S. SENATOR FROM MICHIGAN

        Senator Stabenow. Well, thank you so much, Madam Chair, for
    holding the field hearing today. I really appreciate your focus
    on this very exciting area of automation and transportation and
    energy. We look forward to having you at some point in Detroit.
    We would welcome you there as well. I also want to thank all of
    the witnesses. I have to tell you that I am very proud that of
    our five witnesses, three are from Michigan. Michigan is in the
    house here today.
        [Laughter.]
        There is a good reason for that. It is because that is
    where the action is on these issues.
        So I want to welcome all of you, particularly Britta Gross
    of Detroit, who is the Director of Advanced Vehicle
    Commercialization Policy for General Motors; Carla Bailo of Ann
    Arbor, who is the CEO of the Center for Automotive Research;
    and Dr. Mihai Dorobantu from Eaton and Galesburg, Michigan.
        We thank all of you for being here and for our witnesses
    not from Michigan, you are welcome to move to Michigan.
        [Laughter.]
        We would love to have you.
        You know, I have often said that Michigan's workers can
    out-build, out-innovate and out-imagine anyone, and we are
    proud of that. A lot of that building, innovating and imagining
    is centering around automobiles and transportation. That has
    been true for 100 years or more, and it is very true today.
        One out of every five vehicles manufactured is manufactured
    in Michigan, and our state's 944,000 auto-related jobs account
    for about 20 percent out of our total workforce.
        We used to say this isn't your father's Oldsmobile. I
    actually grew up on an Oldsmobile car lot in Northern Michigan,
    but we don't do Oldsmobiles anymore. But I will say it is also
    not your grandfather's Chevy or Ford.
        We know that mobility and transportation is rapidly
    evolving. I think more than we even realize that things are
    moving very quickly, both here in the United States and around
    the globe.
        That is why we are proud that Michigan is the home of the
    American Center for Mobility, focusing on all of these issues.
    I had a chance to see some of that great evolution just last
    week at the North American Auto Show--from the emergence of new
    engines powered by electricity or hydrogen rather than oil.
        Did you buy a car, Joe?
        [Laughter.]
        Did you buy one? I want to know.
        Senator Manchin. I am still negotiating.
        Senator Stabenow. Alright, alright.
        To the new lightweight materials and designs to rapidly
    evolving autonomous technologies, these breakthroughs will
    change the way we take our kids to school, go to work and get
    the products that we make to market. Best of all, they have the
    potential to dramatically improve safety and cut the amount of
    carbon we are emitting.
        However, we know that leadership is not a given. If the
    United States does not continue to invest in new automotive
    technologies, we will be left idling in a cloud of dust while
    the rest of the world speeds ahead of us.
        We can't let that happen. To stay in the lead, we need
    strong partnerships between industry and our scientists at the
    Department of Energy and research institutions and all of us
    together. That is why I appreciate the Chair's support for the
    bipartisan Vehicle Innovation Act that Senators Peters,
    Alexander and I introduced in the past, and have reintroduced.
    It is part of the Energy bill on the Floor of the Senate, which
    I strongly support moving forward on. So I want to thank you
    for that.
        I look forward to hearing from our partners today about the
    new research, the new technologies and the new approaches that
    are driving us forward.
        Thank you, Madam Chair.
        The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Stabenow.
        I have an opportunity to engage in just fascinating
    discussion as we have hearings before the Energy Committee. I
    think some of the subjects that we deal with are the most
    captivating of our time.
        My husband and I have raised two sons. They are in their
    mid- to early-20s right now, and they look at their mother's
    job sometimes with, oh, gosh, how do you sit through all that?
    This is one hearing that caused them to actually say, she's got
    a pretty good job.
        [Laughter.]
        Senator Manchin, would you care to make any opening
    comments before we turn to our witnesses?

                  STATEMENT OF HON. JOE MANCHIN III,
                    U.S. SENATOR FROM WEST VIRGINIA

        Senator Manchin. Thank you, Madam Chairman. It is a
    pleasure to be here with both of you.
        I want to thank Lisa for setting this up here--the most
    appropriate place for us to be and also for Debbie, our Ranking
    Member, to be here also from Detroit City.
        Senator Stabenow. That is right. That is right.
        [Laughter.]
        Senator Manchin. I am an old gearhead, so I am a little bit
    late because I was admiring all the new products.
        [Laughter.]
        I have owned everything from General Motors, to Ford, to
    Chrysler, to Toyota. If you make it, I will buy it.
        [Laughter.]
        I really do. I just appreciate it, and I think you all are
    so lucky to be in this industry. They say, if you find a job
    that you love, you never work a day of your life. If you are in
    the auto industry, I think that is true.
        So I want to thank the Committee for hosting this hearing.
        I want us to talk a little bit about West Virginia
    University (WVU). As you know, my alma mater has been competing
    in advanced vehicle technology competitions since 1988,
    beginning with the Methanol Marathon. WVU is actually one of
    the 16 universities chosen to compete in the latest advanced
    vehicle technology challenge, EcoCAR 3. We have over 60
    undergraduate, graduate and Ph.D. students working on this
    project. The multiyear project aims to create a hybrid electric
    Chevy Camaro that reduces the environmental impact but still
    delivers performance. A very exciting project to be discussing,
    especially at this year's Auto Show. I am happy to see Toyota
    represented on the panel.
        I just did a little interview live that was going to go
    back to our Buffalo plant in Buffalo, West Virginia, where they
    make the drivetrain. Now they make the engines they start up,
    the four-cylinder engine, 25 years ago.
        The whole thing about the evolution of the Toyota plant in
    West Virginia, Dr. Toyota. I met him when I was Governor--I had
    gone to Nagoya, Japan, with then-Senator Rockefeller. Dr.
    Toyota was so excited to tell me that against all of the advice
    of all of his high-powered engineers and his business
    consultants, who recommended do not put an engine plant there.
    He was determined to do it, and he put that engine plant in
    Buffalo, West Virginia. Not only has the engine plant become a
    success, it has become a model for Toyota manufacturing. It has
    now grown, and some of the most sophisticated engines in the
    world are made there. Then they went into the drivetrains.
        I was standing by a Highlander, and I said I want you to
    see this beautiful vehicle. Without West Virginia labor, it
    would not move. I said, this thing would not move without the
    engine you put in it and without the drivetrain that you made
    for it. I was very proud of that. We are proud of the Buffalo
    plant and manufacturers of the engines and transmissions.
        Toyota employs 1,900 workers in West Virginia,
    approximately 1,300 in this plant and over 600 at 13 Toyota
    dealerships across the state. Investment by Toyota Motor
    Manufacturing through West Virginia totals more than $1.2
    billion, producing over 697,000 engines and 537,000
    transmissions. Toyota also supports 900 jobs of our automotive
    suppliers. Their contribution to West Virginia's economy is
    vital, and I am glad they are part of our great state. I want
    to thank all of you from Toyota for what you have enabled us to
    do, and all your help for the people of West Virginia.
        I look forward to working with all of you and all of the
    industry. It is very important and so goes the auto industry,
    so goes us. We do not move without you. We are very proud to be
    here, and I look forward to participating until they call us
    and make us go back to the Hill. All three of us would rather
    be right here----
        Senator Stabenow. That is right.
        Senator Manchin. ----than on the Hill.
        [Laughter.]
        The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Manchin.
        With that, we will now turn to our witnesses. I will
    introduce each of you. We will go down the line, beginning with
    Dr. Khaleel.
        I would ask that you try to keep your comments to about
    five minutes. Your full statements will be included as part of
    the record. That will allow us plenty of opportunity to make
    inquiry, provide for questions and answers, going back and
    forth and, hopefully, good dialogue this morning.
        Joining us on this morning's important panel is Dr.
    Mohammad Khaleel. He is the Associate Laboratory Director for
    the Energy and Environmental Sciences Directorate at Oak Ridge
    National Laboratory (ORNL). We appreciate the good work that
    comes from our many national labs around the country. It is
    good to have you this morning.
        Ms. Carla Bailo, who is the President and CEO at the Center
    for Automotive Research, has already been acknowledged by
    Senator Stabenow. Nice to meet you and to have you here.
        Dr. Mihai Dorobantu, who is the Director for the Technology
    Planning and Government Affairs at Eaton Vehicle Group. Again,
    a Michiganer, and is that right?
        Senator Stabenow. Michigander.
        The Chairman. Michigander, okay.
        Senator Stabenow. Yes.
        The Chairman. Okay, I have to get that right.
        Ms. Britta Gross, also a Michigander, Director, Advanced
    Vehicles Commercialization at General Motors. Nice to have you
    with us.
        And Mr. Robert Wimmer is the Director for the Energy and
    Environmental Research with Toyota. It is good to have the full
    panel with us.
        Dr. Khaleel, if you would like to start off this morning,
    and we welcome you.

      STATEMENT OF DR. MOHAMMAD A. KHALEEL, ASSOCIATE LABORATORY
       DIRECTOR FOR ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES, OAK RIDGE
                          NATIONAL LABORATORY

        Dr. Khaleel. Thank you, Senator.
        Chairman Murkowski and members of the Committee, thank you
    for the opportunity to appear before you today with this
    distinguished panel.
        Today, I want to discuss the challenges and opportunities
    we see in the nation's transportation sector. The rapid
    increase in vehicle electrification and the introduction of
    autonomous vehicles is revolutionizing the transportation.
    These technologies will forever change personal mobility, the
    movement of goods and the society in fundamental ways. A smooth
    transition to this future requires scientific innovations.
        At Oak Ridge National Lab our scientists and engineers work
    with the industry and other partners to produce breakthroughs
    for most efficient and cleanest forms of transportation. For
    example, our staff enable to innovate in the area of safer,
    high energy, density vehicle batteries. We have increased the
    battery energy content fivefold while lowering the cost by a
    factor of five. We co-optimized engines and fuels with ultra-
    low emissions and ultra-high efficiencies. An electric motor
    made with low cost domestic materials--that generates
    significantly more power than the electric motor that uses rare
    earth elements that we use today.
        It was at the ORNL's National Transportation Research
    Center, DOE's only transportation facility, that we developed
    the world's first wireless vehicle charging system capable of
    transferring 34 kilowatts of energy. We are now on the way to
    delivering 100 kilowatt system. Bidirectional, wireless
    charging can make recharging much easier while ensuring that an
    electrified transportation system is a benefit and not a burden
    to the nation's power grid.
        ORNL's AMIEs project demonstrate how a hybrid electric
    vehicle can wirelessly transfer power to and from a home that
    is generating energy using solar panels. The benefits are
    multiple folds: energy reliability for the homeowner, more
    flexibility for the electric grid operator and the ability to
    use the vehicle battery for energy storage.
        ORNL's supercomputers, especially Titan and the upcoming
    system, Summit, resources are being leveraged to model and
    simulate the behavior of advanced vehicles and engine systems.
    These resources, including the next generation Summit
    supercomputer, funded by the DOE Office of Science, is expected
    to be the world's most powerful, when it comes online this
    year, enabling the artificial intelligence systems needed to
    control and integrate autonomous and connected vehicles.
        Even as we look to the future of electrified vehicles, the
    internal combustion engine is still the workhorse of the
    transportation sector. ORNL and other national labs are leading
    DOE's co-optima initiative focused on combining fuels and
    combustion research to maximize vehicle fuel economy and
    performance.
        The labs are researching breakthroughs for vehicles powered
    by hydrogen fuel cells, focus on lowering cost, improving
    onboard storage and supporting hydrogen infrastructure through
    H2@Scale program.
        At ORNL we are also using capabilities of the manufacturing
    demonstration facility and the carbon fiber technology facility
    to come up with breakthroughs in low cost carbon fibers,
    composite materials and 3D printing of tools and dies for
    faster and cheaper production methods to improve the global
    competitiveness of the American automakers.
        Partnerships with the industry and academia are crucial for
    sharpening the research activities and efforts of the national
    labs, guiding the way to the most impactful scientific results
    for real world success.
        We are a co-founder of the Institute for Advanced Composite
    Manufacturing Innovation, IACMI, bringing together over 160
    members from the private and public sector to move carbon and
    other fiber composites into the automotive market.
        Just last month, ORNL joined 19 other private companies and
    universities and state agencies in a new initiative called
    TennSMART to accelerate the development and the deployment of
    mobility innovation in Tennessee.
        In conclusion, ORNL and other national labs stand ready to
    work with the public and private partners to develop and
    demonstrate breakthroughs in science and fundamentals, bringing
    them to the road.
        I thank you again for the opportunity to provide this
    briefing, and I would welcome your questions.
        [The prepared statement of Dr. Khaleel follows:]
        [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        The Chairman. Thank you, Dr. Khaleel.
        Ms. Bailo, welcome.

             STATEMENT OF CARLA BAILO, PRESIDENT AND CEO,
                     CENTER FOR AUTOMOTIVE RESEARCH

        Ms. Bailo. Thank you very much.
        I'd like to thank Chairman Murkowski and also Senator
    Stabenow, Senator Manchin, for the opportunity to address you
    today.
        I'm Carla Bailo. I'm President and CEO of the Center for
    Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Michigan. We do, we are a
    non-profit, independent, unbiased research facility that brings
    together stakeholders for discussions and really trying to
    solve and do the research for some of the issues that are
    facing the automotive industry.
        For a little bit of a personal background, I was born and
    raised in Michigan. I have cars in my blood. I had 35 years in
    the automotive industry, prior to two and a half years in
    academia where I led smart mobility and smart city research and
    now am fully into the non-profit research side of the business.
        When we look at the automotive industry today, it's really
    in a critical period of disruption. On the one side, sales are
    booming, even though we had a slight drop-off in this past
    fiscal year, and we're seeing high profit models, SUVs,
    crossovers, full-size pickup trucks that are providing
    profitability at levels that we have not seen in some time. On
    the other side, there's a strong need for technology and
    powertrains and electrification combined with autonomous
    connected vehicle technology that are really stretching the
    limits in terms of talent and dollars.
        Really, in order to provide the vast array of technologies
    required to meet the global standards because our automakers
    are all global, for CO2, et cetera, the portfolios that are
    required are very diverse and challenging. To remain
    competitive, the automakers must comply with all the regulatory
    environments including those that are most aggressive globally.
        We've seen nearly all the automakers announcing
    electrification goals. It runs the gamut from start/stop
    technologies all the way through full electrification.
        The dichotomy that exists today is, and we talked about
    this a little bit before the panel began, is we can't make the
    customers buy what they don't want. And our research indicates,
    today, that the internal combustion engine will still comprise
    about 90 percent of global vehicle volume by 2030 and over 95
    percent for North America in 2025.
        The good news is that battery technology is continuing to
    get better quickly driving costs down and improving the range.
    It's difficult, really, to predict, but if this continues the
    proliferation throughout the marketplace could increase
    significantly.
        Throughout the U.S. the percentage of electric vehicles
    varies greatly depending on the infrastructure and the
    initiatives. And on a global level, we see a very similar
    trend. The main drawback that we hear from customers about
    purchasing an electric vehicle is range and the lacking of
    charging infrastructure going along with that as well as
    purchase cost. Although, if we look at the pure economics, the
    total cost of ownership, including serviceability and refueling
    that product, it will break even in a certain amount of time.
    So a lot has to do with informing the customers of the true
    facts of EV ownership.
        We can solve a lot of these issues through technology,
    supply/
    demand and clarity on the charging infrastructure which also
    includes the hydrogen infrastructure.
        I'd be remiss if I did not mention that the electric used
    to supply the EV power must be from a renewable source. EVs
    utilizing coal-powered electricity have a greater carbon
    footprint, end-to-end, than a very efficient internal
    combustion engine.
        My last point is really about technology leadership and
    talent. This is a strong passion of mine. And really, if the
    U.S. wants to continue leadership in the electrification race,
    we need to be a hub for this kind of development in the
    automotive industry.
        The countries who create the high standards will drive the
    innovation and grow the talent, and we would really like for
    that to be here in the U.S.
        Thank you for your time.
        [The prepared statement of Ms. Bailo follows:]
        [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        The Chairman. Thank you.
        Dr. Dorobantu, welcome.

    STATEMENT OF DR. MIHAI DOROBANTU, DIRECTOR, TECHNOLOGY PLANNING
             AND GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS, EATON - VEHICLE GROUP

        Dr. Dorobantu. Good morning. Chairman Murkowski, Senators
    Stabenow and Manchin, thank you for the opportunity to testify
    in front of your Committee.
        The industry is in a period of rapid change and it's
    enabled by automation, electrification and connectivity. This
    Committee has correctly identified these trends as enormous
    opportunities as we move into the next generation of commercial
    and passenger vehicles.
        Eaton is a leading Tier 1 supplier with 20,000 associates
    in more than 110 facilities across the United States, and our
    vehicle group employs nearly 3,000 associates in manufacturing,
    research and development in Georgia, Indiana, Nebraska, North
    Carolina and, of course, Michigan.
        As an independent supplier, Eaton's innovations are
    incorporating a large number of vehicles, delivering
    significant fuel consumption improvements both in the U.S. and
    worldwide.
        Regulatory pressure, technology innovation and customer
    expectations are driving the adoption of clean and intelligent
    products, creating exceptional growth opportunities for well-
    positioned companies.
        At the vehicle level, the need to simultaneously reduce
    carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions is driving advances
    in internal combustion engines and powertrain electrification,
    both as a means to improve efficiency.
        At the transportation systems level, connectivity and
    better electronics and controls enable step changes in
    efficient utilization of these vehicles.
        Eaton recognized early that the vehicle sector was on a
    trajectory of increased CO2 emissions and petroleum-based fuel
    burn, so we positioned our entire vast R&D portfolio to address
    vehicle energy efficiency allowing the following three
    directions: To first improve the efficiency of the vehicle
    power creation both conventional and electrical, then to
    efficiently distribute that power from its creation all the way
    to the wheels, and finally to optimize the use of that power in
    an increasingly diversified set of needs.
        So over a decade we have worked closely with several
    government agencies that are also pursuing advanced energy use
    in vehicles. Our public-private collaborations with national
    labs, such as Oak Ridge in Tennessee or the National Renewable
    Energy Lab in Colorado, accelerate innovation and promote U.S.
    competitiveness. Eaton benefits from access to leading edge
    talent and capabilities such as high-performance computing or
    vehicle testing equipment as well as precompetitive results.
    But at the same time, we contribute expertise, research
    direction, materials and funding. The result is that working
    together we create and demonstrate new technologies and join in
    the vast state-of-the-art and enhance our competitiveness.
        We also work closely with the Department of Energy through
    its Vehicle Technologies Office and Advanced Manufacturing
    Program. In partnership with the DOE, we successfully developed
    the fundamentals of advanced technologies that are now becoming
    essential elements of new products.
        From the perspective of the vehicle programs at the DOE,
    these play a vital role in maintaining the U.S. technology
    leadership in global markets.
        And especially important is the public-private partnership
    model. These partnerships accelerate innovation several ways.
    They foster collaboration across the industry in ways that are
    not easily achieved with separate commercial entities that are
    acting independently. And thus, we create new opportunities and
    new products. They also connect basic research capabilities in
    universities and national labs with their industrial R&D
    counterpart organizations thus accelerating the pace of
    introduction of innovation. The partnerships also connect
    technology startups, where new concepts are developed, to
    industrial players that have manufacturing capabilities and
    scale. And finally, they also demonstrate the potential of new
    technologies and thus enable product development investments
    that otherwise could not be made in what is, essentially, a
    conservative industry.
        The vehicle programs at the Department of Energy and
    national labs are key to maintaining the U.S. industry's
    leadership position at all the levels of the supply chain. The
    public-private partnership model is proving particularly
    effective in guiding investments in areas that have a promise
    of high impact or perhaps too early, too broad or too unproven
    for industry to pursue alone.
        It is essential that the investments are balanced between
    fundamental research and funding technology demonstration
    programs. In my experience, it is easy to recognize fundamental
    science and that's typically the domain of public investment.
    And it is also easy to recognize new product development which
    is typically the industry's job. However, the transition
    between these two areas is non-trivial. It is at this juncture
    in the innovation process, the public-private partnerships are
    most effective.
        In closing, I would like to thank you again for the
    opportunity to testify. As we can see by the automotive
    innovation that surrounds us here today, the industry is moving
    forward at a rapid pace and we applaud your efforts to
    understand the emerging trends and support American innovation
    in the field.
        Thank you.
        [The prepared statement of Dr. Dorobantu follows:]
        [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        The Chairman. Thank you, Dr. Dorobantu.
        Ms. Gross, welcome.

         STATEMENT OF BRITTA GROSS, DIRECTOR, ADVANCED VEHICLE
            COMMERCIALIZATION POLICY, GENERAL MOTORS COMPANY

        Ms. Gross. Good morning. My name is Britta Gross, and I am
    General Motors' Director of Advanced Vehicle Communication
    Policy. I want to thank Chairman Murkowski, Senator Stabenow
    and Senator Manchin for inviting me here today to talk about
    some of the opportunities and challenges General Motors sees
    facing advanced vehicle technologies, particularly electric, or
    zero emission, vehicles.
        If I may first offer you a perspective about how quickly
    the world is changing. In 2010, when General Motors introduced
    the plug-in Chevrolet Volt, we were one of consumers' first
    experiences with a plug-in vehicle. However, last year
    Americans purchased nearly 200,000 electrified vehicles,
    including battery electrics, plug-in hybrid electrics and fuel
    cell electric vehicles from more than a dozen manufacturers.
    Our own ground-breaking Chevrolet Volt, Chevrolet Bolt EV and
    Cadillac CT6 Plug-in accounted for nearly one-quarter of those
    vehicles. While this sounds like an incredible growth in
    electric vehicle interest, it's nothing compared to what is
    coming.
        You may have heard General Motors recently announced our
    zero, zero, zero vision: that is, our belief in a future world
    with zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion. This
    vision represents the convergence of our work in connectivity,
    electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles and car-sharing in an
    effort to move humanity forward. And as part of that vision, we
    announced our plans to bring at least 20 new all-electric
    vehicles to the market by 2023, our next step in moving to a
    zero emissions world.
        We know we are not alone in our optimism. As electric
    vehicles become cheaper, as batteries improve on performance
    and price and as manufacturers reach scale, we will see
    exceptional growth in EV adoption.
        Electric vehicles bring enormous societal, economic and
    technological opportunities. Not only are electric vehicles
    cleaner and quieter to operate, they are also fun to drive
    thanks to the instant torque electric motors provide.
        Because of electric vehicles, General Motors is making
    major financial investments in manufacturing facilities, as
    well as research and development facilities here in the United
    States. We are innovating around battery design and we're
    increasing hiring in areas not always associated with the auto
    sector, like computer science and software design.
        With all the benefits electric vehicles bring, there are
    challenges too. Consumer acceptance of electric vehicles has
    steadily increased, but we still have a long way to go.
        I want to focus on two areas where your Committee could
    help sustain continued growth. The first is consumer adoption,
    and the second is aiding with charging infrastructure build-
    out.
        The Federal Electric Vehicle Tax Credit, worth up to
    $7,500, has been an important incentive for EV buyers and is
    without a doubt responsible for helping to fuel EV adoption. We
    appreciate the Senate's role in keeping this customer incentive
    in place as tax reform passed last year. This federal incentive
    sends a particularly powerful signal about the importance of
    vehicle electrification to consumers in all 50 states.
        Right now, when we are on the cusp of attracting more
    mainstream consumers to EVs, is when we need to continue and
    strengthen this positive signal the most. It is a valuable tool
    to allow consumers greater access to EVs.
        On infrastructure, this Committee has a unique opportunity
    to lay the foundation for the future. Mass-adoption of electric
    vehicles represents a large, smart and flexible load that is
    unlike any other load on the electric grid.
        If we do this right and if we plan for smart-charging of
    EVs late at night and in the early morning hours, EVs can act
    as storage devices that make use of under-utilized power plants
    at night and take advantage of intermittent renewables. Thus,
    EVs can lead to a more balanced grid load.
        But all the benefits to the grid can't happen unless the
    United States reaches true scale with EVs. We need EV charging
    stations that are highly visible to consumers and that drive
    consumer confidence in the ability to drive EVs anywhere at any
    time.
        EV charging infrastructure today has grown from non-
    existent to over 17,000 public stations, but more is required.
    This market will become more viable and competitive over time,
    but we have a long way to go. This early market currently
    requires continued partnership between electric utilities,
    station operators, vehicle manufacturers and support by
    federal, state and municipal government to establish charging
    stations at the same scale as the 168,000 gas stations across
    the country.
        I would also like to thank the Committee for their support
    for the Vehicle Innovation Act, bipartisan legislation
    introduced by Senators Stabenow, Alexander and Peters, that
    would support the development of new technologies in the
    automotive space, including electric vehicle charging. This is
    important legislation we hope the Congress will pass this year.
        EV infrastructure is not only key to removing the barriers
    to acceptance of electric vehicles, but is also an imperative
    for other innovative and advanced mobility solutions, such as
    car-sharing, ride-hailing and self-driving vehicles. The speed
    with which EV charging infrastructure and EV adoption grow will
    determine the future of mobility in the United States and set
    the stage for even more advanced transportation technologies,
    and leading in these technologies here in the United States
    means we can take these technologies to global markets and
    that's good for all of us.
        Thank you for your time today, and I look forward to
    answering any questions that the Committee members might have.
        [The prepared statement of Ms. Gross follows:]
        [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        The Chairman. Thank you, Ms. Gross.
        Mr. Wimmer, welcome.

             STATEMENT OF ROBERT WIMMER, DIRECTOR, ENERGY &
              ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH, TOYOTA MOTOR NORTH
                             AMERICA, INC.

        Mr. Wimmer. Chairman Murkowski, Senator Stabenow, Senator
    Manchin and members of the Committee, Toyota appreciates the
    opportunity to testify before the Committee today on energy
    innovation in automotive technologies.
        Toyota believes there is no one solution to addressing our
    energy and environmental challenges. That's why we're
    developing a portfolio of technologies from advanced gasoline
    and diesel engines to more efficient transmissions, to lighter
    weight materials, hybrid and plug-in hybrid drive systems, as
    well as our zero emission, battery electric, and hydrogen fuel
    cell vehicles.
        It is our hydrogen fuel cell technology that I'm pleased to
    discuss today. Fuel cells are not new. In fact, they were
    developed in the 1800s and provided electricity and drinking
    water for our Apollo and space shuttle astronauts. Systems for
    on-road vehicles combine hydrogen gas stored in onboard carbon
    fiber tanks with oxygen from the air to produce electricity
    that powers the vehicle. A fuel cell vehicle's only emission is
    a small amount of water vapor from the tailpipe.
        For Toyota, hydrogen fuel cells are an integral part of our
    zero emission vehicle strategy. What differentiates fuel cell
    vehicles from other zero emission technologies is their long
    driving range, typically over 300 miles on a fill of hydrogen;
    their ability to refuel quickly, usually under five minutes;
    and scalability of fuel cell systems to virtually any size
    vehicle. Toyota believes retaining key attributes of the
    internal combustion engine allows hydrogen fuel cell vehicles
    to appeal to the broadest range of buyers, ultimately leading
    to greater zero emission vehicle sales.
        Toyota introduced its first retail fuel cell vehicle, the
    Mirai, in 2015. Since its introduction, over 3,000 have been
    sold in California and over 5,000 globally. The Mirai has an
    EPA estimated range of 312 miles on a tank of hydrogen and a
    fuel economy rating of 67 miles per gasoline gallon equivalent,
    about twice that of a standard mid-size sedan.
        Scalability is another important aspect of fuel cell
    technology like adding more cylinders to an engine, more cells
    can be added to a fuel cell stack to increase system power.
    This makes fuel cells the perfect zero emission technology for
    SUVs and trucks which accounted for over 65 percent of new
    vehicle sales in the U.S. in 2017.
        Scaling the technology further, Toyota has developed fuel
    cell systems for both transit buses and tractor trailers. We
    recently announced that Toyota will build 100 second generation
    fuel cell buses for athlete transport during the 2020 Tokyo
    Olympics.
        In the U.S. we have begun testing a proof of concept
    drayage tractor trailer hauling cargo containers from the ports
    of Los Angeles and Long Beach to local destinations and rail
    yards. This tractor trailer has a range of 200 miles per tank
    and has a gross vehicle weight of 80,000 pounds. If successful,
    fuel cell drayage trucks could provide an opportunity to
    eliminate emissions and noise from often highly-polluted and
    underprivileged port areas.
        A great advantage of hydrogen is its ability to be produced
    in a variety of ways from different fuels. Toyota will
    demonstrate one approach with the world's first megawatt scale
    carbonate fuel cell power generation plant and hydrogen fueling
    facility that we are building at the Port of Long Beach to fuel
    our port operations. The Tri-Gen facilities will use renewable
    bio-waste to generate water, electricity and hydrogen.
        Toyota believes the greatest challenge to fuel cell vehicle
    success is not vehicle price nor consumer acceptance, but
    hydrogen refueling infrastructure. California is the leader in
    infrastructure in the U.S., having committed $200 million to
    co-fund 100 hydrogen fueling stations. To date, there are 31
    stations open to the public with potentially another 12
    expected to open this year.
        While impressive, other countries with strong federal
    policy and financial support are outpacing California. There
    are 91 operational hydrogen stations in Japan, 44 in Germany
    and about 20 in Korea. To ensure the U.S. remains competitive
    in the emerging hydrogen economy, the Federal Government needs
    to take a more proactive approach to growing both hydrogen
    infrastructure and fuel cell vehicle sales.
        Finally, Toyota wants to recognize the Department of Energy
    for their ongoing support of hydrogen and fuel cell research,
    development and commercialization. Their investment of over $1
    billion for R&D has accelerated commercialization of the
    technology to the benefit of all. Recently, it's ongoing
    engagement with state and regional authorities to address
    technical questions related to tunnels and bridges and to
    alleviate any concerns about the safety of the technology has
    been highly beneficial. DOE's continued support in these areas
    is critical to eliminating regulatory barriers that will slow
    the roll out of the Toyota technology.
        Toyota strongly believes that a portfolio of advanced
    technologies, highly efficient engines and a range of electric
    drive options are required to meet the sometimes divergent
    needs of customers, regulators and society. With their longer
    range and ability to refuel quickly and scalability, we believe
    hydrogen fuel cell vehicles can fulfill many of those needs.
        We appreciate the opportunity to testify before the
    Committee and we'd be happy to answer any questions.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Wimmer follows:]
        [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        The Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Wimmer.
        I was just sitting here thinking, I can't remember what
    year it was that President Bush, in his State of the Union,
    made the statement that a child that was born that year, when
    he or she turned 16, they would be driving a car that was a
    hydrogen-powered vehicle. What year was that?
        Mr. Wimmer. I believe it was 2000.
        The Chairman. Yes, I think so.
        Mr. Wimmer. I believe it was 2000. So, we're right there,
    yes.
        The Chairman. Okay, well, we are now in 2018.
        [Laughter.]
        Okay, get moving.
        Senator Stabenow. That's right.
        The Chairman. But very interesting updates from each of
    you. I appreciate that.
        The focus on the innovation and the advancements that we
    have made, how we can move to not only higher safety standards,
    but greatly decreased emissions. I see some in the audience
    here. The Moms Clean Air Force, focusing on how we can do a
    better job, an important job, of reducing emissions when it
    comes to our transportation fleet.
        So thank you for what we have heard today.
        Here in the nation's capital and up on the Hill, there is a
    lot of discussion about infrastructure and what an
    infrastructure package might look like that we could work to
    advance. I would be curious to know, several of you have hit
    upon it. Mr. Wimmer, you certainly spoke to the need for
    infrastructure as it relates to hydrogen stations. Ms. Gross,
    you spoke to the need for charging stations for EVs. But what
    else is out there in terms of energy-related infrastructure
    challenges that we are seeing right now with regards to
    advanced vehicle technologies? If we are putting together a
    package that could help advance these technologies and start
    making a difference, what else is out there other than charging
    stations? And you can amplify, if you want, but I would be
    curious to hear from each one of you.
        Let's begin with Dr. Khaleel.
        Dr. Khaleel. Thank you, Senator.
        So clearly, like you said, charging stations will be
    needed. Other infrastructure for producing hydrogen will be
    needed, but a lot of these depend on, really, electricity
    either from the main grid or from a microgrid.
        So I think the big thing that we really need is to make
    sure our electrical grid is resilient and reliable through the
    introduction of things like microgrids and also energy storage
    in various ways. I think that would be the backbone to all of
    the items you discussed there.
        The Chairman. Very important.
        Ms. Bailo.
        Ms. Bailo. Thank you.
        I fully support the need to have the correct
    infrastructure, both in charging stations and in hydrogen.
    Hydrogen and fuel cells are one of the powertrains that will
    have the greatest impact on full-size trucks and/or commercial
    vehicles. And with the burgeoning
    E-commerce load that we're seeing today, it makes a lot of
    sense to propel that technology.
        When we think about the burden that it will have on the
    grid to reinforce it, microgrids are very essential. We need to
    start trialing those in various areas.
        We also need to look at grid balance and the appropriate
    positioning of where we put those charging stations. It may not
    be equally distributed. You really have to look at the
    demographics of usage.
        We also need to get the private sector involved. Companies
    have to put in charging stations for their employees. All new
    multi-unit dwellings, all new homes should at least have a
    charging station plumbed in as part of its code. Fundamentally,
    same as you, you know, you plumb in it for a dryer today. It
    should be there. It should be ready. Doesn't mean you need to
    put the expense of a charging station, but it's easier to do it
    in the beginning than in the end.
        We also need to focus, as I mentioned before, on
    renewables, making sure that we have a clean energy supply
    coming into that grid.
        Dr. Dorobantu. So I'll reinforce the point about the
    electric grid and especially the electrical grid modernization.
    We have a number of issues, challenges, facing us in the form
    of grid stability, incorporating renewables. People talked
    about microgrids and that is a significant change to our
    infrastructure. But also, things like smart grid management in
    the overall control and distribution, geographically, of the
    electrical grid.
        The Chairman. Ms. Gross.
        Ms. Gross. Yeah, a couple things come to mind.
        First of all, I just echo everything that Carla talked
    about, the public charging, the workplace charging and the
    building codes that would ensure that housing, single family
    homes, multi-dwelling user unit homes, that everything is just
    building in codes that require just a simple dedicated circuit
    when you move into this home so that it's ready to charge a
    vehicle when you move into the home. So I think that's really
    important.
        But beyond that I would say one thing that's really tough
    right now in this early market and why there's a lack of
    investment in EV infrastructure is that it's a really tough
    business case. There just isn't the scale. There isn't the
    utilization of these stations. And so, a business case is very,
    very tough which means there's just not that competition out
    there, which means there's just not the investment.
        One of the likely parties that you can turn to is the
    utility industry. They are experts at deploying electrical
    systems, at maintaining, at operating, they're reliable. They
    do a fantastic job in that industry. But if you look at the
    3,000 utilities in this country, then the 50 state regulators
    for most of those utilities, you start to recognize there's
    nothing that knits them together so that the infrastructure
    they put in, sort of, is adapted to the utility next door and
    the next utility so that we end up with a semblance of some
    national strategy. So coordinating the utility industry and the
    state regulators to participate together is really important.
        And maybe I'll, sort of, just touch on the smart charging
    area of vehicles. It's really important to take advantage of
    this big load coming and do it right by smart charging, you
    know, charge the vehicles in the early morning hours when
    there's low--when the wind is blowing or in the daytime at
    work, when the sun is shining and there's excess electricity on
    the grid.
        Utilities being prepared today with APIs on their front end
    to talk to telematic systems, like our OnStar system, mean that
    utilities could talk to OnStar, talk to all of our vehicle
    drivers and say hey, would you like to take advantage of
    hydroelectric power on the grid right now, we've got access.
    We'll drop your rate a couple pennies. And here you go, charge
    up tonight. You don't care as long as the vehicle is charged by
    six o'clock in the morning.
        So, those kinds of, sort of, forward looking, system views
    of how, what the utility's role is in EV infrastructure and the
    smart charging of this load is going to be really, really
    powerful going forward.
        The Chairman. Mr. Wimmer, final words?
        Mr. Wimmer. Final words.
        [Laughter.]
        I agree with what many of the other panel members said, but
    on hydrogen, I think we can look at, from the infrastructure
    standpoint, the needs to have some standardized codes and
    standards from the different cities and states. In California,
    it's been fairly straightforward because we're dealing with,
    primarily, one entity. But in the Northeast when we look at
    expanding infrastructure to other states you're dealing with
    each individual state and each individual city, and their
    regulatory process is very different. There's a long education
    that goes, or involved education process that the industry has
    to do with each regulator.
        Then also, the hydrogen production, as I mentioned. We're
    looking at one approach, unique approach, to hydrogen
    production. I think there's many other ways. One is DOE's
    hydrogen at scale approach where you're looking at using excess
    renewable or grid energy to produce the hydrogen in a very
    clean and efficient way. To be able to look at other options
    for hydrogen production and transport to the stations would be
    helpful.
        The Chairman. Thank you all very much, very helpful.
        Senator Stabenow.
        Senator Stabenow. Well, Madam Chair, Senator Manchin has
    indicated he is going to have to leave shortly, so I will
    yield----
        The Chairman. He is going to go buy a car.
        [Laughter.]
        Senator Stabenow. He has to go buy a car, so, I will yield
    to him and then I will reclaim my time after.
        The Chairman. Great, great.
        Senator Stabenow. Thank you.
        Senator Manchin. I wish.
        Let me just say, first of all, thank you all for your
    presentations.
        I want to remind everybody that 76 percent of all the
    electricity produced in America comes from coal and natural
    gas, and West Virginia is proud to produce 76 percent of your
    energy. We are an all-in energy state. Water, hydro, solar,
    wind, we love it all. But the fact is, if you want 24/7
    reliability, you have to go with baseload. So don't ever forget
    that right now. We are still trying to move through the new
    technologies, but you have to remember what has us at the dance
    right now.
        I understand a major challenge of the grade of
    manufacturing, and this is from the manufacturing, okay,
    adoption of electric vehicles is access to critical minerals,
    also known as rare earth minerals or rare earth elements.
    China's monopoly in this space is concerning, extremely
    concerning, to me from both the economic and national security
    perspectives. This Committee examined the issue last year and
    we continue to have discussions around how to ensure the U.S.
    consumers and manufacturers have access to these materials,
    including the recreation of a domestic supply chain.
        I find it interesting that the largest global adopter of
    electric vehicles in 2016 was China at 40 percent of global
    demand for these vehicles.
        So my question would be, in light of the use of critical
    minerals and lithium-ion batteries and other components of
    these vehicles, how concerned are you and your company about
    access to critical minerals? It could be shut down at any time.
    You could be choked off at any time.
        So we need you to engage. I think I have three people I
    know it hits directly and everybody can respond.
        On top of that, I needed to finish up on that and rare
    earth elements, so that you will know. We don't mine any rare
    earth elements in the United States of America at all. We do
    not produce one ounce anymore. We are relying on another
    foreign country to produce where you all want to go and where
    the American consumer might want to go, but you have to be
    realistic. We are not prepared to do it. And you are putting
    billions and billions of dollars in investment that could shut
    you down overnight.
        So, again, my little State of West Virginia, we have a lot
    of rare earth minerals that come from the mining of the coal,
    even from some of our waste, it has to be that we are trying to
    contain for the climate which is our mine drainage. We can
    produce and we are working on that, 45,000 tons per year.
    Forty-five thousand tons per year of rare earth elements just
    from the waste in the mining of what we do for the country.
        But it is going to take an investment from the Department
    of Energy working with us. We have our friends here with the
    Department of Energy, and I am glad they are here. We want to
    make sure that you are all aware of that because we are going
    to need your help.
        So, if you could tell me how this could affect you?
        Yes, sir, Mr. Khaleel.
        Dr. Khaleel. So, Senator, I think, a few points.
        On coal, one should look at coal to products and one of
    these products, actually, is rare earth, but there are a lot of
    other things one can do with coal.
        Senator Manchin. Sure.
        Dr. Khaleel. Including, you know, you can produce carbon
    fiber.
        Senator Manchin. We do.
        Dr. Khaleel. When it comes to rare earth, we need also to
    look at substitutes, other substitutes, for example, making
    magnets without any rare earth.
        There is an initiative and an institute funded by the
    Department of Energy, and actually the National Energy
    Technology Lab is part of that, called the Critical Material
    Institute led by Ames National Lab and Oak Ridge is a
    participant in that.
        Senator Manchin. Right.
        Dr. Khaleel. And we've been able to produce electric motors
    with no rare earth elements in them with much higher efficiency
    than existing----
        Senator Manchin. Are you doing that on a commercial scale
    right now?
        Dr. Khaleel. No.
        Senator Manchin. Or just basically in the production, I
    mean, into the----
        Dr. Khaleel. But I think they can move into that easily.
        Senator Manchin. Into commercial.
        Dr. Khaleel. The other thing is when it comes to batteries,
    yes, there are a lot of critical elements like lithium,
    manganese, cobalt, nickel. And you know, clearly, when it comes
    to lithium, for example, we in the United States don't have
    that production. Although we have the resources in North
    Carolina with the----
        Senator Manchin. We're not buying any of it.
        Dr. Khaleel. Right.
        And I think that's a challenge. Today we get it from
    Chile----
        Senator Manchin. I think what I am asking is are you all
    concerned about your supply chain because of our trade
    differences or our trade, maybe, disagreements that you could
    be harmed if something happens in our relationships?
        Dr. Khaleel. I could speak from the research point of view,
    I think, and the innovation.
        I think we need to really invest in the research and the
    innovation.
        Senator Manchin. Okay.
        Dr. Khaleel. To make sure we can produce things at cost.
        Senator Manchin. So right now you are saying you are not
    concerned at all.
        Dr. Khaleel. No, I am.
        Senator Manchin. Oh, okay. That is all I need to know.
        [Laughter.]
        Who would like to speak next?
        I know, but all of you can, if you have time, Madam
    Chairman?
        All of you can really just respond to this, I'm sorry.
        Mr. Wimmer. Well, as a large manufacturer of batteries,
    clearly any interruption in our supply chain materials, we
    would be concerned with, but----
        Senator Manchin. Is that part of your strategic planning
    and thinking?
        Mr. Wimmer. Exactly.
        And we are looking at, as was mentioned by my colleague, of
    technologies, materials that can either substitute in----
        Senator Manchin. Gotcha.
        Mr. Wimmer. ----our electronics, our motors, our batteries
    or diversifications.
        For example, our hybrid batteries, most are nickel metal
    hydride with only a few as lithium-ion. So with diversification
    if there's a shortage in one type of material, it might not
    affect all of our vehicles, but just some.
        It's a concern, but the diversification and moving toward--
    --
        Senator Manchin. Well right now, as most of your products
    that you use, as far as your product you manufacture, does that
    come from China? Are you all buying from China?
        Mr. Wimmer. I don't happen to know that.
        Senator Manchin. You don't know that, okay.
        Mr. Wimmer. We can get back to you on that.
        Senator Manchin. We know you are because they are the ones.
    They have most of the----
        [Laughter.]
        We already knew the answer before we asked you.
        [Laughter.]
        But they have the global control of rare earth energy and
    elements.
        I am sorry, Ms. Bailo.
        Ms. Bailo. Thank you.
        Most of the automakers, fundamentally, have a
    diversification of supply. As much as possible they try to
    mitigate that risk. Now if there's only a single source, of
    course, that's a risk too that has to be tackled.
        What each company does is hedge that and look at the costs
    associated with that. When we look at what's happening globally
    for the cost of some of those rare earth materials, as well as
    aluminum and steel----
        Senator Manchin. Sure.
        Ms. Bailo. ----we are seeing significant increases
    recently. So all of that needs to be hedged and put into the
    future plans and it goes into the design optimization process.
        The one thing that really needs to be focused on is the
    reduction of some of those rare earth elements, and that can
    only happen through the technological breakthroughs in research
    that is required. And it needs to be supported, not only within
    the industry, but also within academia and international----
        Senator Manchin. Let me ask one question.
        What time period are you talking about before this
    evolution comes to these new alternative rare earth elements
    that you do not need anymore?
        Ms. Bailo. Well, we've already seen a significant
    reduction, even in the very basics that exist today in
    catalytic converters.
        Senator Manchin. Okay.
        Ms. Bailo. Probably up to 60 percent has been reduced. And
    again, as we keep finding breakthroughs and better chemical
    equations in the battery technology, et cetera----
        Senator Manchin. Sure.
        Ms. Bailo. ----that number will continue to come down. If
    it's ever going to become zero is anybody's guess.
        The other thing I wanted to add on the coal front is I
    don't think we can negate the fact that in some coal plants
    producing energy, if you put in the right catalytic converters
    and others, you can have a pretty efficient plant.
        So, we can also look at----
        Senator Manchin. Not when we had an Administration that
    tried to shut us down completely eight years ago.
        Horrible. Okay.
        Mr. Dorobantu.
        Dr. Dorobantu. Eaton, in its vehicle business, is not
    really a player in the battery, on the battery side of the
    business.
        Senator Manchin. Okay.
        Dr. Dorobantu. So we're not directly affected.
        I can go back and ask about our other industries----
        Senator Manchin. Yes.
        Dr. Dorobantu. ----and get back to you.
        [The information requested had not been received as of the
    date of printing.]
        Senator Manchin. Thank you.
        Ms. Gross.
        Ms. Gross. Yeah, and just to add a couple nuances from our
    perspective.
        Yes, we care about the sources. We have teams of people
    that look around the world and make sure that we know how to
    source these materials.
        One thing that's of interest, though, is that some of
    these, not--a lot of these materials are also not just in
    automotive in our batteries, they're also across all of
    electronics, laptops, cell phones and so on. So, it isn't just
    us tugging on these resources. That's important.
        What also comes back to us is, sort of, the cost of these
    materials. More recently there's been an issue with cobalt.
    Prices increasing. Of course, that just drives prices on our
    side as well and that's a problem for, you know, the price that
    we can offer these vehicles to the consumer. We do watch that
    closely. In fact, the important work that's happening when we
    move from Generation One technology, the Volt that came out in
    2010 and where we are today with Generation Two and the Volt 2E
    as well. In that period, what we're doing is trying to
    streamline our use of those materials, in many cases. It's
    trying to reduce the way, reduce the amount of lithium or the
    amount of cobalt in these systems so that they still operate.
    They're safe. They're durable, dependable, but that we can
    reduce the cost by peeling out and improving either the
    engineering process, the architecture of the system or also the
    manufacturing process itself in how we apply the material.
        We get more and more effective, and that's part of the
    learning process of developing and innovating.
        Senator Manchin. Let me thank all of you as a panel,
    because you have been extremely informative and very
    professional.
        The Chairman. Well, thank you, Senator Manchin.
        No pun intended, but that was a critical question.
        [Laughter.]
        No, it is so important to the discussion because we
    recognize that we have extraordinary opportunities for advances
    in these technologies, but if we can't safely, reliably and
    affordably gain access to those base elements that we need to
    manufacture them, and I appreciate what you have said, Ms.
    Gross, that this is not just in the automotive.
        As we look to build out many of our renewable energy
    sources, whether it is wind turbines and the fact that you need
    to have the coating on the blades and the coating comes from so
    many of these minerals.
        It is an issue that, I think, has finally registered an
    appropriate level of attention within the government. We have
    certainly been pushing it for years on the Energy Committee.
    Now we feel like we have a chorus of voices that are saying,
    hey, yeah, this is really important. Let's not forget it.
        Let's go to Senator Stabenow.
        Senator Stabenow. Thanks very much, Madam Chair. And thank
    you again to all of you.
        There are so many different kinds of issues that come into
    play here from infrastructure to rare earth materials to all of
    the research that needs to be done.
        I want to start with something a little bit different that
    goes to another need that we have in all of this. Ms. Bailo,
    you talked about that, and that is talent, stretching our
    talent right now in what is happening.
        One of my big concerns is that when you look in the big
    picture, National Association of Manufacturers says the next
    seven years we will create three and a half million new
    manufacturing jobs--and at the moment we could fill one and a
    half million of them. As we look at this piece of it as well,
    not only engineers, not only scientists, but skilled trades.
    People that can do coding. People that are interested in a
    career in technical education.
        So my question would be, and I will start with Ms. Bailo
    because you had mentioned this specifically and you are working
    with a variety of folks in this context. What are your thoughts
    on how we look at our educational system and can best prepare
    individuals for jobs, not only tomorrow, but that are right
    here, right now and redesigning? I am working on efforts to
    support more options in college, but also redesigning and
    expanding career and technical education in high school and
    lifting up the privately funded, skilled building trades
    training centers that we have in Michigan and other places.
        I don't know how many times somebody has said to me in a
    manufacturing operation, just give me a skilled welder, give me
    an electrician that can do the pieces that need to be done. So
    what should we be doing in that space?
        Ms. Bailo. Thank you.
        I mentioned it's a passion of mine, so I'll try to not talk
    for a long, long time.
        I think we have to look at the entire chain of education
    and think of ourselves as a lifelong learning industry and
    country starting with even very young children in their
    education to begin to enlighten them into new ways of thinking,
    innovative ways of thinking. A different mindset is needed in
    today's industry than existed before. So starting there and
    then working your way up through.
        I think we need to eliminate the notion that every person
    needs to go to a four-year institution, because some people are
    honestly better skilled and will enjoy a quality of life and
    get rewards from what they love to do. You need to follow your
    passion, and we need to provide students that show that
    aptitude a place. It doesn't have to be four years. We also
    need to provide opportunities for apprenticeships, internships,
    even starting in high school to again, build that passion. We
    need the skilled trades, not only to manufacture the products,
    but to work on the infrastructure that we need for connected
    autonomous vehicles, to do the coding, et cetera.
        The other piece of the puzzle, I believe, is in the four-
    year institutions today, we are teaching children to think
    vertically, mechanical engineering, industrial engineering. And
    in today's world, you need to be a systematic thinker. So how
    we can start thinking about new ways to manage education,
    supplanting the standards of education that we require today
    with certification programs. We have a great example of
    Udacity, which is entering the university space that basically
    says, we're going to guarantee you a job. It's a very low price
    you have to pay, around $2,000, 18 months. You have a
    certificate, and you get a job immediately. If that job becomes
    obsolete or changes, you go get another certificate. So there's
    a number of things that we can think about to enable that
    lifelong learning.
        The other part is with technology eclipsing so rapidly, if
    we are not continually teaching and training our existing
    workforces, then they will also become obsolete. It has to be a
    lifelong learning way of doing business.
        Senator Stabenow. Thank you.
        I believe that strongly. I think this is a major issue for
    us and we will develop new technologies and not have the
    talent, the skilled people, that we need for that.
        Anyone else want to comment on that briefly?
        Yes, Mr. Wimmer.
        Mr. Wimmer. The impact of technology on the workforce is
    clearly significant, as you mention. It's really an issue
    Toyota has been working on and, to some extent, struggling with
    for a while.
        Universities have a role to play but so does industry.
    Technology is moving so quickly these days that there needs to
    be a lot of work. We must work together with universities to
    develop programs that ultimately help provide the skills and
    the training for both university graduates and engineering
    fields as well as the technicians to come right to work into
    the workplace.
        We're currently partnering with over 50 community colleges
    and other institutions to train the technicians for our
    dealers, for our manufacturing facilities. They can come in and
    work on tools to prepare them for life in the industry.
        We're also working to promote STEM at a variety of K
    through 12 schools, again, focusing on both the technical
    career path as well as a university engineering career path.
        Finally, I'd like to mention our company's strong support
    for the reauthorization of the Perkins Career and Technical
    Education Act. I understand it's been reauthorized in the
    House, and we would hope that the Senate would continue or
    consider passing the bill as well.
        Senator Stabenow. Absolutely.
        Yes, Ms. Gross.
        Ms. Gross. Yeah, I just, you know, when we talk about this
    very quickly changing industry, it's almost mind boggling
    what's going on right now. And if I just, sort of, share a
    couple, just tidbits.
        Applications from Silicon Valley into GM have increased 100
    percent over just the last couple years, so there's incredible
    interest in the innovation that's being announced these days.
    And that innovation does spur the movement of folks around with
    the talents that we're going to need, because it's just a very
    different place than it was before.
        The second one is that 35 percent of our salaried workforce
    at General Motors right now has been with the company less than
    four years. Stunning. But that's the kind of movement in our
    industry bringing in the talents that we're looking for.
        And so, just as Bob said, we're also looking very carefully
    and investing in STEM programs. In particular, we've made some
    recent investments in Girls Who Code making sure and blacks,
    black girls who code as well, to make sure that we're looking
    at, not only diversity, but the talents and the STEM resources
    and the capabilities that we're looking for also to drive the
    innovation that we need.
        Senator Stabenow. Terrific.
        Yes, Mr. Dorobantu.
        Dr. Dorobantu. At Eaton we are concerned with the future of
    our workforce and the quality of that workforce. Our normal,
    traditional university programs do not produce enough
    engineers, especially in the fields that are now in place,
    software and controls, electronics and so forth.
        So we work with universities, obviously, to try to lay
    track for our workforce through the more traditional channels
    like internships and so forth, but we have worked also with
    some leading universities to establish certificate programs
    around, for example, systems engineering and manufacturing
    technologies.
        I will say that we do spend a lot of time and resources in
    retraining, continuously retraining, our workforce. That is
    important.
        And last but not least, we do have policies in place trying
    to tap into the talent pool, the diversified talent pool. Right
    now, our industry looks very mechanical, engineering, very non-
    diverse oriented. We have to change that because there's just
    too much talent that we're not tapping into. And I can get back
    with details, if you need those.
        Senator Stabenow. Great. Thank you.
        [The information had not been received as of the date of
    printing.]
        Senator Stabenow. I know I am about to get--I'm sorry,
    Doctor, did you----
        Dr. Khaleel. Sure, I actually wanted to give you an
    example.
        Last week I was in Corktown, Michigan, and we had a meeting
    with Michigan State University----
        Senator Stabenow. Yes.
        Dr. Khaleel. ----and Michigan Economic Development Council
    about really trying to come up with a new program of how we
    gear to train a workforce around manufacturing. And you know,
    the idea is to bring the capabilities of the university to
    Detroit, but then to co-locate with the Corktown facility so
    people learn how to deal with the new equipment and things like
    that.
        In the State of Tennessee, as you know, the Governor, now,
    said we can, actually everybody in the state can go and do a
    two-year college free. Right?
        So we're trying to actually, around Oak Ridge National Lab
    with the community colleges, to reinvent the program, 2+2. You
    could spend two years in the community college and come work or
    train in the national lab on some of the tools that we have.
    Then if you decide you want to go to the next level and go to
    the university, then the University of Tennessee may be able to
    do that. That's in the works. We're thinking about it, and I
    think it's really an important concept.
        The other thing is, within the State of Tennessee, we have
    something called the Bredesen Center. It's for graduate
    students who actually do their research at Oak Ridge National
    Lab. Many of them are from the University of Tennessee, but
    there is a parallel program for other students from other
    universities. And that, actually, is quite enriching for the
    students and for the lab, not just from a research point of
    view, but they learn other things, in terms of innovation,
    entrepreneurship and things of that nature.
        So that's really another role that the national labs can
    play in helping folks in the country moving forward.
        Senator Stabenow. Thank you.
        I am so glad you could come to Corktown. It was my pleasure
    to be there when that facility was opened.
        Dr. Khaleel. Yes.
        Senator Stabenow. It was truly a great example of
    partnership with the Federal Government, the state and the
    private sector.
        Dr. Khaleel. Right.
        Thank you, Senator.
        Senator Stabenow. Thank you.
        The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Stabenow.
        As we are talking about how we get more, particularly young
    people, into these fields in manufacturing and all of the
    really high-tech skills that we need, I am reminded that in
    most Alaska villages that I visit, it's not the person with the
    Ph.D. that has great value. It's that young kid that can repair
    the snow machine, that can repair the four-wheeler.
        Senator Stabenow. Yes.
        The Chairman. They are the ones that we all look to.
        So making sure that we are not only training them on the
    manufacturing end and, again, kind of, the fun stuff. It is
    those who will be repairing and working on these advanced
    vehicles. It is one thing to know how to fix your father's
    Oldsmobile and the engine that was underneath it and now today
    so much of it is computer-related and making sure that those
    who can be on the repair end of things have those same
    appropriate skill sets as well. So it is changing.
        I just have a couple more questions that I will ask and
    then I will turn back to Senator Stabenow before we conclude.
        I want to pick up on something that you raised, Ms. Gross,
    when I asked the question about infrastructure and what more we
    need to be doing. You pointed out what I think is the
    appropriate role of working with the utilities and a
    recognition that there needs to be some level of coordination,
    or certainly communication, so that there is a better
    understanding as to how, particularly with EVs, we can maximize
    the efficiencies. It goes to a statement that was made earlier
    and this might have been by you, Ms. Bailo, that we can't make
    folks buy things they don't want. It is how we are
    communicating with the public about what is happening with
    these advancements and how they might benefit you, and if they
    do, how you can be a better participant.
        Senator Stabenow and I were speaking before the hearing
    here about driverless vehicles, and I will be the first one to
    publicly admit out loud they scare the living daylights out of
    me.
        [Laughter.]
        And she described, or you described as well, Ms. Gross,
    your experience last weekend of driving hundreds of miles
    without touching the wheel.
        What is the effort out there within the industry to help
    better educate the consumer, make us feel more comfortable, but
    also allow us to recognize the benefits that can come when we
    are smartly using the advanced technologies that the industry
    is clearly poised to help deliver? It is, kind of, a broad
    question, but I am curious to know what your response might be.
        Ms. Gross. Yeah, it's a wonderful, wonderful question
    because it's, sort of, at the crux of the opportunity right now
    is how do all players play together and take on part of the
    role, because it is a very large challenge.
        It's unifying utilities and their role in building and
    installing infrastructure. It's also rallying environmental
    groups and industry groups to cooperate on national awareness
    campaigns.
        You know, there's a lot of, there's just a lot of
    cooperation that has to go on.
        Maybe if I just touch on first the infrastructure side of
    it. Back in 2007 when we were just penciling out the Volt
    program and we were, sort of, reflecting on what we had learned
    from EV1 in the '90s, it was very clear that one of the major
    strategies that was either going to make or break electric
    vehicles was going to be the engagement of electric utilities
    because we had learned in EV1 that they have to be a partner
    right by your side. So back in 2007 we set up a very large and
    broad partnership with EPRI, the Electric Power Research
    Institute, and about 50 of its utility members who were very
    forward-leaning looking at electric vehicles. Then so, we back
    then said now we've been working on this a decade. Now we're up
    to 200 or so utilities that really work very cooperatively
    together on aligning policy priorities, aligning talking
    points, so that when they're talking to consumers and we're
    talking to consumers, we're using the same vocabulary. We're
    answering questions in the same way. We have the same
    understanding of how the grid operates and where the issues are
    and where the issues are not and where the opportunities are.
        And so, these areas and then lastly, the role of national,
    you know, encouraging EV education and awareness and the role
    of utilities. Utilities are so uniquely positioned because not
    everybody buys a car from General Motors. We'd love that if
    that were the case, but we don't have access to every consumer,
    but a utility has access to every single consumer purchasing
    electricity in that service territory. And that path to speak
    to consumers about the importance of electric drive and what it
    means to the grid, our data also suggests and many of the
    studies out there too, suggest that consumers would rather hear
    utilities talk about electric vehicles and the role of
    electricity in transportation than talk to dealers or
    automakers because they're viewed as very trusted third-party
    experts on electricity. So, I think that that role of utilities
    cannot be emphasized enough when it comes to, sort of, the role
    of the, sort of, what else could happen.
        When I look at some of the things that have happened on the
    federal level--Department of Energy had a program in place
    called ``EV Everywhere.'' They were also coordinating and
    convening industry experts, academia, NGO's, everyone who is a
    stakeholder in the EV market. We were working together on EV
    awareness campaigns, and it just needs to be more. It needs to
    be--we need to invest in this, sort of, messaging. And we need
    to, sort of, show a vision nationally.
        One thing I can point to that has been a really nice piece
    of glue is the effort by DOT in cooperation with the Department
    of Energy in establishing these alternative fuel highway
    corridors across the country. Now there's no money assigned to
    that. It would be great if it were also funded, but just simply
    the notion of creating a map of charging stations across the
    country from coast-to-coast has allowed local utilities and
    states to, sort of, recognize how, if they do their part, it
    glues into this larger strategy and vision for EV
    infrastructure.
        So just simply creating a vision and communicating that
    federally and nationally is really, really helpful to help
    these, sort of, disconnected pieces, but important, important
    local stakeholders participate in the solution space for how we
    get these vehicles growing and adopted in the marketplace.
        The Chairman. Let's go to Dr. Khaleel and then----
        Dr. Khaleel. So, I think, Senator, first of all we face
    multiple challenges. The consumers worry, as Carla mentioned,
    about range, so they're anxious about the range, the driving
    range. The other thing they're anxious about is time to charge
    their car, you know, today and with today's technologies it
    takes about 30 minutes to charge a battery to 80 percent
    capacity. So that's also a concern. Then there is another
    concern regarding uncertainty of the demand, so you don't know
    where these charging stations need to be.
        So the utilities, when we speak to the utilities that we
    work with, clearly, they're willing to engage, but the issue is
    also cost. The cost needs to come down.
        There are uncertainties that the consumer face, but also
    the utility folks face to where they place it, it is part of
    their business model and so on. So I think the critical thing
    for us to do is to overcome these challenges.
        And one way to overcome these challenges is really for us
    to win the energy race in these areas. We need to innovate and
    we need to do, to perform, research, work together. The
    companies, the U.S. companies, along with the innovation
    capacity that we have in the country, that includes the
    national labs and universities, to really, you know, move ahead
    of these challenges.
        Ms. Bailo. Just a couple quick examples about things that
    have worked to educate the public.
        One is when Nissan first launched the Leaf in the early
    2012 period. The thing that worked very well was cooperating
    with cities directly and dealerships directly and holding
    public forums with just ``Meet your EV day'' and ``This is how
    you charge the vehicle,'' ``This is how the vehicle performs.''
        A second example is the Columbus Smart City Initiative of
    which Vulcan donated $10 million for basically increasing the
    number of EVs by three times, charging stations, et cetera,
    within the whole city. Part of that initiative involves local
    businesses and working with the automakers, taking the products
    to a company for a daylong event, ride and drive, let people
    drive the vehicle, let them understand how to charge the
    vehicle, let them see how it can be integrated into their daily
    lives. Seeing is believing, and until we have the momentum of
    word of mouth, these kinds of events really, really seem to be
    working.
        Dr. Dorobantu. So I'd like to shift the discussion a little
    bit onto commercial vehicles, much more passenger car vehicles,
    of course, on the roads, but if you look at it from an energy
    consumption perspective, the commercial vehicles are right
    behind the light duty segment in terms of how much CO2 is
    emitted and how much fuel is being burned. Furthermore, that
    consumption is increasing in time as opposed to the passenger
    car market where, because of all the work that's being done and
    all the focus that's on it, the total emissions are actually
    going down.
        So the commercial vehicle space is different. It has very
    different challenges. We do not have the consumer there, but we
    do have the fleets or the operators of these vehicles and they
    have different needs than the consumers in light duty. For
    them, the vehicles are a means of performing work. So, for
    them, things like down time is critical. Total cost of
    ownership is critical. So there are other means, there need to
    be other means who reach that community.
        Things that have worked are demonstration programs, as well
    as investments. I will give one example. We're working actively
    with NREL to look at how the grid and fleets of commercial
    vehicles that have batteries on them could interact and could
    provide benefit and, in fact, improve the value proposition of
    electrifying commercial vehicles by offering grid services.
    That's a different process. The end result is the same. It's
    the education of stakeholders, but the stakeholders in the
    commercial vehicle space have a very different bag that they're
    trying to optimize.
        Ms. Gross. Might I also add one more point when I think
    about consumer awareness and really grabbing consumer's
    attention and that is, I talked about the share mobility
    programs that were operating around the country right now. We
    have 300 Bolt EVs in our Maven program which is a ride-sharing/
    ride-hailing program in six cities in the United States. In
    those 300 vehicles, we've been operating only about 18 months
    or so, we have had 400,000 riders in Bolt EVs. These are
    400,000 people that didn't have the ability to experience what
    we always say is a ``butts in seats'' experience where you
    experience the drive in a car which changes your mind instantly
    about how fun these vehicles are to drive. So that's another
    form of how we're embedding electrification in the ability to
    get the vehicles out there, driven, so that people can
    experience and ask the driver, hey, what am I driving, this is
    really fun. That's another form of awareness growing in the
    country.
        The Chairman. Senator Stabenow.
        Senator Stabenow. Well, thank you again, Madam Chair.
        I want to talk about public-private partnerships in my last
    questions, because we know we have basic research and then we
    have what companies are doing in terms of commercialization and
    so on.
        The big debate, it seems to me, that we have, in terms of
    the Federal Government's role, of course, sometimes we are
    doing it, sometimes we are not, is this piece in the middle
    which is sometimes called ``the Valley of Death.'' You get
    ready to commercialize or get ready to take that step and then
    there is not the support in the middle of that.
        One of the things Department of Energy has done is the
    SuperTruck program. Dr. Dorobantu, I know that your company is
    a participant in this, so I wanted to get your thoughts.
        As you know, 50/50 cost share, public-private partnership
    promoting research and development and demonstrating
    technologies to improve, as you were talking about, commercial
    vehicles, the Class A tractor trailer trucks, and the goal is
    to improve, by more than 100 percent by 2020. I should just
    remind all of us that trucks haul as much as 80 percent of the
    goods for the country. They make up only 4 percent of the
    vehicles, but they are 20 percent of the fuel. So a major way
    to save fuel economy is to focus on trucks. What is your
    assessment of the SuperTruck program at this point?
        Dr. Dorobantu. So, just----
        The Chairman. Push that button.
        Senator Stabenow. I'm sorry, yes.
        Dr. Dorobantu. There are actually two SuperTruck programs.
    One has been successfully concluded a couple of years back, and
    then there's another one that has recently been launched.
        Senator Stabenow. Correct.
        Dr. Dorobantu. So I'll talk about the one that----
        Senator Stabenow. We know the first phase had a number of
    impressive results.
        Dr. Dorobantu. Right.
        Senator Stabenow. I am just wondering, as it goes forward
    what we need to do.
        Dr. Dorobantu. Right.
        What this program allowed us to do, the industry as a
    whole, not, obviously, not just Eaton, is to provide laser
    sharp focus on fuel efficiency at the system level.
        There's been many investments in very particular
    technologies which were needed and the technologies have
    evolved. In a complex vehicle, many technologies have evolved.
    But what SuperTruck allowed manufacturers and suppliers to do
    is to put these technologies together in packages and see what
    actually works and what doesn't when they're put together as a
    system. It helped the industry sort out many options and prune
    some of these technologies, but also, we now have the
    technologies from SuperTruck that were evolved under the first
    SuperTruck program already in production. They're saving fuel
    today.
        So to give you some feel about this. When the SuperTruck
    program started, most of the Class A trucks were averaging
    about six miles per gallon. The SuperTruck program itself
    produced some mind-blowing results so we're looking at 10, 11,
    12 miles per gallon trucks, but those were research trucks.
    What we are seeing with the trucks that are coming out today,
    that are incorporating the technologies that were demonstrated
    and that were straightened out under the SuperTruck II program,
    those trucks are in the 7.5 to 8.5 miles per gallon today.
    Moving from under 6 to 7.5, 8 miles per gallon, in a period of
    maybe, five, six years, that is a tremendous achievement. It
    has impact in the fuel consumption, it has impact in the cost
    of transportation and it has impact in our competitiveness
    worldwide.
        When we started SuperTruck, we were way behind the European
    trucks. Now we are, with the combination of technologies that
    were developed under SuperTruck and very stringent CO2
    regulations that were recently enacted, we're in a position to
    overtake the Europeans that pride themselves in being fuel
    efficient by bounds and leaps. So very excited with the outcome
    of the SuperTruck program and we're looking forward at this
    second addition.
        Senator Stabenow. Well, thank you, Doctor.
        We are going to need you to help tell this story. I
    indicated earlier that vehicle technology, the Innovation Act,
    with the Chair's support and the Committee, is in the Energy
    bill on the Floor which is very important. But I do need to
    say, that we are going to have a big debate on this, in
    general, of these partnerships because the Administration has
    proposed cutting nearly $1 billion from the Department of
    Energy's Office of Science and cutting the Vehicles
    Technologies Office budget by 73 percent. So we are going to be
    having a lot of discussion. We are going to need your help, all
    of your help, on why this is important.
        And then just to that, broadening as we look at other
    countries because we know we are in a competition with other
    countries. You are in competitions between companies,
    obviously, as well. For all of us, this is about American
    leadership and remaining the leaders in this technology.
        Mr. Dorobantu, your company, I know, does business in 175
    different countries, including the U.S., and we are glad you
    are in Michigan. Can you talk about, a little bit more about,
    how the U.S. compares to other major world economies in terms
    of supporting technology innovation? And from your perspective,
    how does a company with a global footprint decide where to
    invest its research and development dollars?
        Dr. Dorobantu. Thank you. That is a complex question.
        But I'll start, when we look around the world at what other
    people are doing, what other countries or regions are doing,
    we're seeing a significant competition in terms of advanced
    technologies, obviously, coming from Europe.
        I will give one example of how other countries do this. So
    the United Kingdom, for example, has realized about five, ten
    years ago that it had lagged behind from being a leader in the
    automotive world, to becoming a lagger. They have made some
    crystal-clear decisions in terms of investment and strategy to
    redress that situation. They view it as an economic,
    competitive edge to invest in innovation. What they have done
    is they have set a massive public-private partnership called
    the UK Automotive Council. They funded it sufficiently for a
    period of ten years so that they have the stability in that.
    And then they have defined a number of key technologies that,
    if successful, would put the UK back into the saddle. They are
    funding anything from startups to major starts with this sharp
    strategy and with long-term funding associated with it. They do
    use the 50/50 cost share mechanism to make sure that, you know,
    it's not a bunch of scientists, perhaps, like myself, that make
    decisions and then turn out to be wrong. So, they, the cost
    share with the industry is a mechanism of ensuring that the
    research is guided toward actual commercialization.
        I think in terms of how we operate globally, well, we
    obviously have to be where our customers are. So, we do that.
    But we have also global resources, and we have centers of
    excellence that have global reach. So our investment, in terms
    of technology, is done here in the U.S. and this is where we
    put our advanced technology monies. What we do have in other
    parts of the world, we have engineering centers that are, of
    course, trying to adapt these technologies and optimize them
    for the specifics of those markets.
        Senator Stabenow. Thank you.
        Thank you, Madam Chair. I would love more questions, but I
    know in the interest of time at this point, I will save those
    for another day.
        Excellent panel, and we appreciate your input.
        The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Stabenow.
        I would certainly hope that the recent move that we made in
    the Congress to lower that corporate rate is going to be one of
    those forcing mechanisms, if you will, that would allow many
    others to look at the United States as the place to either
    return some of that business to allow for more of whether it is
    the R&D or the manufacturing. Hopefully, that helps with the
    competitive aspect of it.
        I, too, want to thank everyone for the information that you
    have shared with us today. Nobody really thinks about Alaska as
    being innovators in the automotive sector, but we have been
    plugging in our cars for decades.
        [Laughter.]
        All of the cars that I have ever owned had a head bolt
    heater, the little plug is sticking out of the car, out of the
    front of the grill, and you just plug in your car because if
    you don't plug in your car, it doesn't start the next morning,
    at least this time of the year in Fairbanks where I learned to
    drive.
        So, maybe not the precursor, but we certainly understand
    what it means to plug your car in, and I am just amazed and
    very inspired by the level of innovation that we have heard
    here today. Maybe I need to take advantage of some of the ride
    sharing that you have talked about, but still the driverless
    one, I am going to feel compelled to still reach for the wheel
    or be more hands on. I will get used to it.
        Before we do close though, I want to thank Bob Yoffe and
    Joe Koch and all of the convention staff that made this hearing
    possible and allowed us to work our staff with yours. It was a
    good opportunity. I certainly have enjoyed it.
        Senator Stabenow, I am just even more motivated to come to
    Detroit, come to Michigan----
        Senator Stabenow. Great.
        The Chairman. ----and see more of what you have going on.
    And you, in turn, are welcome to come to Alaska and you can
    see----
        Senator Stabenow. Yes.
        The Chairman. ----how in our little communities, the Mayor
    of Cordova, one guy, saying, you know what? We are going to be
    a demonstration case in our little fishing village and start
    them one little charging station at a time.
        Senator Stabenow. That's right.
        The Chairman. So we may have to bring you up to Cordova,
    and I will go to Detroit.
        Senator Stabenow. That's a deal.
        The Chairman. With that, we stand adjourned.
        [Whereupon, at 11:51 a.m. the hearing was adjourned.]

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