New Titles from the National Academies Press | Transportation

Building the U.S. Battery Industry for Electric Drive Vehicles: Summary of a Symposium

2012-12-14T08:45:29-05:00

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Since 1991, the National Research Council, under the auspices of the Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy, has undertaken a program of activities to improve policymakers' understandings of the interconnections of science, technology, and economic policy and their importance for the American economy and its international competitive position. The Board's activities have corresponded with increased policy recognition of the importance of knowledge and technology to economic growth. The goal of the this symposium was to conduct two public symposia to review and analyze the potential contributions of public-private partnerships and identify other relevant issues for the Department of Energy, Office of Vehicle Technologies, Energy Storage Team's activities in the energy storage research and development area. The symposia will also identify lessons from these and other domestic and international experiences to help inform DoE as to whether its activities are complete and appropriately focused. Additional topics that emerge in the course of the planning may also be addressed. Building the U.S. Battery Industry for Electric Drive Vehicles: Summary of a Symposium gathers representatives from leading battery manufacturers, automotive firms, university researchers, academic and industry analysts, congressional staff, and federal agency representatives. An individually-authored summary of each symposium will be issued.

The symposium was held in Michigan in order to provide direct access to the policymakers and industrial participants drawn from the concentration of battery manufacturers and automotive firms in the region. The symposium reviewed the current state, needs, and challenges of the U.S. advanced battery manufacturing industry; challenges and opportunities in battery R&D, commercialization, and deployment; collaborations between the automotive industry and battery industry; workforce issues, and supply chain development. It also focused on the impact of DoE's investments and the role of state and federal programs in support of this growing industry. This task of this report is to summarize the presentations and discussions that took place at this symposium. Needless to say, the battery industry has evolved very substantially since the conference was held, and indeed some of the caveats raised by the speakers with regard to overall demand for batteries and the prospects of multiple producers now seem prescient. At the same time, it is important to understand that it is unrealistic to expect that all recipients of local, state, or federal support in a complex and rapidly evolving industry will necessarily succeed. A number of the firms discussed here have been absorbed by competitors, others have gone out of business, and others continue to progress.

	Capital improvements, such as new roads - as well as operating practices for public facilities - should aim for the greatest usefulness considering all costs;
	Local, state, or federal governments should be involved only when they can do the job better than any other entity;
	Whenever the primary benefits of a project are lower costs for the facility's users, user fees - not government subsidies - should pay for the capital and operating costs; and
	Appropriate choices about financing arrangements should be made at the start of a project.

New Titles from the National Academies Press | Transportation

Building the U.S. Battery Industry for Electric Drive Vehicles: Summary of a Symposium

Transportation Research Board Special Report 309: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Offshore Safety and Environmental Management Systems

TRB Special Report 308: The Safety Challenge and Promise of Automotive Electronics: Insights from Unintended Acceleration

NCHRP Web-Only Document 181: Evaluation of Bridge-Scour Research: Abutment and Contraction Scour Processes and Prediction

Final Report for NCHRP-IDEA Project 148: Cleaning Device to Remove Debris and Chemicals for Crack/Joint Sealing

TRB Conference Proceedings on the Web 4: Offshore Wind Energy Projects: Summary of a Workshop

Transit Research Analysis Committee Letter Report: November 16, 2011

ACRP Report 54: Resource Manual for Airport In-Terminal Concessions

NCHRP Report 701: Proposed Specifications for LRFD Soil-Nailing Design and Construction

NCHRP Report 706: Uses of Risk Management and Data Management to Support Target-Setting for Performance-Based Resource Allocation by Transportation Agencies

TCRP Synthesis 91: Use and Deployment of Mobile Device Technology for Real-Time Transit Information

TCRP Report 148: Practical Resources for Recruiting Minorities for Chief Executive Officers at Public Transportation Agencies

TRB Special Report 303: Equity of Evolving Transportation Finance Mechanisms

Policy Options for Reducing Energy Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions from U.S. Transportation: Special Report 307

The Effects of Commuting on Pilot Fatigue

Structural Integrity of Offshore Wind Turbines: Oversight of Design, Fabrication, and Installation - Special Report 305

Naval Engineering in the 21st Century: The Science and Technology Foundation for Future Naval Fleets -- Special Report 306

How We Travel: A Sustainable National Program for Travel Data

Assessment of Fuel Economy Technologies for Light-Duty Vehicles

National Security Implications of Climate Change for U.S. Naval Forces

Federal Funding of Transportation Improvements in BRAC Cases: Special Report 302

Transforming Combustion Research through Cyberinfrastructure

Issues in Commuting and Pilot Fatigue: Interim Report

Evaluating Testing, Costs, and Benefits of Advanced Spectroscopic Portals for Screening Cargo at Ports of Entry: Interim Report (Abbreviated Version)

TRB Special Report 301: Traffic Controller Staffing in the En Route Domain: A Review of the Federal Aviation Administration's Task Load Model

Review of the Research Program of the FreedomCAR and Fuel Partnership: Third Report

TRB Special Report 300 - Achieving Traffic Safety Goals in the United States: Lessons from Other Nations

The Future of Air Traffic Control: Human Operators and Automation

Flight to the Future: Human Factors in Air Traffic Control

Technologies and Approaches to Reducing the Fuel Consumption of Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles

Transitions to Alternative Transportation Technologies--Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles

Driving and the Built Environment: The Effects of Compact Development on Motorized Travel, Energy Use, and CO2 Emissions -- Special Report 298

A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy Special Report 299

An Assessment of NASA's National Aviation Operations Monitoring Service

Review of the Bureau of Reclamation's Corrosion Prevention Standards for Ductile Iron Pipe

Implementing the Results of the Second Strategic Highway Research Program: Saving Lives, Reducing Congestion, Improving Quality of Life - Special Report 296

The Federal Investment in Highway Research, 2006-2009: Strengths and Weaknesses - Special Report 295

The Role of Transit in Emergency Evacuation: Special Report 294

Rebuilding the Research Capacity at HUD

Assessing the Research and Development Plan for the Next Generation Air Transportation System: Summary of a Workshop

Review of the 21st Century Truck Partnership

Potential Impacts of Climate Change on U.S. Transportation: Special Report 290

Assessment of Technologies for Improving Light Duty Vehicle Fuel Economy: Letter Report

Fusion of Security System Data to Improve Airport Security

Preventing Teen Motor Crashes: Contributions from the Behavioral and Social Sciences: Workshop Report

Staffing Standards for Aviation Safety Inspectors

An Assessment of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Rating System for Rollover Resistance: Special Report 265

Measuring Personal Travel and Goods Movement: A Review of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics' Surveys -- Special Report 277

Buckling Up: Technologies to Increase Seat Belt Use -- Special Report 278

A Concept for a National Freight Data Program: Special Report 276

The Workforce Challenge: Recruiting, Training, and Retaining Qualified Workers for Transportation and Transit Agencies -- Special Report 275

Cybersecurity of Freight Information Systems: A Scoping Study -- Special Report 274

Shipboard Automatic Identification System Displays: Meeting the Needs of Mariners -- Special Report 273

Airport Research Needs: Cooperative Solutions -- Special Report 272

Freight Capacity for the 21st Century: Special Report 271

Surface Transportation Environmental Research: A Long-Term Strategy -- Special Report 268

The Relative Risks of School Travel: A National Perspective and Guidance for Local Community Risk Assessment -- Special Report 269

Environmental Performance of Tanker Designs in Collision and Grounding: Method for Comparision -- Special Report 259

Managing Speed: Review of Current Practices for Setting and Enforcing Speed Limits -- Special Report 254

Policy Options for Intermodal Freight Transportation: Special Report 252

Managing Construction and Infrastructure in the 21st Century Bureau of Reclamation

Assessing and Managing the Ecological Impacts of Paved Roads

Review of the Research Program of the FreedomCAR and Fuel Partnership: First Report

The American Community Survey: Summary of a Workshop

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics: Priorities for the Future

Summary -- Assessment of the Practicality of Pulsed Fast Neutron Analysis for Aviation Security

Toward Infrastructure Improvement: An Agenda for Research

Review of the Research Program of the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles: Fourth Report

Personal Cars and China

Aviation Safety and Pilot Control: Understanding and Preventing Unfavorable Pilot-Vehicle Interactions

Financing Tomorrow's Infrastructure: Challenges and Issues: Proceedings of a Colloquium

Completing the "Big Dig": Managing the Final Stages of Boston's Central Artery/Tunnel Project

Research Priorities for Airborne Particulate Matter: III. Early Research Progress

Taking Flight: Education and Training for Aviation Careers

Airline Passenger Security Screening: New Technologies and Implementation Issues

Energy and Transportation: Challenges for the Chemical Sciences in the 21st Century

Contracting for Bus and Demand-Responsive Transit Services: A Survey of U.S. Practice and Experience -- Special Report 258

Review of the Research Program of the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles: Third Report

Coatings for High-Temperature Structural Materials: Trends and Opportunities