Senate Committee Passes Peters’ Legislation to Boost Advanced Vehicle Tech

Washington, D.C. – A bill that would help spur the development of advanced vehicle jobs in Michigan moved one step closer to becoming law today. The legislation, authored by Representative Gary Peters and Senator Debbie Stabenow, passed the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Thursday.

“This isn’t a choice between building advanced, fuel-efficient cars or not; this is a choice between leading the world in this growing market or being left behind. With gas prices rising, demand for advanced vehicles is going to increase around the world, and we need to ensure that those vehicles are manufactured in Michigan,” said Representative Gary Peters. “We have the best automotive engineers and workers right here in Michigan, they’re already doing incredible work, and we need to give them the tools to stay on the cutting edge of advanced vehicle technology.”

Representative Gary Peters first introduced the Advanced Vehicle Technology Act in the 111th Congress. At the time, it passed the House by a bipartisan 312-114 vote, and was endorsed by a broad spectrum of groups including the Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, the League of Conservation Voters, and the Sierra Club

A new version of the legislation was unveiled earlier this year by Representative Peters and Senator Stabenow at an event at the Robert Bosch LLC headquarters in Farmington Hills. Sixteen automotive companies and suppliers joined Peters and Stabenow for the announcement.

Peters’ and Stabenow’s legislation reauthorizes the Department of Energy’s Vehicle Technologies Program, an initiative that enables the Department to partner with automobile and truck makers to conduct research on fuel efficient cars and trucks.

Despite demonstrated success in helping Michigan’s automakers move forward – including advances in fuel cell and plug-in hybrid technology – the program has been operating without Congressional authorization, making its future uncertain.

If passed, Peters’ and Stabenow’s bill would direct the Department of Energy to partner with public and private sector entities to conduct research programs on a wide range of passenger vehicle and medium and heavy duty commercial vehicle technologies – in particular, hydrogen and advanced batteries to help reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

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