| Electric Mobility Policy Framing in the USA and Europe - a Snap Shot |
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bridges vol. 24, December 2009 / Feature Article By Heimo Aichmaier mp3 download 
In the years 2008 and 2009, one could observe a rapidly growing interest by industry and the public in the electrification of transportation. Public discussions about crude oil independency, greenhouse gases, climate change, and energy efficiency have put pressure on public administrations for more responsible, more sustainable, and system-integrated transport solutions. Electric mobility is seen by many as a very promising problem-solving technology for emission challenges or congestion problems in urban areas as well as the bridging technology towards the hydrogen age in transport. The latest driving factors for policy makers were influenced by improvements in battery technology and the first market introductions of hybrid technologies like mild-hybrid vehicles with start-stop generators or regenerative brakes, and the success of full-hybrid vehicles from various car manufacturers like Toyota/Lexus, Honda, Ford, GM/Opel, VW, BMW, and Mercedes. Those vehicles improved the consumers' acceptance and expectations for future vehicle technologies. For example, consumers were willing to be wait-listed for up to six months to receive their cars by early 2009, when the US market made up more than 500.000 of the 1.2 million Priuses sold worldwide. Furthermore, press and media are publishing news in the field of electric mobility and electric-drive trains on a nearly daily basis. This shapes public opinion and raises pressure on car manufacturers to present and implement new electric transport solutions and infrastructure.Policy makers worldwide now have to reset and realign the organizational, logistic, and R&D framework of national transport systems to stimulate the integration of new energy and transport technologies to reflect public interests. This is a challenge that requires combined efforts of the energy and the automotive sectors - two sectors that have not been connected that strongly in the past will be looking to an effective and efficient transport system of the future. Public authorities now work out policy priorities and instruments (programs, plans, etc.) to prepare necessary changes of:
United States of America
The White House
Generally, the Obama administration puts a strong focus on creating smart policies to guarantee policy leadership that understand the immense transformative power of technology and innovation in order to create new jobs, improve the environment, help solve the energy crisis, reduce health care costs, and stimulate economic growth. These policies will be prepared by highly qualified public servants of the administration in cooperation with the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) to deliver scientific evidence for decision makers. So, it is not surprising that the electrification of vehicles - as a technologically promising and organizationally challenging issue for the mobility of the future - can be found in several new or adapted policies and policy instruments that are currently being coordinated and worked out by the administration or discussed on Capitol Hill. Important policies for the theme of electric mobility are the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the American Climate and Energy Security Act, and the Advanced Vehicle Technology Act of 2009. The most relevant policy administrations in this field are the Department of Energy (DOE) , the Department of Transportation (DOT) , and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) . American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 
President Barack Obama signs the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
Electric mobility-related issues appear under several headings, but primarily under energy (totalling $61.3 billion) and Infrastructure investments (totalling $80.9 billion). In detail, funding is provided for electric vehicle technologies ($400 million), federal vehicle fleets - to cover the cost of acquiring electric vehicles - including plug-in hybrid vehicles ($300 million), state and local governments to purchase energy efficient vehicles ($300 million), electric smart grid ($11 billion), renewable energy and electric transmission technologies loan guarantees ($6 billion), and modernizing the nation's electrical grid and smart grid by the Office of Electricity and Energy Reliability ($4.5 billion). The electric mobility-related funds will mainly be administered by the Department of Energy, the Department of Transportation, and the Environmental Protection Agency and its affiliated institutions. Special attention to battery production is given within the DOE's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) program ($16.8 billion), which will provide grants totalling $2.0 billion available for the manufacturing of advanced batteries and components, and facility-funding awards to manufacturers of advanced battery systems and vehicle batteries that are produced in the United States, including advanced lithium ion batteries, hybrid electrical systems, component manufacturers, and software designers.[1] American Climate and Energy Security Act The US House of Representatives passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES Act) on June 26 by a vote of 219 to 212. The bill contains five distinct titles: I) clean energy, II) energy efficiency, III) reducing global warming pollution, IV) transitioning to a clean energy economy, and V) agriculture- and forestry-related offsets. Title I contains provisions related to a federal renewable electricity and efficiency standard, carbon capture and storage technology, performance standards for new coal-fueled power plants, R&D support for electric vehicles, and support for deployment of smart grid advancement. Title II includes provisions related to building-, lighting-, appliance-, and vehicle-energy efficiency programs.[2] Promoting electric mobility is encouraged by cost recovery for electric vehicle infrastructure deployment, establishing a program by the Secretary of Energy that assists the deployment of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV's) by providing financial assistance to state or local governments, industry or entities, or individual persons for the deployment of electrical charging stations for PHEVs; Smart Grid equipment and infrastructure to facilitate the charging and grid integration of PHEVs; as well as projects to support the large-scale deployment of PHEVs. Furthermore, programs are foreseen that provide financial assistance to PHEV and electric vehicle manufacturers for the reconstruction or retooling of manufacturing facilities in the United States and, if appropriate, the purchase of domestically produced vehicle batteries. In addition, the total amount authorized for the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Loan Program is proposed to be increased from $25 billion to $50 billion.[3] Advanced Vehicle Technology Act of 2009 On September 16, 2009, the House of Representatives approved a $3 billion proposal for the Advanced Vehicle Technology Act of 2009 brought forward by the Science and Technology Committee Member representative Gary Peters. The proposal was approved by an overwhelming majority of 312 to 114 votes in the House which sent a strong signal for Senate lawmakers to act. The bill anticipates a comprehensive, long-term, sustained funding of public-private vehicle research, development, demonstration, and commercial application activities in the Department of Energy (DOE) Vehicle Technologies Program. The bill authorizes $550 million for the fiscal year 2010, increasing by $10 million every year through fiscal year 2014, for all vehicle technology programs at DOE. "Of that total, $200 million will be for medium and heavy duty commercial vehicles, $30 million will be for user facilities, and $20 million will be for a non-road pilot program (e.g., construction and agricultural vehicles). The remaining $300 million will go toward diverse passenger and commercial vehicle technologies, such as the hybridization or full electrification of vehicle systems to reduce gasoline use."[4] European Union
European Policy Activities towards E-Mobility, like the Green Car Initiative
The European Green Cars Initiative The European Green Cars initiative is one of the three public-private partnerships, besides the "European energy efficient buildings initiative" and the "Factories of the future initiative," included in the European Commission's recovery package[7]. A total budget of about €5 billion is foreseen for this initiative to boost the automotive industry in current times and to support the development of new, sustainable forms of road transport. The GCI consists of three main streams of action, namely loans provided by the European Investment Bank (EIB) with a total amount of €4 billion for transport research & innovation, a research and development (R&D) part with contributions from EU's FP7 and equal contributions from the private sector, and demand-side measures & public procurement, such as reduction of circulation and registration taxes for low-CO2 cars. The Green Car Initiative provides funds and loans for its five main areas of research, namely electric and hybrid vehicles, hydrogen fuel cells, biofuels, improvements in the internal combustion engine, and logistics with a increasing budget over several years (2010 ~ €95 million; 2011 ~ €115 million; 2012 ~ €145 million; 2013 ~ €145 million). Research on electric and hybrid vehicles is mainly focused on high density batteries, electric engines, and smart electricity grids and their interfaces with vehicles. The Seventh Framework Program (FP7)  The Seventh Framework Program (€50
billion, 2007-2013) bundles all research-related EU initiatives together under
a common roof under the four categories Cooperation, Ideas, People,
and Capacities, covering several objectives that correspond to the
main areas of EU research policy. FP7 provides R&D&Demonstration funds
for various themes related to electric mobility, which are addressed in several
coordinated calls for research proposals in the thematic areas Transport (€4.1 billion),
Energy (€2.3 billion), and Information and Communication Technologies (€9.1 billion).
Details of currently opened EU calls can be found on CORDIS, "Europe's
gateway to European research and development."European Technology Platforms / Joint Technology Initiatives/Undertakings  Electric mobility issues are also
intensively dealt with in several policy platforms like European Technology Platforms
and Joint Technology Initiatives and
Joint Undertakings. The European
Road Transport Research Advisory Council (ERTRAC) was established to
mobilize all stakeholders, develop a shared vision, and ensure timely,
coordinated and efficient application of research resources to meet the
continuing challenges of road transport and European competitiveness. It
consists of more than 50 member organizations representing all sectors of the
road transport industry, non-governmental organizations, Member States,
and the European Commission. Together, ERTRAC provides a strategic vision for
the road transport sector with respect to research and development, defines
strategies and roadmaps to achieve this vision through the formulation and
maintenance of a Strategic Research Agenda (SRA)
and Strategic Research Recommendations (SRR),
and stimulates increased effective public and private investment in road
transport research and development. The Fuel Cells and Hydrogen
Joint Undertaking (FCHJU) is a unique public-private partnership
supporting research, technological development, and demonstration (RTD)
activities in fuel cell and hydrogen energy technologies in Europe.
Its aim is to accelerate the market introduction of these technologies, realizing
their potential as an instrument in achieving a carbon-lean energy system.Latest developments in European Member StatesAll 27 Member States of the European Union have to implement the supra-national policy settings of the EU via national policies. Furthermore, the Member States may formulate more ambitious goals than the European ones or implement complementary policy measures and instruments on the national level with specific foci. Consequently, the national policies and respective instruments/funds play a major role in Europe. In the case of R&D funds, this means that approximately 80 percent of public R&D funding in Europe is provided nationally by the Member States and 20 percent is provided by intergovernmental funds and the European framework program[8]. This is especially relevant for new societal or technological challenges, as is the case with electrification of the transport system, because national activities and funding sources are often more rapidly implemented and more effective for specific new initiatives.Currently many European countries are adjusting their policy priorities or developing roadmaps and implementation plans for the introduction of electric mobility, as is described for Austria. The subsequent tables provide a structured snapshot of policy actors and instruments in Austria and some other pioneering countries in the EU - Germany, France, and the United Kingdom - that have presented their national activities. Austria Austria is aiming to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 16 percent by 2020 (based on 2005) and has agreed in the Kyoto protocol to reduce GHG by 13 percent by 2020 (based on 1990), compared to the 8 percent EU average. Current greenhouse gas emission trends and projections show that Austria's average emissions will be higher than this ambitious Kyoto target[9]. Austria is providing funds for the technological development and implementation of electric mobility technologies and is currently formulating a national electric mobility implementation plan. Actual policy instruments for R&D and the implementation of electric vehicles and infrastructure are the national programs A3plus, energy systems of the future, and Klima:aktiv with a total funding of approximately €30 million per year. These programs are set up by the Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology (BMVIT) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management (BMLFUW). The Austrian climate and energy fund, set up by BMVIT and BMLFUW, provides about €120 million per year. Furthermore, the Ministry of Science and Research (BMWF) and the Ministry of Economy, Family and Youth (BMWFJ) are dealing with the policy frame in this thematic field. 
Austrian Mobile Power
Germany 
E-Mobility Berlin
France 
Large-scale tests with Renault-Nissan in Paris.
United Kingdom 
London's large-scale electric vehicle demonstration.
All these national activities show the strong will of national policy makers, research institutions, and the industry to set actions towards the electrification of future mobility. The policy makers' challenge for the upcoming years will be to coordinate policy actions within the countries, to further improve the interdisciplinary cooperation of actors and, most importantly, to strengthen these innovation-friendly policy frameworks jointly on both sides of the Atlantic.
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The author, Heimo Aichmaier, works at the Austrian Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology where he is in charge of developing national research, technology, and innovation strategies in the automotive sector as well as setting up new policy cooperation activities between Austria, European Member States, and the US. He was assigned to the Office of Science & Technology at the Austrian Embassy in Washington, DC, from September 2009 to January 2010. He can be reached at heimo.aichmaier(at)bmvit.gv.at References: [1] American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Chapter H. R. 1-24. [2] Pew Center on Global Climate Change, At a Glance - American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 , Arlington June 2009 [3] Pew Center on Global Climate Change, Pew Center Summary of H.R. 2454: ACESA (Waxman-Markey) As Passed, 2009 [4] Science and Technology - Press Releases from the Democratic Caucus, Committee on Science, September 16, 2009 [5] European Commission, DG Environment, The Climate action and renewable energy package . [6] Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, 20 20 by 2020 - Europe's climate change opportunity, COM(2008) 30 final, Brussels, 23.1.2008. [7] Communication from the Commission to the European Council, A European Economic Recovery Plan, COM(2008) 800 final, Brussels, 26.11.2008. [8] European Commission, Directorate-General for Research, A more research-intensive and integrated European Research Area - Science, Technology and Competitiveness key figures report 2008/2009 (EUR 23608 EN), Brussels, 2008. [9] European Environment Agency (EEA), Greenhouse gas emission trends and projections in Europe 2009 - Tracking progress towards Kyoto targets, EEA Report No 9/2009, ISSN 1725-9177, Copenhagen, 2009. |
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