The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has released a report provides an overview of the structure and management of the U.S. DRIVE Partnership as well as the major achievements associated with the goals of the Partnership. This report follows on four previous reviews of the FreedomCAR and Fuel Partnership, which was the predecessor of the U.S. DRIVE Partnership.
Since the previous review Toyota, Hyundai, and Honda have made available within the United States a limited number of fuel cell vehicle sales or leases to the general public. General Motors, a U.S. DRIVE Partnership member, has reported plans for a 2020 rollout of its latest fuel cell vehicle. The development and deployment of roadworthy fuel cell vehicles is a major accomplishment and one that will help to identify remaining technical, cost, manufacturing, and infrastructure challenges. Though the cars are still in the late stages of development, the fact that the cars have advanced to this point is due in part to research and development (R&D) coordination by the Partnership and its prior organizations, as well as from decades of funding of pertinent research projects by the Department of Energy and Partnership members.
The U.S. DRIVE (Driving Research and Innovation for Vehicle Efficiency and Energy Sustainability) vision, according to the charter of the Partnership, is this: American consumers have a broad range of affordable personal transportation choices that reduce petroleum consumption and significantly reduce harmful emissions from the transportation sector. Its mission is as follows: accelerate the development of pre-competitive and innovative technologies to enable a full range of efficient and clean advanced light-duty vehicles (LDVs), as well as related energy infrastructure. The Partnership focuses on precompetitive research and development (R&D) that can help to accelerate the emergence of advanced technologies to be commercialization-feasible.
The guidance for the work of the U.S. DRIVE Partnership as well as the priority setting and targets for needed research are provided by joint industry/government technical teams. This structure has been demonstrated to be an effective means of identifying high-priority, long-term precompetitive research needs for each technology with which the Partnership is involved. Technical areas in which research and development as well as technology validation programs have been pursued include the following: internal combustion engines (ICEs) potentially operating on conventional and various alternative fuels, automotive fuel cell power systems, hydrogen storage systems (especially onboard vehicles), batteries and other forms of electrochemical energy storage, electric propulsion systems, hydrogen production and delivery, and materials leading to vehicle weight reductions.
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine provides independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation and conducts other activities to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions. The National Academies also encourage education and research, recognize outstanding contributions to knowledge, and increase public understanding in matters of science, engineering, and medicine.
This Summary Last Modified On: 4/28/2017