§2503 — Title 15 Commerce and Trade | U.S. Code

Summary

The Secretary of Energy must quickly set up a unit inside the Department of Energy to work on electric and hybrid vehicles. The Secretary will run the program and can make agreements with other federal agencies (for example, NASA, the Department of Transportation, NSF, EPA, HUD, USDA) to have them do parts of the work. The Secretary must lead research on batteries, controls, and motors; decide the best overall vehicle designs; run test projects to see if commercial electric and hybrid vehicles work by buying or leasing vehicles and arranging their use with public or private partners; find out what consumers want; and study long-term changes needed in roads, city planning, traffic, maintenance, utility rates, and tax policies to support these vehicles in line with sections 2512 and 2513.

Title 15, §2503

Commerce and Trade — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Secretary of Energy shall promptly establish, as an organizational entity within the Department of Energy, the Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Research, Development, and Demonstration Project.

(b)The Secretary of Energy shall have the responsibility for the overall management of the project. The Secretary of Energy may enter into any agreement or other arrangement with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Department of Transportation, the National Science Foundation, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Agriculture, or any other Federal agency, pursuant to which such agency shall conduct such specified parts or aspects of the project as the Secretary of Energy deems necessary or appropriate and within the particular competence of such agency, to the extent that such agency has capabilities which would enable it to contribute to the success of the project and the attainment of the purposes of this chapter.

(c)In providing for the effective management of this project, the Secretary of Energy shall have specific responsibility to—

(1)promote basic and applied research on electric and hybrid vehicle batteries, controls, and motors;

(2)determine optimum overall electric and hybrid vehicle design;

(3)conduct demonstration projects with respect to the feasibility of commercial electric and hybrid vehicles (A) by contracting for the purchase or lease of electric and hybrid vehicles for practical use, and (B) by entering into arrangements, with other governmental entities and with nongovernmental entities, for the operation of such vehicles;

(4)ascertain consumer needs and desires so as to match the design of electric and hybrid vehicles to their potential market; and

(5)ascertain the long-term changes in road design, urban planning, traffic management, maintenance facilities, utility rate structures, and tax policies which are needed to facilitate the manufacture and use of electric and hybrid vehicles in accordance with section 2512 and 2513 11 See References in Text note below. of this title.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

section 2513 of this title, referred to in subsec. (c)(5), was repealed by Pub. L. 104–66, title I, § 1051(o), Dec. 21, 1995, 109 Stat. 717.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Transfer of Functions

“Department of Energy” substituted for “Energy Research and Development Administration” in subsec. (a), and “Secretary of Energy” substituted for “Administrator” wherever appearing, pursuant to section 301(a) of Pub. L. 95–91, see Codification note set out under section 2502 of this title.

§2503 Duties of Secretary of Energy