Tuesday, July 7, 1998
10:00 am to 11:30 am, 2168 Rayburn House Office Building

You are invited to a briefing on the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV), a program launched by President Clinton in 1993 as "a technological challenge comparable to or greater than that involved in the Apollo project." Now that the 10-year project is at its halfway point, and over $1 billion has been spent, what are its achievements to date? What are the prospects for the future? Is the investment worth it?

PNGV teams top researchers from the federal government and Detroit's Big Three automakers (Ford, GM and Chrysler) to achieve the goal of producing a vehicle with three times the fuel economy of today's cars (about 80 miles per gallon) by 2004, without sacrificing affordability, performance, or safety. The first five years of the project required the completion of an assessment of available technological options in order to select a prototype that would be ready for mass production in 2004. As a result of this assessment, the federal government and Big Three project managers have chosen to produce a prototype diesel-electric hybrid with advanced aerodynamic design and lighter weight materials. Additional research and investment will continue in fuel cell technology.

However, many environmentalists, including briefing panelist Jason Mark of the Union of Concerned Scientists, question the program's choice of a diesel-electric hybrid vehicle. While they recognize that diesel engine technology has proven effective at increasing efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, they are concerned because studies have shown that, compared to gasoline engines, diesel engines emit higher amounts of particulate matter and other emissions harmful to human health. Automakers maintain they can clean up diesel engine emissions to meet future standards, but many analysts believe doing so will be difficult. Opponents of diesel say other alternatives can provide fuel savings and greenhouse gas reductions with lower emissions of particulate matter and other pollutants. The National Academy of Sciences, in its most recent review of the PNGV program, cautioned that it may be too soon to rule out options such as gasoline-electric hybrids given recent advances in these technologies and the difficulties faced in reducing diesel particulate and nitrogen oxide emissions.

Other questions about PNGV continue:

• How can interim PNGV technology advancements be incorporated into today's vehicles to help reduce oil imports and greenhouse gas emissions?

• Is there a continued role for government in researching hybrid vehicles when companies such as Toyota are already producing, marketing and selling passenger car hybrids?

• Are the goals of PNGV sufficient to justify continued investment of federal funds?

To examine the PNGV program and its progress and choice of technologies, the briefing will present views from a variety of perspectives. Speakers include:

• Gary Bachula, acting undersecretary for technology, U.S. Department of Commerce;

• Tom Cackette, chief deputy executive officer, California Air Resources Board;

• Jason Mark, senior transportation analyst, Union of Concerned Scientists; and

• Ron York, PNGV Director, General Motors.

The briefing is free and open to the public with no reservations required. For more information, contact Michael Chelius at (202) 662-1885.