agencies and industry together around the same table. However, while the defining goal of
PNGV--developing midsize vehicles with fuel efficiencies up to 80 mpg--is clearly relevant to
national goals of reducing oil consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, it appears to have been
chosen because of the technical challenges that must be overcome to achieve it, rather than
because of any relationship to specific national goals.
PNGV does bring one new dimension to the federal role in advanced automotive R&D that
departs from past programs--an explicit federal interest in promoting the international
competitiveness of the U.S. auto industry. According to the president’s Budget for FY 1996, for
example, “The PNGV initiative is a partnership with U.S. industry to ensure the global
competitiveness of the U.S. automobile industry and its suppliers and improve environmental
quality.” In this new economic partnership, the federal government has given the U.S. industry
(and particularly the Big Three) an unprecedented degree of control over the technology
development agenda. This emphasis on competitiveness in turn has lent a proprietary flavor to
PNGV that was not a characteristic of past programs. For example, foreign-based auto
manufacturers are excluded from participating in PNGV (although foreign-based suppliers may
participate under certain conditions).
OVERVIEW OF MAJOR ADVANCED AUTOMOTIVE R&D PROGRAMS
This section provides an overview of the major R&D programs and institutions involved in
advanced automotive technology development in the United States, Europe, and Japan. It is based
on published information as well as visits by OTA staff and contractors to European, Japanese,
and U.S. manufacturers and government laboratories.
United States
According to a survey of federal program managers conducted by the PNGV secretariat, a total
of $270 million was budgeted in 1995 for technological development in 14 key areas judged
critical to the goals of the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (see table 5-2). For FY
1996, the Clinton Administration requested an increase to $386 million or about 43 percent.These budget figures are controversial, however. Industry sources contacted by OTA believe
these estimates are inflated--that much of the government R&D included by agency program
managers is not actually relevant to PNGV.
9
Depending on the accounting criteria used, the total
figure for federal spending on technologies relevant to advanced automobiles could be higher or
lower (see box 5-3).