Last November, President Barack Obama of the United States and President Hu Jintao of China announced the formation of a U.S.-China Electric Vehicles Initiative to explore ways of collaborating on advanced battery research for hybrid and electric vehicles. The first meeting of the initiative took place this week at Argonne National Laboratory outside Chicago. I was pleased and honored to attend that meeting at the invitation of the U.S. Department of Energy on behalf of NAATBatt.
The three-day meeting featured an initial plenary assembly followed by three separate roundtable sessions on battery technology roadmapping, battery test procedures, and vehicle demonstrations and infrastructure. The battery roadmapping session, led by Dave Howell of the DOE and Wu Feng of the Beijing Institute of Technology, explored the possibility of promoting shared research in pre-competitive, early-stage battery technologies, such as lithium-air, lithium metal and certain aspects of advanced lithium-ion technology.
The battery test procedures session, led by Jeff Chamberlain of Argonne and Qiu Xinping of Tsinghau University, explored the somewhat different approaches being taken by the U.S. and China to battery testing and considered ways that procedures might be harmonized and results jointly published.
The vehicle demonstrations and infrastructure session, led by Keith Hardy of Argonne, Steve Goguen of the DOE, and Wang Hewu of Tsinghua University, focused on encouraging greater cooperation between standards setting bodies in the U.S. and China, specifically between the SAE and CATARC, and on the compatibility of U.S. and Chinese supporting infrastructure for PEV’s. Demonstration session participants agreed to cooperate and coordinate PEV demonstration projects in Los Angeles and Shanghai.
Overall, the meeting was a success. Both delegations appeared to get along well on a personal level and be genuinely interested in ongoing cooperation. Meeting materials should be available for inspection soon at www.transportation.anl.gov. The next meeting will be held in Beijing sometime in early 2011.
As an observer, however, the most interesting part of the meeting was trying to figure out exactly what both sides want out of the joint initiative. The Chinese seemed very interested in the research capabilities of U.S. institutions. Access to facilities, such as the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne and the National Synchrotron Light Source at Brookhaven, were of predictable interest. But more intriguing was the interest expressed in better understanding how the relationships between research institutions, government and private companies are structured in the U.S. Data collection from PEV’s deployed in the U.S. also seemed to be a major interest. Although the Chinese auto market may soon be largest in the world, it will likely be a diffuse and less sophisticated market for many years to come. The U.S. market should be the best source of data on the actual performance of PEV’s and advanced batteries in the field for the foreseeable future. The Chinese seemed anxious to secure access to that data.
On the U.S. side, our interest seemed shaped by two facts: First, the Chinese auto market will soon be the largest in the world and, second, because of the sheer function of numbers, the Chinese scientific community is a large and important resource that can be used to help achieve important technology goals. Accordingly, there was great interest and active participation by the U.S. delegation in discussions about standards and infrastructure compatibility since these issues will bear on the ability of U.S. automakers and equipment suppliers to access the Chinese market, and vice versa. In the battery roadmapping session, discussion centered on the potential for joint research in many of the areas in which the ARPA-E program has been trying to direct investment domestically. Chinese cooperation could help leverage DOE investment in, and accelerate the development of, some of these important early stage technologies.
The U.S.-China Electric Vehicles Initiative is off to a good start. Both sides seem to have something to gain from the initiative and will likely keep it moving forward so long as their interests are addressed. The U.S. advanced battery industry should watch the direction of the joint initiative closely.
