Review - HR 8560 Introduced – Advanced Automotive Tech

Back in April, Rep Stevens (D,MI) introduced HR 8560, the Shifting Forward Vehicle Technologies Research and Development Act. The bill would require DOE to conduct a research, development, and demonstration program of advanced vehicle technologies on more efficient, sustainable, and domestically available materials and manufacturing processes. It provides a five-year spending authorization for the program, starting at $530 million for FY 2027, increasing slightly in each of the following years. 

HR 8560 is similar to HR 5090, the Shifting Forward Vehicle Technologies Research and Development Act, that was introduced by Stevens in July 2023. No action was taken on that bill in the 118th Congress. That earlier bill did include one section dealing with cybersecurity assessments for on-road vehicles. This bill includes a virtually identical cybersecurity section. 

Moving Forward  

Stevens is a member of the House Science and Technology Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration. This means that there may be sufficient influence to see the bill considered by the Committee. Unfortunately, there are two issues related to this bill that would make support from the Republican leadership problematic at best. First is the large amount of new spending that would be authorized, over ½ billion dollars annually; the second is the focus on electric vehicles and alternative fuel vehicles. Either issue would be likely to block consideration of the bill. 

For more information on the cybersecurity provisions of this legislation, including a brief commentary on the pace of change to be expected, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-8560-introduced-advanced-automotive - subscription required.