Transport Committee on March 8th, 2012

[Dr. Peter Frise]

That's maybe too complex a question for a brief answer.

We have to make sure that our economy is competitive and that our people have jobs. It's quite possible to do that at the same time as having a clean environment. That's what every responsible engineer in the country is trying to achieve.

[Jeff Watson, Conservative, Essex, ON]

Is that where private R and D was going—

[The Chair, Conservative, Merv Tweed]

I have to interrupt there and invite Mr. Nicholls.

[Jamie Nicholls, NDP, Vaudreuil—Soulanges, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you for your presentations. They were quite informative.

I have a specific technology question for Mr. Frise.

Has AUTO21 done any research into textile use for the skin of automobiles, such as polyurethane-coated spandex, as in the GINA project that BMW did in 2008? What are some of the challenges of using textiles for lightweighting in urban environments?

[Dr. Peter Frise]

We have done a lot of work on composite materials that are related to textiles. The GINA project was never intended to be a commercialized vehicle; it was a concept, almost an art piece, if you like.

I think some of the challenges are safety issues, potentially fire problems. I guess there would be some substantial difficulties in manufacturing a vehicle like that at a manageable cost. It's one thing to build a concept vehicle that costs $5 million, but you're not going to sell very many of them. The production rate would also be a problem, because the kinds of manufacturing processes they went through just don't lend themselves....

At Mr. Robertson's company's factory in Windsor, Ontario, a new minivan comes off the line every 42 seconds. You simply can't build those vehicles. If you go to the Chevrolet Corvette assembly plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky, I think the tack time there is about 15 or 20 minutes. Every 15 minutes or so a new vehicle rolls off the line. That's okay because those cars cost $100,000 and they only sell a few, so they can just make a few and make money on them. It's not a mass-market car.

There are all kinds of technological barriers around introducing new materials. That doesn't mean it can't be done. Modern cars are quite different from what you found 20 years ago, but the investment required is in the many billions of dollars, and it just takes a long time to spool those things up.

[Jamie Nicholls, NDP, Vaudreuil—Soulanges, QC]

Okay, but is it an avenue that in the future looks worthwhile—using textiles and composite materials, as you mentioned?

[Dr. Peter Frise]

Composite materials have a really good potential for the future, and they are being used today. There are technology barriers that are being worked on. We have worked in composite materials.

To Ms. Chow's question, we have worked on the fairings underneath the trailers of trucks to protect the inside impact and improve the aerodynamics of the vehicles. Our new research program, which commences in 23 days, has a project directly in that area.

[Jamie Nicholls, NDP, Vaudreuil—Soulanges, QC]

I've heard a lot of questions from my colleagues about how you've brought university researchers and private sector partners together. Can you speak to us a bit about the process of bringing university researchers together with these private sector innovators and maybe elaborate on an example that was a particular success?

[Dr. Peter Frise]

Sure. One of the difficulties in a modern factory is that different products are produced at different times of the day or in batches, and it's important that the pieces of machinery in the factory be able to communicate with each other to say that we have a model A coming down the line now versus a model B. Factories become very information system intensive places.

In times past, every time a new information system was installed in a factory, there would be a huge amount of wiring put in. If you go into a modern factory that's been around for even five or eight years, you'll see layer upon layer of information cabling throughout the factory. This becomes just a mess. It's very difficult to maintain, and it's very difficult to troubleshoot. If something goes wrong, if a connection is broken, it can take hours or days to fix it.

We have a researcher working with an automation company in Oldcastle, Ontario, who has developed wireless communications between machines at low cost. It's very effective and very secure, so you can't hack into it. Somebody couldn't sit in the parking lot and mess up your metal-forming press, if you like. That same company is also developing vision systems that have the capability of recognizing facial features, again at very low cost and very quickly. For instance, they can mount a camera in a rear-view mirror of a car and they can tell if the correct person is sitting in the driver's seat. If the correct person isn't, they could disable the car.

There are all kinds of examples. We have many others where a company had a technology need, there was a market need for it, we were able to find a researcher who had that capability, and the researcher and the company came together and developed a new product that is now on the market.

[The Chair, Conservative, Merv Tweed]

Thank you.

Go ahead, Mr. Holder.

[Ed Holder, Conservative, London West, ON]

Thank you very much, Chair.

Thank you to our guests for coming today and sharing your insights.

I'd like to remind all panellists that what we're doing here is a study of innovative transportation technologies.

Mr. Todd, you've been a little quiet, and I'd like to bring you into the conversation if I can. Certainly all of us know Enterprise, Alamo, and National, and we know how large a fleet that is in Canada and the United States.

I was thinking about our study, thinking that one of the things we've talked about is alternative fuels and the like. Then I thought about your business, and I thought that when I rent my car from Enterprise, you don't care whether I use ethanol or whether I use whatever fuel, because the consumer pays for it. That's part of the arrangement you have, and it's always a good idea that we gas it up before we give it back to you; otherwise, it's a little bit more interesting. I appreciate the service you provide.

I'm wondering what contribution your being here makes towards our study of innovative transportation technologies. Where do you fit into all of this, if I could ask you, please?

[Ryan Todd, Vice-President, General Manager, Ottawa Group Headquarters, Enterprise Holdings Inc.]

Thank you for the question, Mr. Holder. Thanks for involving me this morning.

Our role here is simply that we're a retailer. We're a privately held company that owns an enormous fleet; we buy and sell more than 60,000 vehicles in Canada on an annual basis. Our role is simply to provide the product to the end-user, and of course the end-users are in communication with us constantly on what their needs and wants are, their desires. In working with organizations such as Fleet Advantage and our manufacturing partners on an ongoing basis, that's the ultimate goal.

[Ed Holder, Conservative, London West, ON]

Then I might ask you, Mr. Todd, if there is any intent....

You know we all look for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and all that part of it. In our last session we had folks from the Canadian Propane Association and from Encana talking about propane and natural gas. There's a large fleet in my city of London, Ontario, that has made a commitment, and all of the vehicles are propane-driven.

Is there any intent from your company to try to make a contribution to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions or to consider that the fleets you use for your purposes would contribute to a positive reduction in greenhouse gas emissions? Has that been any consideration at this time?

[Ryan Todd]

Absolutely. It's part of our sustainability platform. The future of the passenger vehicle needs to be socially acceptable—

[Ed Holder, Conservative, London West, ON]

How are you doing that?

[Ryan Todd]

Well, we've donated nearly $40 million to the institute for renewable fuels in the U.S. As well, we currently have nearly 9,000 hybrid vehicles on the road today, which may not seem like an enormous number, but due to availability, that's a pretty strong effort on our part. More than 70 locations in North America have been designated as hybrid locations.

[Ed Holder, Conservative, London West, ON]

Do you have those in Canada as well for hybrid vehicles?

[Ryan Todd]

Today we don't have a designated hybrid vehicle location, but it's coming. Working with partners in Canada, we hope that the electric vehicle will become more of a viable option, especially in terms of availability. That certainly is in the works.

We have a car-sharing operation, and our long-term goal is to merge that in some way, shape, or form with our daily rental operations and also combine the newest technologies to provide lower-emission vehicles along the way.

[Ed Holder, Conservative, London West, ON]

Thank you for that.

Mr. Dudley, we've also not heard from you. I was trying to understand Delphi's connection to all of this. I appreciate your role in sustainability services, but I'm trying to get a sense of how you fit into this dialogue as well.

[Bruce Dudley, Senior Vice-President, Delphi Group]

In addition to providing a sustainability strategy and a carbon strategy for private sector companies, we also spend a lot of time looking at technologies. No company looks at technology and what I call technology policy without understanding the commercialization gaps and barriers. I think what we have found in the discussion with this coalition is that the private sector has the interest and the ability to overcome some of the significant challenges, including infrastructure investment, so it—

[Ed Holder, Conservative, London West, ON]

Do you focus in the transportation sector at all, then, Mr. Dudley?

[Bruce Dudley]

Pardon me?

[Ed Holder, Conservative, London West, ON]

Do you focus in the transportation sector?

[Bruce Dudley]

Yes, we do.

[Ed Holder, Conservative, London West, ON]

You do. In what aspects, please?