The $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act from late 2021 captured public attention for funding a wave of electric vehicle charging services. But buried deeper inside was also a mandate for a new technology that has nothing to do with EVs.
The law calls for a final rule to be issued next year requiring all vehicles sold in the U.S. to have the ability to passively detect when drivers are under the influence of alcohol and prevent them from driving.
That's a piece of technology that does not exist yet — at least, not as a commercialized market-friendly original-equipment vehicle component.
So the auto industry is scurrying to come up with the technology. And one global supplier, Asahi Kasei, may have a head start in the race.