The Vehicle Electrification Group at Carnegie Mellon University was founded by Professor Jeremy Michalek and Professor Jay Whitacre in 2009 to study systems-level issues of hybrid and plug-in vehicles. We have since expanded to study other vehicle and transportation trends, like ridehailing. Research areas include:
Technology: Vehicle, battery, and electric power systems, design, control and optimizationLife-cycle: economic, environmental, and energy security implicationsBehavior: technology adoption and driver behaviorPolicy: policy-relevant technical findings and policy analysis
VIDEO Top Findings: Technology
EV Batteries
Fast-charging EVs can degrade nickel-cobalt batteries quickly; iron batteries take more abuse [study ]
Mobilizing grid-scale energy storage via EV trucks can improve profitability, reduce grid congestion [study ]
Big factories won't make EV batteries cheap [study ] [press release ]
EV batteries degrade faster in hot weather, aggressive driving [study ]
Battery experts see incremental engineering driving near term costs down, not breakthrough technology [study ]
EV range, efficiency are better in mild weather regions [study ] [press release ] [Science Magazine ] [podcast ]
EV Charging
Parking Systems
Parking reservation systems increase accommodation in ideal conditions but can make things worse when arrival times are uncertain [study 1 , study 2 ]
Top Findings: Life Cycle
Environment
Economics
When retiring EV batteries: repurpose LFP, recycle NCA, sort NMC [study ]
EV battery supply chain vulnerabilities depend on battery chemistry [study ] [thread ]
Electrifying Uber & Lyft helps climate, hurts traffic & pollution, offers overall externality benefits to society [study ]
Uber and Lyft are cleaning air but clogging streets and increasing climate change [study ] [press release ]
Three studies optimize plug-in vehicle fleets for minimum cost & GHGs [study 1 ] [study 2 ] [study 3 ]
Top Findings: Behavior
Electric Vehicle Adoption
Most pickup truck owners are open to EVs if range and cost improve [study ]
Multi-vehicle households adopt EVs more often [study ]
Consumers haven't changed -- technology advancement is driving EV adoption [story ][study ]
Drivers may be willing to try other fuels, pay for climate benefits [study ]
China may adopt EVs first [study ] [press release ] [podcast ]
Limited residential parking is a barrier to widespread EV adoption [study ] [press release ]
Vehicle sales predictions hinge on how competitors are represented [study 1 ] [study 2 ]
Combining sales & survey data can improve understanding of vehicle purchase behavior, under the right conditions [study ]
Consumer preferences for one automobile can be shifted by the presence of another automobile [study ]
For automotive sales forecasts, bias isn't always bad [study ]
Ridehailing
Autonomous Vehicles
Consumers are willing to pay somewhat less for grocery delivery when autonomous [study ]
Autonomous grocery delivery increases road congestion in many scenarios, but factors like off-peak delivery timing can reverse this effect [study ]
Drones that hitchhike on public buses or use recharging points can have competitive rapid delivery times and greenhouse gas emissions [study ]
Top Findings: Public Policy
EV Policy
US proposal revoking power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and vehicle emissions is flawed [public comment ][news summary ]
US industrial policy may reduce electric vehicle supply chain vulnerabilities [study ]
Transportation policy effects on used car fleet externalities may be smaller than previously assumed [study ]
State zero-emissions vehicle mandates increase GHG emissions due to features in federal standards [study ]
Problems with the rollback of federal car and light truck fuel economy standards [op-ed ] [public comment ]
US alternative fuel vehicle adoption triggers higher-emitting fleets [study ] [press release ]
Public charging infrastructure an expensive way to save gasoline [study ] [press release ].
Ridehailing Policy
If Uber/Lyft fleets paid the cost of their emissions, they would electrify more [study ] [press release ]
Automotive policy
After state safety inspection mandates were removed, vehicle ownership rose, but travel and gasoline consumption didn't [study ]
Affiliations
Academic Units
Research Groups