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:

1. Technology: Vehicle, battery, and electric power systems, design, control and optimization
2. Life-cycle: economic, environmental, and energy security implications
3. Behavior: technology adoption and driver behavior
4. Policy: policy-relevant technical findings and policy analysis

Top Findings

Technology

EV Batteries

• 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 better in mild weather regions [study] [press release] [Science Magazine] [podcast]

EV Charging

• EVs cheaper to charge if electricity providers control charging speed [study] [press release] [NYTimes]

Parking Systems

• Parking reservation systems increase accommodation in ideal conditions but can make things worse when arrival times are uncertain [study 1, study 2]

Life Cycle

Environment

• EV life cycle emissions are trending down, but where they go next depends on battery design and emissions policies [study] [story] [thread]
• Cleaner grid needed in some regions for EVs to have lower carbon emissions than the cleanest gasoline vehicles [study]
• Where electric vehicle carbon footprint beats gasoline (U.S. maps) [study 1] [study 2] [press release 1] [press release 2]
• Coal retirement needed for EVs to reduce air pollution in Chicago-Philly-DC region [study] [press release] [Energy Bite]
• Charging EVs at night can cause more harm than good [study 1] [study 2] [study 3] [press release] [Energy Bite]
• Small-battery plug-in hybrids offer more benefits [study] [policy brief] [press release] [magazine article].

Economics

• 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]

Behavior

Electric Vehicle Adoption

• 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 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

• Ridehailing tech mitigates effects of driver racial bias on riders, but residential segregation effects persist [story][video][study]
• Uber & Lyft increase car ownership in car-dependent & slow-growth cities; displace transit more in cities with high income or few children [press release][iScience press release][study 1][study 2]

Autonomous Vehicles

• Autonomous grocery delivery drops average willingness to pay for delivery, but most consumers are indifferent [study]

Public Policy

EV Policy

• 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

• When optimal Uber/Lyft fleets pay the cost of their emissions, they electrify more & reduce emissions by 10% (NYC) to 22% (LA) [study] [press release]