IUCRC Phase II UT Austin Site: Center for Efficient Vehicles and Sustainable Transportation Systems (EVSTS)

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The University of Texas at Austin (UT) is part of a multi-institution Industry University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC) for Efficient Vehicles and Sustainable Transportation Systems (EVSTS) that supports the U.S. automotive industry’s effort to meet demanding federal regulations governing vehicle fuel economy and emissions, and society’s expectations for improved sustainability. Achieving environmental sustainability is a generational problem that represents a critical technological challenge of our time. Electricity generation (31%) and transportation (27%) are the largest contributors to U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Wheeled ground vehicles, in turn, generate most of the transportation emissions and have an increasing impact on emissions from electricity generation. Solutions must address vehicle sustainability without unduly disrupting an industry that is central to the nation’s economic health and its citizens’ lifestyles. The EVSTS Center engages the automotive industry’s critical stakeholders - vehicle manufacturers, component and system suppliers, fleet operators, ground transportation infrastructure providers, and state / local governments - in yielding transformational improvements in the energy efficiency and environmental sustainability of ground vehicles. Work scope encompasses passenger cars, trucks, and motorized non-road equipment, as well as vehicle-level technologies and transportation system infrastructure, reflecting the complexity and global nature of the automotive and ground transportation industries.The EVSTS center leverages collaborations among corporate, government, and academic partners to conduct and disseminate industry-relevant research on technologies and tools that facilitate the design, manufacture, deployment, and operation of energy efficient, environmentally sustainable ground vehicles. Research is conducted in five technical focus areas: 1) electrified vehicle powertrains, 2) conventional powertrains and alternative fuels, 3) non-powertrain vehicle systems optimization, 4) efficient / sustainable autonomous vehicles, and 5) transportation systems and infrastructure. Specifically, UT’s four faculty cover thrusts 2, 3, 4 and 5. Two or these researchers supervise experimental and numerical modeling research regarding engine and vehicle emissions and fuel efficiency. Another optimizes 2-way interactions between EVs and power grids, along with EV charging station designs. The final researcher simulates shared, autonomous, all-electric vehicle (SAEV) systems for passenger service, optimally sites EV charging stations (across the nation and regions) and specifies local electric bus deployments (with smart bus charging to protect local power grids). Texas’ Advanced Computing Center’s clusters are used for parallel runs of computationally intensive modeling, including 1) agent-based simulations of Austinites’ millions of trips each day, as served by hundreds of thousands of SAEVs, 2) the starting process of downsized, turbocharged engines, and 3) the spark ignition process.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.