Techno-economic research

Research papers

Comparing German & UK electric mobility policies

An analysis of current German and UK policies for sustainable transport is conducted to illustrate its application. In the UK case, where emission reduction goals and industrial development are pursued together, current policies of promoting the diffusion of electric vehicles as well as industrial niches are supporting the emergence of a reconfiguration pathway. Replacing foreign suppliers, the local automotive industry shall become a significant part of the future regime. In contrast to that, Germany focuses on a careful transformation and conservation of its automotive industry where none of the current actors is left behind.

Understanding emission reduction of German car mfgs

A micro-level analysis is conducted into how the three main German car manufacturers have changed their activities in the field of low emission vehicle technologies in response to national/international events and policy making. Policy makers only have limited influence on the disruptive solution that is chosen by these individual companies and activities related to solutions that were not familiar to the individual car manufacturer were mainly induced by internal or external champions.

Automated vehicles and electrification of transport

Automated vehicles could drive significant growth in transport services which without electrification will have a large negative impact on efforts to curb transport related emissions. However, automated vehicles could also significantly improve the economics of electric vehicles, and therefore make the electrification of powertrains more likely, which could help reduce emissions. Despite this uncertainty, little work has been done on understanding how these factors will affect each other, particularly the timing and uptake of automated vehicles and their effect on future transport related GHG emissions and economics, yet the impact on transport policy, infrastructure and society will be profound.

Research pages 2

Pathways

Low carbon vehicles. Which will be the winner?

Several high-profile studies have compared the potential of alternative road transport technologies, such as hybrids, plug-in hybrids, battery electric vehicles, hydrogen fuel cells and biofuels. However, we have identified that the complexity of the passenger car market is not adequately represented, future changes in driving behaviour are generally not considered, and different studies use different performance indicators for alternative fuels and powertrains, making results difficult to compare and their interpretation difficult for the non-expert. We test the effect of these limitations on the Total Cost of Ownership of each of the alternative technologies mentioned above and show that they all have the potential to be the winner and it is impossible to predict which one will prevail.

Battery electric, hydrogen fuel cell and hybrid vehicles

This paper conducts a techno-economic study on hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCV), Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) and hydrogen Fuel Cell plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (FCHEV) in the UK using cost predictions for 2030. Results show diminishing economic returns for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) with battery sizes above 20 kWh, and the optimum size for a PHEV battery is between 5 and 15 kWh.

Fuel cell plug-in hybrids are the future

This paper compares battery electric vehicles (BEV) to hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) and hydrogen fuel cell plug-in hybrid vehicles (FCHEV). A comprehensive sensitivity analysis shows that in 2030 FCEVs could achieve lifecycle cost parity with conventional gasoline vehicles. However, both the BEV and FCHEV have significantly lower lifecycle costs and a key conclusion is that the best path for future development of FCEVs is the fuel cell plug-in hybrid vehicle.