While big names like GM and Honda continue their efforts to bring about the electric vehicle (EV) revolution, sometimes more homegrown efforts will create the ultimate change. Both the Universities of Michigan (U-M) and Tennessee at Knoxville (UT) have received funding to make the future of transportation electric.
Although many people have been hesitant to warm up to EVs, the statistics still point to accelerated growth in the market. While EV sales were only at 0.2 percent of car sales in 2011, that number impressively jumped to 4.6 percent in 2021. Numerous factors play into adoption, but tentative forecasts point to EVs reaching 50 percent of sales by 2030.
Before that happens, many solutions are needed for the many challenges the industry faces. Enter the next generation of engineers. In a state known for changing the automotive industry, U-M has received funding and finalized contracts for its new University of Michigan Electric Vehicle Center, which will cost $130 million. The center will focus on three key areas to change the EV world: research and development, developing training programs and a trained workforce, and building facilities and infrastructure to boost those efforts.
“This prudent investment from the state is going to be pivotal in ushering in a mobility future that is sustainable, safe, and equitable for Michigan workers, our communities, and the nation,” said Alec D. Gallimore, the Robert J. Vlasic Dean of Engineering, the Richard F. and Eleanor A. Towner Professor, an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, and a professor of aerospace engineering. “While the EV revolution is well underway, there’s an immense amount of work to do in order to meet—and then push beyond—the U.S. goal that half of new car sales be electric by 2030. We need to address areas like the workforce, cost, vehicle range, charging infrastructure and sustainability. Our center will build on more than a century of U-M leadership in transportation to tackle these and other critical areas.”
As for developing highly skilled employees, $20 million of the investment will focus on new educational opportunities at U-M and other state institutions with a goal of reaching 1,200 students each year. This will include full-time undergraduate and graduate degrees as well as accredited and continuing education efforts. Regarding the remaining funds, $50 million will go toward R&D, specifically targeting challenges in the industry, such as materials, batteries and life cycles. The final $60 million will help build state-of-the-art facilities to make everything else happen.
Although still working toward getting $160 million in federal funding, UT already has received a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation’s Regional Innovation Engines program to form its Advancing Technology-Enabled Mobility Solutions coalition.
“I think part of the roadmap is already moving with us because we have a great manufacturing base,” Kevin Heaslip, director of UT’s Center for Transportation Research. “What’s at stake is the ability for Tennessee to have a dynamic economy that takes advantage of the investments the state has already made in the automotive industry.”
The state may not be synonymous with the automotive industry, but Tennessee has sure footing in it. More than 10 percent of the state’s exports come from transportation equipment, and Volkswagen’s Chattanooga plant was the home of the manufacturer’s first U.S.-assembled EV in 2022. The state also hosts two Nissan facilities.
A private, public and state organization, the UT coalition has already been hard at work identifying research, including analytics and increasing computing power, while also focusing on making charging easier and building a future workforce of EV experts. One of the coalition’s main goal is to design lighter vehicles with smaller batteries that can still make long trips.
Both universities are in the early stages of revolutionizing EVs, with UT still hoping to get funding, but investments at the local and state level as well as by private businesses in the research of EVs indicates that the future of transportation is closer than ever.