Michigan Tech Receives $2.8 Million to Research Automotive Energy Efficiency

Michigan Technological University has received $2.8 million from the US Department of Energy (DOE) to develop next-generation control systems for light-duty hybrid electric vehicles.  Tech is one of three Michigan recipients of a total of $8.5 million in new grants from DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E).

Nationwide, 10 projects received $32 million in funding through ARPA-E’s newest program, NEXT-Generation Energy Technologies for Connected and Automated on-Road-vehicles (NEXTCAR). NEXTCAR’s mission is to create new control technologies that reduce the energy consumption of future vehicles by using connectivity and vehicle automation.  Connected and automated technology utilizes on-board or cloud-based sensors, data and computational capabilities to help a vehicle better process and react to its surrounding environment.

The Michigan Tech team, in partnership with General Motors, will work to reduce the energy consumption by 20 percent in automotive electrified vehicles, including hybrid electric, plug-in hybrid, extended range and fully electric. The project, titled “Connected and Automated Control for Vehicle Dynamics and Powertrain Operation on a Light-Duty Multi-Mode Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle”—will integrate advanced controls with connected and automated vehicle functions, enabling eco-routing and vehicle cooperative driving, says Jeff Naber, Ronald and Elaine Starr Professor of Energy Systems in Tech’s Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics and principal investigator on the project.

“Reducing energy consumption reduces fuel and electrical energy needs, extends the vehicle’s range and reduces greenhouse gases,” Naber explains.

The technology will be tested on a fleet of vehicles provided through the GM partnership, using Michigan Tech’s mobile laboratory as a mobile computing and communications center.