Bold Leadership To Transform Sustainable Transportation and Mobility Research

Improved Mechanistic Understanding of Calendar Life Fade in Silicon Anodes

After determining two critical factors contributing to the limited calendar lifetime of silicon, the NREL-led Silicon Consortium Project can now devise strategies to stabilize silicon anodes and extend battery lifetimes.

Advancing Battery Stability With Continuum-Level Solid-Electrolyte Interphase Modeling

A new NREL model will accelerate the fundamental understanding of solid-electrolyte interphase behavior and guide battery stability improvements, enabling energy-dense, lithium-ion battery development for EVs and grid-scale energy storage.

Real-World Driving Data Inform Battery Requirements for Heavy-Duty Truck Electrification

To establish battery testing protocols for heavy-duty trucks, NREL used its Fleet DNA database to identify real-world drive cycles for regional and long-haul truck routes with the most challenging battery requirements.

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NREL's Aging Detector for Semiconductor Devices Is Poised To Boost Electric Vehicle Reliability

NREL researchers developed a cost-effective, gate-driver-integrated in situ detection system for aging and degradation of power modules, providing a valuable resource for boosting EV safety and reliability.

NREL Writes the Roadmap to Next-Generation Power Electronics

NREL's contributions to a roadmap help the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Materials & Manufacturing Office outline the innovations needed to unlock next-generation power electronics systems, including the decarbonized transportation systems of the future.

Thermal Characterization of Electric Motor Materials Shapes Caterpillar's Heavy Mining Motor Design

NREL conducted thermal characterizations of novel materials on Caterpillar’s custom electric motors, guiding the company’s future motor designs for mining and helping reduce emissions in the heavy mining industry.

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Development of Electric Vehicle Tool Inventory Informs Stakeholder Toolkit

To help the U.S. Department of Energy’s EVs@Scale Lab Consortium create an EV stakeholder toolkit, NREL developed an inventory of existing lab vehicle-grid integration capabilities, such as models, tools, and datasets.

Development of Smart Charging and Vehicle-to-Edge Strategy Report Roadmaps Use Case Demonstrations

NREL contributed to the EVs@Scale Lab Consortium’s High-Power EV Charging Integration Platform project report, which serves as a roadmap for future use-case demonstrations and efficient, cost-effective, resilient, robust, and stable DC hub operations.

Industry Collaboration Improves Test Plans and Procedures

An NREL EVs@Scale Lab Consortium team solicited and incorporated industry feedback into a test plans and procedures document, which enables lab research teams to collect project data for testing equipment configurations under various conditions.

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NREL Designs Bench-Scale Experiment To Improve Understanding of Contrails From Jet Engine Soot and Better Characterize Fuel Emissions Impacts

NREL researchers designed a lab bench-scale reactor that mimics soot-forming conditions derived from contrails in an aircraft engine combustor, enabling researchers to evaluate and characterize multiple jet fuel samples in a faster, lower-risk, and accessible way.

NREL Simulations De-Risk Qualification of 100% Drop-In Sustainable Aviation Fuels

To accelerate the characterization and qualification of sustainable aviation fuels, NREL’s new simulation models provide initial screening, reducing development costs by dramatically reducing the fuel volume and number of experiments needed.

New Method Enables Accurate Measurement of Cetane Number With Less Aircraft Fuel

NREL developed a new equivalent “indicated cetane number” method that allows researchers to measure the indicated cetane number with as little as 15 milliliters of aircraft fuel, accelerating sustainable aviation fuel development and ASTM approval.

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Composites Combined With PECAN and Polyethylene Increase Viability of Carbon-Fiber Vehicle Designs

To demonstrate the viability of carbon-fiber vehicle designs, NREL combined its PECAN resin with carbon fiber and varying amounts of ductile polyethylene fibers to yield hybrid composites, showing carbon-fiber composites can be augmented to increase ductility.

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Multi-State Transportation Electrification Impact Study Estimates Grid Upgrades Needed To Support Increased Demand

To address the challenge of increased EV adoption, an NREL research study focuses on the charging demands for all on-road vehicles and estimates the associated infrastructure and grid upgrades required to support the growth.

Streamlined Process for Utility-Provided Alternative Fuel Incentives Facilitates Creation of More Comprehensive Database

For the U.S. Department of Energy Alternative Fuels Data Center, NREL created a more comprehensive database of utility-provided incentives through a new streamlined process of collecting and tailoring data by target audience, including consumers, fleets, businesses, and policymakers.

Recommendations for the Next Vehicle Charging Opportunities at Airports

Through the Athena Zero-Emissions Vehicle (Athena ZEV) project, researchers are investigating the potential impact of rental cars, ground support equipment, transportation network companies, and airport parking charging to understand the potential for large grid impacts.

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Model Enhancements Focus on Non-Driving Modes and Initial County-Level Demand Validation

In addition to an enhanced representation of non-driving modes, NREL's TEMPO: Transportation Energy & Mobility Pathway Options Model now aptly represents travel demand across counties.

New FleetREDI API Delivers Secure Access to Powerful Decarbonization Data

The NREL FleetREDI: Fleet Research, Energy Data, and Insights platform's new API provides secure access for partners to view reports, insights, and data products generated from their own operational data as well as public assistance for accessing aggregated and anonymized statistics.

National Framework Enables Modeling of High-Resolution Electric Vehicle Electricity Demands and Flexibility

NREL developed a framework for producing high-resolution annual hourly EV electricity demand datasets, offering crucial insights for power system planners and ensuring grid reliability and decarbonization.

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Stakeholder Engagement Ensures Livewire Remains Responsive to Mobility Researcher Needs

NREL's Livewire Data Platform team sought input from stakeholders, gaining insights on projects and datasets required for research advancement to help the platform evolve and expand its data catalog as needed.

Integrating Demographic Evolution Into Public Agency Travel-Demand Models Improves Forecasting Capabilities

In collaboration with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, NREL developed Demographic Microsimulator software for modeling travel-demand population data, simulating life cycle events at both the household and individual levels.

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