EPSRC DTP Studentship - Assessment of Energy Performance of Battery Electric Heavy Goods Vehicles

Heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) transport nearly 80% of the goods in the UK and are responsible for 5% of total UK greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Electrification of HGVs has been widely recognised as one of the most viable decarbonisation solutions to road freight transport system. However, this will introduce enormous challenges to the existing system for various reasons: higher up-front vehicle costs compared to fossil-fuel counterparts; reduced vehicle payloads; ranges limitations; lack of charging infrastructure; degradation of battery capacities with time etc. These challenges are holding back public and private investment, delaying development of business models, and ultimately risking the UK's global leadership in tackling climate change.

This project aims to help address these challenges by developing, testing, and validating a systematic methodology to understand and quantify energy performance of battery electric HGVs, with a focus on the performance of vehicle traction battery system and the impacts of battery degradation on freight operations and logistics services. The research work will include:

1) Instrumenting a battery electric HGV and measuring vehicle energy performance and battery performance during vehicle real-world operations on public roads;

2) Developing and building a simplified 'physical twin' of the traction battery system to simulate battery performance in controlled laboratory environment; and

3) Developing, testing, and validating a 'digital twin' of a battery electric HGV, including a sub-system-level digital twin of the traction battery system to evaluate vehicle energy performance, battery performance, and the impacts of battery degradation on freight operations and logistics services.

The research will be conducted in close collaboration with the Centre for Sustainable Road Freight (SRF, www.csrf.ac.uk) at Cambridge University Engineering Department. The research will be supervised by Dr. Xiaoxiang Na and co-supervised by Prof David Cebon, Director of SRF.

Applicants should have (or expect to obtain by the start date) at least a good 2.1 degree in Engineering or a related subject.

EPSRC DTP studentships are fully-funded (fees and maintenance) for students eligible for Home fees. Full eligibility criteria can be found via the following link; www.postgraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/finance/fees/what-my-fee-status

To apply for this studentship, please send your CV and a document with names and contact information for two referees to Dr. Xiaoxiang Na (xnhn2@cam.ac.uk) no later than 12^th April 2024. Applications may close early if the position is filled before this date.

Please note that any offer of funding will be conditional on securing a place as a PhD student. Candidates will need to apply separately for admission through the University's Graduate Admissions application portal (www.graduate.study.cam.ac.uk/courses/directory/egegpdpeg). Candidates also need to have submitted a full application through the application portal no later than 12^th April 2024.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

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