Shift Magazine - February 2022 - 8

Professor Anna Stefanopoulou,
right, tests end-of-life power-tool
battery packs with graduate student Andrew
Weng at the University of Michigan.
Q A&
A
8
s automakers transition to battery
power, how long is the
road ahead for the internal
combustion engine?
New supplier alliances are ensuring
a stream of vital batteries, software and
electronics for anticipated demand for
electric vehicles. Battery ranges of 300,
400 and even 750 miles are being claimed.
What was a slow crawl toward an electrified
horizon a year ago has become a jog
as automakers announce EV models, provide
higher EV-portfolio percentages and
predict 100,000-vehicle sales.
Anna Stefanopoulou is a professor
of mechanical and electrical engineering
and William Clay Ford Professor
of Technology at the University of
Michigan. Her research interests are the
shift * february 2022
WITH ANNA
STEFANOPOULOU
Does the road to electrification mean the end of
internal combustion? Not at all, professor says
n Column: It's not the end yet for the
internal combustion engine I PAGE 10 I
provide perspective on the future of internal
combustion. She spoke with Shift correspondent
Jack Keebler. Here are edited
excerpts.
modeling and control of internal combustion
engines and electrochemical technologies
such as fuel cells and batteries.
With one intellectual boot in each powertrain
camp, she is well positioned to
Q: WHAT IS DRIVING THE
ACCELERATION IN AUTOMAKERS'
EFFORTS TO TRANSITION FROM
INTERNAL COMBUSTION-ENGINE
VEHICLES TO BATTERY-POWERED
VEHICLES?
A: It's tightening global emission requirements.
To manage the climate crisis,
we need to decarbonize transportation.
And it's more than what cost-effective IC
engines can afford us. It's the realization
Shift Magazine - February 2022

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