Rocky Mountain Institute's work in the mobility and vehicle efficiency sectors ("MOVE") stems from over 20 years of research in sustainable transportation, including RMI’s Nissan-award winning Hypercar, Inc., work during the 1990s. Since then, RMI has pushed the industry towards integrated platform design, lightweighting, advanced drive trains, energy storage and innovative fueling options through research and project engagements. We create breakthrough efficiency solutions in our core automotive and freight/trucking sectors and have expanded into fleet and integrated transport systems.
We have a number of ways to find out more about our work in this field, as summarized below. We invite you to spend some time exploring!
Prepping Cities for Electric Vehicles
Project Get Ready is an RMI initiative to aid U.S. cities preparing for widespread adoption and use of electric vehicles in their communities.
An offshoot of the Smart Garage, a new energy paradigm that allows America’s cars to plug in to homes and buildings, uniting transport, building and grid energy systems, Project Get Ready is helping cities and a variety of technical partners make the shift off fossil fuels.
Making Trucks More Efficient
The trucking industry transports about 70 percent of all the goods in America today, moving nearly $24 billion in value in 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Yet despite their ubiquity, for 50 years long haul tractor-trailer designs have remained fundamentally unchanged. Most only average six miles to the gallon.
RMI and the North American Council for Freight Efficiency are working together to reinvent the trucking industry and break down the barriers to carry just as much freight on half as much energy.
Visit our online portfolio to learn more about the work RMI is doing in the transportation sector.
Winning the Oil Endgame
Currently, mobility in our world is 99 percent oil-fueled. RMI is focused on catalyzing profitable, efficiency-led solutions to reduce this reliance on oil, following the guidelines outlined in "Winning the Oil Endgame."
First published in 2004, this widely-regarded report shows that the United States can not only end its dependence on foreign oil, but can wean itself completely off the fuel—profitably—through efficiency-focused transformation in the transport sector.
Cont
act us to inquire about using RMI’s MOVE services for your next project or to speak to an expert about our work.