Among the Academies: Fully Charged Trips Ahead
Dan Sperling on Connecting Transportation with Sustainability
Some envision flying cars, but for Dan Sperling, the future is electric.
“I think there's a global acceptance that electric vehicles are the future,” Sperling said. “It's really just a question of exactly how and how fast.”
For the United States, the conversion is growing, but mainly in California, where the state is an outlier.
“In China now, over a third of new car sales are electric vehicles. In Europe, it's about a quarter,” Sperling said. “In the United States, it's less than 10%.”
Sperling is a Distinguished Professor of civil engineering and environmental science and policy. He is founding director of the Institute of Transportation Studies, or ITS, and of the Policy Institute for Energy, Environment, and Economy. The Institute is staffed by over 150 faculty, staff, and students.
“We have everything from pavement research to automated vehicles and everything in between,” Sperling said, describing ITS as “the leading university center on sustainable transportation in the world.”
Sperling was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering in 2022 for his leadership and outstanding entrepreneurial contributions in transportation energy, advancing alternative energy policies and promoting government-industry-university collaborations. Read more...