Exploring Electric Vehicles and Energy Possibilities

In Chief Technologist Rusty Heffner’s work, the Teslas, Chevy Bolts, and other electric vehicles (EV) he sees in Los Angeles traffic are more than just a way to get from point A to point B. He envisions campers using EVs to deliver light and heat to a remote site, neighbors plugging them into the side of a house during an electrical outage, and utility companies incorporating them into the grid as power sources themselves.

“EVs can be more than transportation. A car can be a huge mobile battery, so you can use that energy to do something at a destination as well,” Rusty says.

Amid the many urgent challenges of the climate crisis, Rusty’s work highlights the possibilities: how advances in transportation and energy technology offer hope. In conjunction with Earth Day, Rusty talks about his work in a field that’s transforming how we work, live, and safeguard our planet and resources for future.

Rusty’s career began in software development, specifically resource planning and supply chain management applications. Customers included leading automakers, and the more Rusty learned about the automotive sector, the more he was intrigued. 

It was a pivotal time in the industry. “As I worked with the automakers, I got more interested in what was happening in the move to electric vehicles,” he says.

Rusty followed this interest to the University of California, Davis and a Ph.D. in transportation technology. Hybrid vehicles were starting to emerge, and his studies included research funded by Toyota that explored both the technical and consumer aspects of these new products.

“We asked ourselves questions like, 'How do consumers react to an entirely new type of vehicle or fuel?’ and ‘What makes people take the leap to purchase a new technology and what holds them back?’” Rusty recalls.

After his doctoral studies and research, the next step was Booz Allen. Alongside the firm’s energy and transportation subject matter experts, he helped automakers, electric utility providers, and government clients ask the right questions about emerging technologies like electric vehicles. How quickly could they be adopted? What would they mean for the power grid and climate change? How quickly would the cost and performance of components such as batteries improve?

“We helped them think through various scenarios and prepare for the future,” he says. 

Rusty has been with Booz Allen since 2008, working at the intersection of transportation and next-generation energy technologies. He has been helping federal government and commercial clients see where the technology is headed and what new possibilities may be unlocked.

For example, Rusty’s team has explored the human side of EV charging, probing what customers want in both chargers and the vehicle charging experience.

“Drivers told us that this was going to be different than going to a gas station. They’re spending more time charging their vehicles and they’re concerned about safety, especially at remote locations at night,” he says.

Rusty and his team have spent a lot of time considering the EV infrastructure. “It’s not just about having chargers at the right spots on a map, it’s about ensuring a consistent and frictionless interaction with the new infrastructure when drivers are there,” he says.

As federal agencies deploy electric vehicle charging infrastructure, Rusty has encouraged them to think about future-proofing today’s infrastructure so it’s ready for tomorrow’s advanced technology. This includes asking whether an extensive network of EV fast chargers will always be needed along the nation’s highways.

“Lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles have progressed substantially since EVs first appeared on American roads in 2008,” he pointed out in an op-ed for the Federal Times. “These better, cheaper batteries make it easier to design electric cars and trucks that can store more energy on board, and therefore can drive longer distances.”

In the article, Rusty described charging stations as “an enabling technology with a limited useful life,” similar to iTunes in music’s transition from single-song downloads to streaming. Once the capabilities of mobile devices matured, PC-based software infrastructure like iTunes was no longer needed to support them, Rusty wrote.

“As federal agencies expend funds for charging infrastructure, they should recognize that a successful deployment probably looks a lot like iTunes,” he wrote. “It should be affordable. The user experience should be great. And while users will highly value the service at first, its engineers should remember that it’s just an enabling technology that could quickly become redundant.”

Booz Allen is keenly focused on combating climate change impacts, and as the world continues to move toward EVs and reducing humanity’s carbon footprint, Rusty and his team are exploring what’s next with forward-thinking federal clients and a growing roster of commercial clients.

High-capacity EV batteries that make charging stations redundant are just the beginning. The scientists and engineers Rusty works with are also looking into new types of carbon-free fuels, novel engines, and propulsion systems for cars, trucks, and aircraft, as well as carbon dioxide removal technologies to increase pathways to sustainability, resilience, and safety. 

Another potential area of innovation: algorithms that help self-driving cars avoid the energy-wasting behaviors of human drivers, like racing ahead to a red stoplight only to have to hit the brakes, sit, and wait.

“Basic automation technology is already available in many vehicles and getting more sophisticated. Its adoption is driven by safety and convenience, but can we also use it to optimize efficiency and decrease fuel use?” Rusty ponders.

Rusty describes his team as “exceptional scientists and engineers working at the center of the climate innovation space. They have a unique vantage point into what’s under development and what emerging technologies look promising,” he says. “It’s a pretty unique skillset.”