This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: the Podcast” is with David Noyce, executive associate dean and Arthur F. Hawnn Professor at UW-Madison’s College of Engineering.
Noyce is also the executive director of the Traffic Operations and Safety Laboratory and the Wisconsin Driving Simulator Laboratory.
He discusses the latest research into electric vehicles and automated vehicles being conducted at the university, as well as development of other related technology.
“Clearly, the world is going in this direction of automated vehicles and connected technologies, and we are one of the leading universities in that area … We have a number of vehicles that are able to operate in an automated mode, and we’re exploring that in great amounts of depth,” he said.
Scientists at the TOPS Lab are also investigating “some of the reasons that perhaps electric vehicles aren’t catching on” as quickly as some experts had predicted, including the influence of “range anxiety” due to limited charging infrastructure, Noyce said.
Other UW-Madison researchers are looking to the future of car batteries, how to optimize EV charging systems, as well as “dynamic charging” technology that could charge an electric vehicle while it’s driving.
Noyce also shares his thoughts on the timeline for widespread adoption of self-driving vehicles, and provides an explanation of what’s holding back this technology.
“Notice I’m using the word automated, not autonomous, and that’s because being fully autonomous is still arguably not achievable yet,” he said.
Listen to the podcast below, sponsored by UW-Madison:
