The Centre for ECO2 Vehicle Design: Resource efficient vehicles for a sustainable society
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan - Farkost och Flyg |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 39 000 000 |
| Project duration | July 2017 - June 2024 |
| Status | Completed |
| Venture | Competence centre |
Important results from the project
ECO2 Vehicle Design enables resource efficient vehicle for sustainable transport. This was done through the creation of knowledge and methods to deal functional tradeoffs to enable improved vehicles; by defining those improvements in terms of benefits to the wider transport and society’s needs, and by organising these into a shared competence development to create benefit the partners and the wider community.
Expected long term effects
ECO2 has resulted in more than 250 articles (i.e. knowledge generation) and seven completed PhDs (i.e. competence development) so far since 2017 - outputs of uniquely ECO2 multidisciplinary, multifunctional and multi-scalar projects. The use of industry PhD projects and the establishment of an international conference of Resource Efficient Vehicles also shows the spread of ECO2 results within the partners and the wider network. ECO2 activites continue in a new post-Vinnova phase that will build upon the collaboration established thanks to this competence centre programme.
Approach and implementation
ECO2 established a collaboration between KTH, Alstom, Scania, Volvo cars, Volvo trucks, Trafikverket and VTI. In addition to a steering group and the research projects, a coordination group was established, which created an ongoing dialogue at different levels about the current and future research content of the centre. The centre also actively promoted a gender action environment in this dialogue. The use of industry PhD projects created a strong connection between the industrial partners and KTH and was effective in transferring knowledge and building a common understanding.