Impact of advanced technology introduction on management of engineering systems: a case study of an electric vehicle transportation system

Abstract

The central theme of this research is to address and analyze the impact of the introduction of modem Electric Vehicle (EV) technology into the current transportation system that has traditionally been built around the internal combustion engine. Specifically, the research focuses on the impact of technology change on the traditional management model of the automotive industry, and then examines its relevance to the gradual emergence of a transportation technology based on the EV. The research process firstly traces the roots of the present automotive industry, its beginnings, precepts and the gradual evolution of a traditional management model based on mass production that has progressively established a massive multi-billion dollar automotive industry over the past 100 years. Secondly, the driving forces behind the recent interest m the emergence of electric vehicle and related clean transportation technologies are reviewed, together with a sampling of the current ideas from various experts in this revolutionary new transportation technology. This is then followed by a preliminary critique of recent case studies of EV programs and models introduced in the U.S., Japan and the EU over the past 8 years, which provides the backdrop to this research work. Having reviewed the current automotive industry, with its existing problems and the challenges it faces in the future, the core task of this research is the development of two models for the establishment of an EV industry. The first model is the "Technology Driven -Analytical" model (TDA). The second model is the "Technology-Driven Synthesized" model (TDS). The final stage of the research is the validation of the TDS model. This is accomplished by reviewing and comparing it with existing marketing/management models of the EV industry, and then by hypothesis-testing using more than 30 case studies of recent EVs and EV programmes established over the past six years across the EU, USA and Asia. The research concludes by examining the usefulness and limitations of the two models for the EV industry - mainly as a conceptual framework for further development of application-specific models, and as a strategic policy-planning tool. Particular emphasis is placed on a key finding of the research, i.e. the mutual dependence of the four aggregate factors, and especially the strong influence of government on the success in establishing an EV industry.

Date of Thesis submission	2004
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Western Sydney University
Supervisor	Veerappan Jayaraman (Supervisor) & Thomas Khoo (Supervisor)