Abstract
The electric vehicle is widely seen as a symbol of modern, sustainable engineering. It is
silent on city streets, free of exhaust, and promising relief from a climate crisis, decades in the
making. However, the allure of powerful symbols can sometimes obscure the systems that
sustain them. Both pieces of this sociotechnical project examine the electric vehicle as a process
rather than a finished product. One half focuses on telematics data and cost curves, the other on
human rights and supply chain ethics. Together, they reveal that the benefits of sustainable
transportation can only be realized if engineers are willing to design for the full arc of a vehicle’s
life, all the way back to the sourcing of its raw materials.
The capstone project focused on helping UVA make better decisions about electrifying its
vehicle fleet. Facilities Management operates over 400 assets of varying types, making it difficult
to determine which are good candidates for replacement. The team built a data-driven framework
using real telematics data and a machine learning model to predict fuel and energy costs. The
framework calculates the total cost of ownership for each vehicle, including purchase price, fuel,
maintenance, insurance, and the social cost of carbon. The analysis found that electric and hybrid
replacements reduced emissions by between 69 and 82 percent, though cost-effectiveness
depended heavily on how much each vehicle was utilized.
The STS thesis, “Charged with Responsibility: Engineering Ethics and the Global
‘Public’ in the EV Battery Supply Chain,” examined a problem that the cost model does not capture:
the human cost of battery materials. Using the NSPE Code of Ethics, ESG criteria, and
Social Life Cycle Assessment methods, it argues that engineers are ethically responsible to the
communities that extract these materials. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, which produces
about 60 percent of the world’s cobalt, mining is tied to child labor and serious health risks. The
research argues that the engineering profession’s definition of “public” must expand to include
these communities, and recommends switching to cobalt-free battery chemistries, requiring
Battery Passports, and investing in domestic recycling infrastructure.
Together, these projects show that good electrification decisions require more than a cost
analysis. The capstone gives fleet managers tools to decide which vehicles to replace and when.
The STS research asks engineers to think about where battery materials come from and who is
affected. A complete picture of the cost of an electric vehicle must include both.
