The sustainable mobility and clean transportation industry is a rapidly evolving sector that reduces carbon emissions and promotes environment-friendly transit solutions. This industry is also instrumental in combating climate change, improving air quality, and fostering sustainable urban development. With increasing technological advancements and supportive policy frameworks, the sector is witnessing major innovations such as electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles, smart vehicle to (V2G) grid integration, and resilient microgrid systems for reliable electricity supply for zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs). As governments and organizations prioritize the push for ZEVs, building sustainable infrastructure to support these vehicles becomes more prominent than ever before in driving the industry forward while reducing the overall carbon footprints of the sector.
Aditya Kushwah, a Technical Project Manager at CALSTART, has been a notable figure in this sustainable transportation field, contributing extensively to the advancement of adoption of ZEVs and their infrastructure across the US. Aditya’s role involves working directly with public and private agencies to create comprehensive plans for transitioning to ZEVs. This includes evaluating the techno-economic feasibility of overseeing the development of strategic tools to facilitate these transitions.
Aditya’s journey toward sustainable mobility and clean transportation began during his undergraduate studies in India in 2014. Recognizing the urgent need to address climate change and air pollution, particularly in New Delhi, the World’s most polluted city, he felt a strong desire to contribute to innovative solutions for reducing GHG emissions in the transportation sector.
Leading a team of students to build a solar-powered electric vehicle in his sophomore and junior years gave him a head start in clean transportation technologies. This early exposure ignited his passion, leading him to further his technological expertise and explore policy pathways through a master’s degree in Energy Technology and Policy. Aditya’s career in green mobility is marked by his dedication to integrating sustainability within the transportation sector. While he initially focused on reducing GHG emissions and air pollution, over time, his scope expanded to include tackling the high upfront cost of adopting ZEVs, ensuring quality control for enhanced safety, supporting cost-effective infrastructure development, assessing policy impacts, and ultimately promoting a cleaner future worldwide.
Let’s explore Aditya’s innovative leadership journey towards sustainable mobility:
Integrating Sustainability Across Sectors
Aditya’s leadership in this field started while studying Mechanical and Automation Engineering, with a focus on vehicle technology, at Amity University in India. In his junior year, Aditya led a student team to build a solar-powered electric vehicle (EV) on a shoestring budget. This project culminated in a solar car that could reach 60 km/h with a range of 50 to 60 miles on a single charge, showcased at the Indo-US Summit in 2015.
The project garnered significant media attention, and Aditya’s passion impressed EV manufacturers considering setting up new EV manufacturing units in India. This achievement led to his recruitment by the Japanese EV manufacturing company Terra Motors in his senior year, making him the first student from the university to receive a pre-graduation offer.
At Terra Motors, he played an instrumental role in setting up the production line in two manufacturing units established in suburban New Delhi and closely looked at the market operations of EVs. He later joined the R&D team, when his role expanded to include enhancing the adoption of commercial EVs in international markets, including Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. During his time in the R&D team at Terra Motors, one major challenge was to optimize the cost-effectiveness of EVs while ensuring quality control, particularly in Southeast Asian markets like Nepal, Vietnam, and China.
He realized the importance of innovative policies in addressing the market issues and ensuring the success of zero- emission technologies, which motivated him to pursue a master’s degree in Energy Technology and Policy at Cal Poly Humboldt, previously known as Humboldt State University, for which he was awarded a full scholarship.
During his master’s program, he worked with renowned researchers at the Schatz Energy Research Center, learning about the impact of policy incentives on EV technology adoption. At Schatz, he primarily worked on projects that promote clean energy generation and transportation sectors. He developed a model to compare the techno-economic viability of electric and hydrogen bus fleets for the Humboldt Transit Agency (a joint powers authority between Humboldt County and the cities of Arcata, Eureka, Fortuna, Rio Dell and Trinidad), helping them decide on the more viable technology from a technical and economic perspective for their transition to ZEVs.
Aditya’s time at the Schatz Energy Research Center was a period of intense learning and growth. He gained hands-on experience with cutting-edge renewable energy technologies, such as microgrids and deepened his understanding of policy influencing EV markets and enhancing their adoption. During this time, he became proficient in using and developing sophisticated modeling tools and data analysis techniques to assess the performance and feasibility of transition from a conventional fleet to a zero-emission commercial fleet. At Schatz, he also understood the current and forthcoming challenges in this sector. One of them is a reliable electricity supply that fuels the clean transportation sector. Transitioning to ZEVs alone is insufficient; therefore, his solutions focused on the integration of solar microgrids to ensure resilient operations for transit agencies, especially during emergencies like Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS).
Aditya’s passion, abilities and solid background in renewable technologies that support clean transportation, such as solar microgrid and V2G integration, ensured his holistic understanding of the sector and drove his progress to grab a position at CALSTART, a federally recognized nonprofit organization dedicated to shifting the transportation sector emission-free. His work includes developing statistical tools and fleet transition plans for federal and state government-funded projects like the Santa Barbara Transit Electrification Blueprint the Porterville city-wide sustainable mobility plan, with a focus on disadvantaged communities. Working at CALSTART helped Aditya enhance his project management skills, lead project teams, and provide subject matter expertise within interdisciplinary teams to deliver impactful solutions. These experiences broadened his technical expertise and enabled him to analyze the societal impacts of clean transportation, particularly for disadvantaged communities, reinforcing his commitment to driving the transition to sustainable transportation for underprivileged sections of society.
In summary, his career has been driven by a passion for sustainable mobility and a commitment to leveraging technology and policy for positive environmental and societal impact. Overcoming challenges related to cost and quality control and by leveraging policy, he has progressed by continuously aligning his technical expertise with broader sustainability goals, contributing to a cleaner and more sustainable future.
Strategic Planning for Carbon-Free Transit Fleets
Aditya’s primary focus is on collaborating directly with transit agencies to develop comprehensive plans for transitioning to ZEVs across the US. His projects directly align with the nation’s commitment to combating climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector. These projects have also provided him with valuable insights into promoting resilience and preparedness among public and private agencies in adopting sustainable transportation described as follows.
Resilience and Preparedness in Business Operations
Aditya’s journey toward sustainable mobility and clean transportation has provided him with several key insights into the business world in various aspects, such as:
Policy and Regulatory Awareness: His master’s degree in energy technology and policy helped him recognize the impact of incentive policies on the success of zero-emission technologies, underscoring the importance of understanding and navigating policy frameworks. Effective engagement with policymakers and aligning business strategies with regulatory goals can drive technological adoption and success not only in developed countries but also in developing nations across the globe.
Customer-Centric Approach: Developing models to assist transit agencies in transitioning to ZEVs taught him the value of a customer-centric approach. Understanding and addressing the specific needs of customers and stakeholders ensures that solutions are relevant and effective.
Resilience and Emergency Preparedness: Focusing on microgrid integration to ensure resilient operations during emergencies, like Public Safety Power Shutoffs, highlighted the need for resilience and preparedness in business operations. Ensuring continuity and adaptability in the face of disruptions is critical for sustaining progress.
The Future of Sustainable Mobility and Clean Transportation
Aditya states, “The next significant change in the sustainable mobility and clean transportation sectors is likely to be the widespread integration of ZEVs with the larger grid through smart grid technologies, which will require technological development, policy advocacy, and integration with microgrids.” Aditya firmly believes that this integration will not only enhance the efficiency and reliability of transportation systems but also ensure resilience and sustainability in the face of increasing environmental challenges. His current and future work will focus on making these changes possible:
Technological Innovation and Development: Aditya and his team are actively working on developing and refining innovative, statistically driven tools that support the transition to ZEVs more effectively and efficiently. This includes enhancing the efficiency and integration capabilities of electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles within existing infrastructure.
Policy Advocacy and Collaboration: Recognizing the critical role of government policy in the success of ZEV technologies, he is continuously engaging with policymakers and stakeholders to advocate for supportive regulations and incentives. His academic and professional background in energy technology and policy enables him to effectively communicate the benefits of sustainable transportation solutions and the need for robust policy frameworks.
Microgrid Integration: Understanding the importance of resilient operations, especially during emergencies like Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS), he is leading efforts to integrate microgrid technologies with transit systems. This integration ensures that transit agencies can maintain operations during power outages, thereby enhancing the reliability and sustainability of transportation infrastructure.
Accreditation
Aditya recently published an insightful article in the SAE Update magazine titled “Transforming Transportation with Data-Driven Tools,” exploring the pivotal role of statistical tools in planning fleet electrification, energy consumption patterns, infrastructure support, and cost estimation. He has also been a featured speaker on the “Mastering Microgrid” webinar panel, a statewide discussion series on microgrid integration organized by Drive Clean Colorado and funded by NREL.
Additionally, Aditya presented at the prestigious International Conference on Transportation and Development (ICTD) in Atlanta, organized by ASCE, where he discussed the advanced technology behind zero-emission buses (ZEBs) and their adoption for sustainable transportation, emphasizing their significant benefits in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting cleaner urban transit systems. Aditya is also an active member of various committees under the Transportation and Development Institute (T&DI) of ASCE that promote clean transportation globally.
These committees include Public Transportation and Sustainable Transportation, where he provides critical technical support and advocates for adopting ZEVs, helping promote sustainable transit solutions and supporting the transition to cleaner transportation options. He has published several white papers on vehicle technology and associated infrastructure with renowned publications such as IEEE and scholarly journals. His papers are not limited to zero-emission vehicle technology but also reflect the role of associated infrastructure, such as microgrids, in public transportation.
Notable publications include the “Microgrid Best Practices Manual,” detailing optimal strategies for implementing microgrids, and “Beyond the Driving,” which discusses handling idling for ZEVs and the role of idling energy in infrastructure sizing. These publications underscore his ongoing commitment to advancing sustainable transportation solutions and his expertise in integrating innovative technologies into public transit infrastructure.
