Meet Steven Boyd: Batteries and Electrification Program Manager, Vehicle Technologies Office

The Vehicle Technologies Office's Batteries and Electrification Program Manager, Steven Boyd began his career in vehicle technologies as a student participating in the DOE Advanced Vehicle Technology Competitions. He recently had the exciting opportunity to share his knowledge of electrification technologies while discussing the Batmobile at Awesome Con in Washington, D.C.

I have been at DOE in the Vehicle Technologies Office since 2006, when I started as a Technology Manager for Hybrid and Electric Systems.

I participated in the DOE-sponsored Advanced Vehicle Technology Competitions, specifically FutureTruck as an undergraduate and Challenge X as a graduate student in Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Tech. Along the way I worked on hydrogen fuel systems, battery packs, high voltage systems, electric propulsion systems, and was team leader when we took first place overall in 2006. While this experience wasn’t directly related to exploratory R&D, I did gain a hands-on appreciation for the application of advanced vehicle technologies and an understanding of the unique challenges vehicles can present regarding the adoption of new technologies.

I think that vehicles represent a particularly exciting opportunity for research and development. Since vehicles consume a significant portion of our energy as a nation, affecting both individuals and businesses, any advancement we can lead could have a huge impact. Furthermore, with such a large vehicle market space we get to collaborate with many different groups and individuals on research projects – universities, small businesses, national laboratories, and large companies with established brands in the automotive industry. This incredible diversity and opportunity leads to exciting possibilities for new technologies that can have real positive impacts for much of the country, and our office has numerous recent examples of real success that are on the road today.

To me, it is remarkable that many individuals are still interested in, and get excited by, new automotive technologies. In particular, since I manage projects surrounding vehicle electrification, consumers have shown an interest and acceptance surrounding fully electrified vehicles which can offer the benefits of a low cost of operation, zero emissions, and really incredible performance. More of these vehicles will be coming to the market including many representing the first automotive applications of VTO-sponsored technologies.   

I enjoy both cooking at home and keeping up with the emerging DC restaurant scene. I also sing as a tenor with a DC-based chorus, The Congressional Chorus, and perform four concerts a year with them in addition to past performances at the Kennedy Center and singing the national anthem at a few Nationals baseball games.