Transportation and Mobility Research

NREL's leading-edge research accelerates the development of advanced mobility technologies and strategies, with a focus on providing innovative, affordable, and globally competitive solutions for passenger and freight transport.

Cutting-Edge R&D Areas

Cybersecurity

NREL evaluates cybersecurity for electric vehicle grid integration, including public key infrastructure—a method for encrypting data and verifying device authenticity—to help vehicles and charging stations securely recognize and communicate with each other.

Hydrogen and Fuel Cells

Our hydrogen and fuel cell research is lowering the cost and increasing the scale of technologies to make, store, move, and use hydrogen—providing flexibility to meet rising energy demands across the country and in multiple sectors of the economy.

Accelerating Technology Innovation

Text version

As the premier national laboratory for energy-efficient transportation R&D solutions, NREL's transportation and mobility research is key to solving some of the country's most important energy challenges by:

Developing innovative transportation tools, technologies, and strategies that enhance the movement of people and goods without sacrificing convenience, reliability, and affordability
Supporting energy independence by maximizing the use of domestic energy resources and delivering Americans cost-competitive and convenient mobility choices to meet individuals' needs
Providing the scientific foundation and pre-competitive research and engineering to catalyze the commercialization of high-performance, advanced passenger and freight vehicles, domestic fuels, and related infrastructure.

R&D Partnerships

Our transportation research bridges technologies via partnerships across industry, the U.S. Department of Energy, and various transportation-related federal agencies. Learn how to work with us.