The Ford BlockM Sustainability Laboratory Project develops a new, innovative product model for mobility specifically considering environmental sustainability along with other traditional product facets. The U-M research will assist Ford in trhee areas: (a) Include environmental sustainability as a customer driven attribute, similar to safety, in an evaluation model, (b) Explore cost and business models that include lifecycle environmental sustainability, and (c) Generate product cues that customers associate with environmental sustainability.

Understanding Vehicle Silhouette Preference Using Interactive Genetic Algorithms
by Jarod Kelly, PhD Candidate in Mechanical Engineering

In this research we use interactive genetic algorithms (IGAs) to explore user preference for vehicle silhouettes. IGAs use the principles of evolution and survival of the fittest to determine good designs using input from human users. We use an interactive web deployable application to query users on their preference for a vehicle shape by decomposing the vehicle silhouette into several variable points. We ask users context specific questions to understand their shape preference and associations with specific themes, such as 'sporty' or 'luxurious'.

Vehicle Design in an Enterprise context
by Bart D. Frischknecht, PhD Candidate in Mechanical Engineering

Product development combines design from disciplinary perspectives (i.e., engineering, industrial design, and marketing) in a successful business proposition. Communicating between disciplines such that the product development problem is solved with an enterprise objective such as maximize profit remains a significant challenge. A theoretical framework for posing product development problems includes quantitative models representing the product, the consumer, the firm and its competitors, and the regulatory environment.

Automakers may choose from a number of advanced technology platforms during the coming decade: advanced gas and diesel, flex-fuel, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, battery vehicles. Consumer preferences depend on the context in which preferences are elicited: number of choice alternatives, attributes used to describe each product, etc. It is hypothesized that consumer preferences for advanced technology vehicles and their attributes will depend on the mix of vehicles available in the choice set. Understanding this relationship may inform regional marketing of advanced technology vehicles, and provide insights into market diffusion and the effects of regulation.

Downloadable materials: ODE poster

Quantifying Perceived Environmental Friendliness in Vehicle Designs
by Tahira Reid, PhD Candidate in Design Science

The design community is well versed in understanding how to incorporate concepts such as luxury and sportiness in the design of vehicles. What remains to be better understood is the subjective attribute of environmental friendliness and incorporating it in the design of vehicles. This research will use synergies from multiple disciplines to provide a theoretical and practical basis for understanding how consumers make judgments about the exterior design of vehicles as well as how effective the design details are in conveying environmental friendliness.