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Editor’s choice
SEI Senior Research Fellow and Energy and Industry Transitions team leader Björn Nykvist has been named the 2025 recipient of the Håkan Frisinger Award for Excellence in Transportation Research.
The award, presented by presented by the Volvo Research and Educational Foundations (VREF), recognises Nykvist’s significant contributions to understanding the electrification of the transport sector, and his influence on climate and energy policy. The prize includes an individual award of SEK 300 000 and a grant of SEK 500 000 to support his work as a visiting researcher at Lund University.
A key focus of Nykvist’s work is the intersection between emerging technologies and public policy. He is widely known for his research on battery electric vehicles (BEVs) – including a 2015 paper in Nature Climate Change that helped reshape global perspectives on BEV viability by showing rapid cost declines. His work continues to inform international debate and is regularly cited in IPCC reports.
Photo: SEI.
My research is motivated by a desire to provide timely and policy-relevant evidence on technological developments that are critical for climate mitigation and the global energy transition. I’m honoured to receive this award from VREF and look forward to strengthening the collaboration between SEI and Lund University.
Björn Nykvist
This recognition highlights SEI’s commitment to research that not only advances knowledge but also addresses critical societal transitions. With an interdisciplinary background spanning engineering, psychology and environmental policy, Nykvist’s research has engaged both academic and real-world stakeholders – from the Swedish forest industry to global climate policy platforms.
As part of the award, Nykvist will spend time at Lund University’s Division of Environmental and Energy Systems Studies later this year, where he will contribute to collaborative research and mentor the next generation of sustainability scholars.
SEI plans to publish a more in-depth interview with Nykvist in the lead-up to the award ceremony in October.
The Håkan Frisinger Award for Excellence in Transportation Research promotes and supports research and development in the area of transportation. It is open to distinguished researchers active in the Nordic countries and is coupled with a visiting researcher period at a Swedish university.
VREF, the Volvo Research and Educational Foundations, is a collective of four foundations that finance research and education in the areas of transportation, environment and energy. Through its Future Urban Transport Programme, VREF inspires and supports research activities focused on navigating the complexity of urban transport, with a vision of sustainable transport for equitable access in urban areas. VREF is tax-exempt and committed to serving the public good through transparent research funding.
Other publication / Björn Nykvist discussed the competitiveness of sodium-ion batteries in Nature Energy journal.
Perspective / Is technology about to overcome the "too heavy to electrify" obstacle? SEI's Björn Nykvist examines the debate in an op-ed for EURACTIV.
The overarching ambition of the energy and industry transitions team is to analyse the transitions to reduce global greenhouse emissions to net zero by 2050.
