Paving the way towards a European electromobility system


Brussels, 25-26 February 2015.- This week the three flagship electromobility projects of the European Commission, Green eMotion, FREVUE and ZeEUS hosted the European Electromobility Stakeholder Forum in Brussels. It was the 3rd edition of this event and welcomed more than 200 European electromobility experts and representatives from industry, regional, national and European public authorities, transport agencies, utilities, research institutes and academia. With a combination of high level round tables and parallel workshops, attendees learnt about the developments of electromobility in Europe. Nine cross-cutting workshops served as a platform to share and exchange knowledge on operational, technical and policy-related aspects of electric vehicles.

Electric vehicles play an important role in sustainable urban mobility policy across Europe and can make our urban areas more liveable by making our transport system sustainable, quieter and cleaner. Although some modes of electric transport have existed for decades, the key message from the Forum is that the substantial advantages from electrified freight, car and buses can only be realised after addressing some common challenges.

While opening the Forum, Mrs. Magda Kopczynska, the head of Directorate on Innovative & Sustainable Mobility in the European Commission DG MOVE, highlighted another aspect of electromobility: “It is a promising technology also because it is at the cross-roads with our energy system and our digital market. We have to work on those three aspects: mobility, energy and digital to make it happen.”

Green eMotion: After four years Green eMotion comes to an end in February 2015. The project has defined and demonstrated a European framework for electromobility that connects all stakeholders for a seamless, cost-efficient and interoperable electromobility ecosystem. Starting in 2011, the project has developed prototypes to connect the islands of electromobility existing at the time. An overarching ICT architecture was defined and standards, especially for ICT interfaces were set. New business models for public charging infrastructure were analysed and ways shown for its optimised integration into the grid. Within 10 demo regions and 2 replication regions Green eMotion demonstrated that the project findings really work in practice and also support the setup of an electromobility environment from scratch.

FREVUE: The FREVUE project focuses on urban electric freight delivery, demonstrating how cleaner and smarter logistics can not only make cities better and healthier, but also make business sense. By bringing together logistic and distribution network operators and eight major European city authorities, FREVUE is actively confronting the real life challenges in a range of different commercial, environmental and regulatory scenarios. The consequences of wide scale electromobility adoption and the impact on the electricity network, on business models and on urban policy need to be understood and managed, and the public health imperative to be communicated. Mathew Noon, project coordinator, Cross River Partnership, said, “Over the last few years, e-mobility has gone from ‘a nice, but not just yet’ position to one where it can fully challenge the existing dominance of the internal combustion engine. The FREVUE project is clearly showing that electric freight vehicles can operate effectively reducing cost and emissions. We now need our municipal authorities to fully realise and support these new opportunities”.

ZeEUS: One year after its start, the Zero Emission Urban Bus System project is rolling out its plan: around 35 electric buses will run in live demonstrations in 8 European cities by the end of 2015! The demonstrations will allow to evaluate the environmental, economic and societal feasibility of electric bus systems. Gathering more than 60 contacts, the ZeEUS Observatory closely follows and discusses the progress of urban bus system electrification in Europe and beyond. ZeEUS will also help facilitate the market uptake of electric buses in Europe and support decision makers with guidelines and tools on ‘if’, ‘how’ and ‘when’ to introduce electrification to the urban bus network. Umberto Guida, EU Projects Director at UITP and Coordinator of the ZeEUS project mentioned that “this Forum is a great opportunity to create synergies between different sectors working on electromobility. Transport decarbonisation is essential to build competitive cities where people, businesses and culture can thrive and we strongly believe that electromobility, in combination with modal shift and traffic management measures, is part of the winning recipe towards a zero-carbon urban mobility in Europe.”

 


 

Note to editor

About Green eMotion

Scope: The goal of Green eMotion is to develop and to demonstrate a commonly accepted and user-friendly framework consisting of interoperable and scalable technical solutions in connection with a sustainable ICT business platform. Smart grid developments, innovative ICT solutions, different types of electric vehicles, urban mobility concepts as well as the development of policies and regulations are to be taken into account.

Duration: 03/2011 – 02/2015 [48 months]

Budget: 41 m € [24 m € EU Funding]

Coordinator: Dr. Heike Barlag, Siemens AG, Germany

Consortium: 42 (industry, utilities, electric vehicle manufacturers, municipalities as well as universities and research institutions)

Website: www.greenemotion-project.eu

Contact: Dr. Norbert Vierheilig, Siemens AG (norbert.vierheilig@siemens.com), tel:+49 173 9768160

About FREVUE

Scope: FREVUE (Freight Electric Vehicles in Urban Europe) demonstrates how electric freight vehicles offer a viable, clean and efficient alternative to conventional freight vehicles in urban freight delivery. Eight cities, 127 electric vehicles – FREVUE, towards zero emission deliveries at your doorstep.

Duration: 4.5 years, February 2013-2017

Budget: 14.2 m € [8 m € EU Funding]

Coordinator: Cross River Partnership

Consortium: 32 partners representing the entire stakeholder spectrum

Website: www.frevue.eu

Contact: Matthew Noon, MNoon@lambeth.gov.uk, tel: +44 207 926 0080

About ZeEUS

Scope: Testing electrification solutions at the heart of the urban bus system network through live urban demonstrations and facilitating the market uptake of electric buses in Europe.

Duration: 11/2013 – 04/2017 [42 months]

Budget: 22.5 m € [13.5 m € EU Funding]

Coordinator: UITP, the International Association of Public Transport

Consortium: 40 Partners representing the entire stakeholder spectrum

Website: www.zeeus.eu

Contact: Umberto Guida, umberto.guida@uitp.org, tel: +32 2 788 01 24

Coordinated by UITP, ZeEUS is co-funded by the European Commission under the 7th Research & Innovation Framework Programme, Mobility & Transport Directorate General under grant agreement n°605485. The ZeEUS project has been launched by the European Commission in the frame of the European Green Vehicle and Smart Cities & Communities.