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OVERVIEW – 1st European conference
(with the support of the EC) Results from road transport research in H2020 projects, 
November 29 – 30, 2017

Overview of the conference

With the support of the European Commission, EGVIA & ERTRAC organised the 1st European-wide conference to showcase the results of selected H2020 funded projects on road transport related areas. Various technological challenges were covered in order to highlight the contribution of ongoing EU-funded research projects to meet EU policy goals. The conference was a unique opportunity to get an overview of results from H2020-funded projects.

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Various key topics for the future of road transportation in Europe have been covered, including:

1. ADVANCED BATTERIES FOR E-MOBILITY (LITHIUM-ION IMPROVEMENTS AS WELL AS FUTURE CHEMISTRIES MEETING THE USER REQUIREMENTS)

Projects
FiveVB – Five Volt Lithium Ion Batteries with Silicon Anodes produced for Next Generation Electric Vehicles
SPICY – Silicon and polyanionic chemistries and architectures of Li-ion cell for high energy battery
HELIS – High energy lithium sulphur cells and batteries
ALISE – Advanced Lithium Sulphur battery for xEV

The “Advanced batteries” session gave a comprehensive overview of current developments in new materials and cell chemistries targeting the most promising technologies and the subsequent industrialization of the developed ones.
There were presentations on four Horizon 2020-funded projects, all of which are due to be completed in the 2018-2019 timeframe.

FIVE-VB is working on a new cell technology based on innovative materials such as high-capacity anodes, high-voltage cathodes, and stable, safe, and environmentally friendly electrolytes. New generations of cell chemistries are being evaluated and optimized to improve the electrochemical performance of active materials and related new cell technology in terms of energy density, lifetime, safety, and costs. Furthermore, lifetime and aging aspects have been addressed in depth.

SPICY is focusing on the improvement of Li-ion battery performance and cell-level energy densities by at least 20%, as well as on the reduction of the battery pack and system cost by 20%. The results of 3 different sub-models at the electrode level, current collector level, and cell level developed to simulate the cell behaviour and define the cell optimum design were presented. Also, SPICY demonstrated the synthesis of LiFexMn1-xPO4 material, which keeps the safety and power capabilities of the LiFePO4, increasing the energy density by 100 Wh.kg-1.

HELIS is working towards the development of three different series of lithium-sulphur (Li-S) cell prototypes for automotive use. The results of cathode composite engineering and development and those of lithium anode and separators were presented.

ALISE, focused on achieving 500 Wh/Kg stable LiS cell, developed and optimized new materials regarding anode, cathode, electrolyte, and separator. The first module for PHEV, built with 82 Lithium Sulphur cells was presented along with the follow-up opportunities.

All four projects have demonstrated success in meeting their goals and objectives.

 

2. ITS AND COOPERATIVE NETWORKS FOR VEHICLES SETTING THE GROUND FOR CONNECTED AND AUTOMATED DRIVING TO BECOME A REALITY ON EUROPEAN ROADS

Projects
TIMON – Enhanced real time services for an optimized multimodal mobility relying on cooperative networks and open data
ROADART – Research On Alternative Diversity Aspects foR Trucks

In the “ITS” session, two projects funded under the same call topic were presented.

TIMON’s objective is increasing road transport systems’ safety, sustainability, flexibility, and efficiency by taking advantage of cooperative communication and processing open travel data through a cooperative open web-based platform and mobile application. Results presented indicate significant success in reducing data needed to predict, in accuracy, in sensitivity, in time to predict, and in the complexity of the models.

ROADART is working on integrating ITS communication units into trucks by developing and evaluating new architecture concepts to assure a sufficient Quality of Service. There are significant improvements in positioning technologies, in sensors and in-vehicle computers development, as well as in wireless communication ecologies. Both projects have demonstrated success in meeting their goals and objectives.

 

3. COMPETITIVENESS OF EU TRANSPORT SECTOR

Projects
NEXTRUST – Building sustainable logistics through trusted collaborative networks across the entire supply chain

The “Competitiveness of EU transport sector” session was focused on increasing the efficiency and sustainability levels in the logistics supply chain. The aim is to help the sector to stay competitive in a socially fair transition towards clean energy and digitalization. NEXTRUST objective is to develop interconnected, trusted collaborative networks along the entire supply chain. The collaborative networks are market-oriented and implemented at an accelerated rate for high impact. The project’s goal is to reduce deliveries by 20%-40% and with modal shift to reduce GHG emissions by 40%-70%. The project has demonstrated significant success in meeting its objectives.

 

4. ADVANCED BUS

Projects
EBSF_2 – European Bus System of the Future 2

EBSF_2, which combines the efforts of 42 partners from industries, operators and authorities is searching for advanced solutions to improve efficiency and attractiveness of bus systems. The key working areas of EBSF_2 are energy strategy and auxiliaries; green driver assistance systems; IT standards introduction in existing fleets; vehicle design (capacity, modularity, accessibility); the interface between the bus and urban infrastructures; and intelligent garage/depot and predictive maintenance. All of these rely on field tests by means of new vehicle technologies and infrastructures in combination with operational best practices to be tested in real urban environments across Europe. Demonstrations are taking place in 12 cities. Each city has committed to testing a subset of innovations, and several vehicles are being equipped with these solutions that are running in operation for a period of between 6 to 12 months. The assessment of the innovative measure is a classical before-vs-during-the-implementation comparison of results, with Key Performance Indicators measuring the performance variations in each case study and cross-case. The project has demonstrated significant success in meeting its objectives.

 

5. SAFETY

Projects
SafetyCube – Safety CaUsation, Benefits and Efficiency
XCYCLE – Advanced measures to reduce cyclists’ fatalities and increase comfort in the interaction with motorised vehicles
PROSPECT – PROactive Safety for PEdestrians and CyclisTs
InDeV – In-Depth understanding of accident causation for Vulnerable road users
SENIORS -Safety-ENhancing Innovations for Older Road user

The “safety” session gave a comprehensive overview of current road safety research activities in H2020.

Safety projects have gathered presentations on different aspects, dealing with the improvements of safety measures for pedestrians, cyclists, and elderly people. All projects presented in this session are funded under the same call topic “Traffic safety analysis and integrated approach towards the safety of vulnerable road users” from the 2014 Transport Work Programme.

The SafetyCube project is already in its final phase and delivering a very much needed Decision Support System helping policy-makers to take informed decisions on road safety measures and calculate their cost-effectiveness.

XCYCLE, PROSPECT and InDev follow different approaches to improve the safety of pedestrians and, in particular, cyclists. This includes the analysis of such accidents, the design of appropriate HMI solutions and detection systems, user acceptance studies, the development of test methodologies and their communication amongst others with Euro NCAP to secure long-term impact.

The well-attended session was completed by a detailed presentation of interim results from the SENIORS project, which also addresses aspects of vulnerable road user safety, while the focus was on improving the passive safety of older car occupants as a road user group of growing importance in view of the ageing European population. The need for continued efforts in passive safety research was pointed out in this presentation, as well, while the lively Q&A part with the interested audience at the end of the session revealed amongst others the need to focus on the safety of motorcyclists in future calls as a road user group exposed to particularly high safety risks.

All five projects have demonstrated success in meeting their goals and objectives.

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6. ENERGY MANAGEMENT

Projects
OPTEMUS – Optimised Energy Management and Use
OSEM-EV – Optimised and Systematic Energy Management in Electric Vehicles
JOSPEL – Low energy passenger comfort systems based on the joule and peltier effects.
XERIC – Innovative Climate-Control System to Extend Range of Electric Vehicles and Improve Comfort

The Energy Management session of the ERTRAC-EGVIA conference was well attended. There were presentations on four Horizon 2020 EGVI-funded projects all of which are due to be completed in the 2018-2019 timeframe.

Energy management in electric vehicles is important for not only propelling the vehicle but also the comfort of the occupants. The four projects presented were focused on improving the energy efficiency of systems designed with the latter in mind.

OPTEMUS, focused in improving the energy management of an A-class vehicle with a range of measures. OSEM-EV is also working on improving energy management in a number of areas as part of a project cluster.  The JOSPEL project is improving energy efficiency aimed at improved comfort using Joule and Peltier effects. XERIC is focused on improved energy management using membranes to improve climate control.

All four projects have demonstrated success in moving towards meeting their objectives.

 

7. LOGISTICS

Projects
SUCCESS – Sustainable Urban Consolidation CentrES for conStruction
U-TURN – Rethinking Urban Transportation through advanced tools and supply chain collaboration
CITYLAB – City Logistics in Living Laboratories
NOVELOG – New cooperative business models and guidance for sustainable city logistics

The Logistics session at the ERTRAC-EGVIA Conference gave a comprehensive overview of the city logistics and urban freight running H2020 projects. The 4 projects presented: SUCCESS, U-TURN, CITYLAB, and NOVELOG address collaboration and coordination opportunities for further efficiency in logistics operations and also reduced environmental impact and reduction of congestion. The fourth of them gave a clear picture of opportunities from very different perspectives and application fields.

As the main outcome of the session, it was highlighted that Cities and other stakeholders are starting to give more strategic value to better understanding and managing urban freight. This is also crucial to achieving a greater impact of the projects compared to the past. As a general rule, when projects are framed in a broader strategic context of cities or stakeholders, the outcome and impact achieved are very valuable, and in particular, the take-up and implementation of project’s results are pretty much enhanced.

In order to achieve long-term improvements, cities should develop Sustainable Urban Logistics Plans (SULPs) in a clear way within and better complementary to SUMP. Paris and Brussels were mentioned as examples in which urban freight and logistics have been given priority.

As a brief of the projects, SUCCESS focus on city construction sites’ logistics analysis. The project has developed a detailed assessment of the operations in four sites and extracted very practical conclusions and lessons learned, some of which have already been taken up in other sites.

U-TURN focus on the Fast Moving Goods Industry and Groceries (including e-commerce) and how to boost and benefit from horizontal collaboration opportunities between shippers but also between Logistics Service Providers, which is a very new and interesting dimension. The results of one of the pilots were presented as well as potential scalability and follow-up opportunities.

CITYLAB is based on 7 different Living Labs to implement solutions that positively influence business profitability, reduce traffic and emissions, and have wider roll-out potential for the logistics sector applied to other European cities.

Finally, NOVELOG focused the presentation on the analysis and systematization of measures, impacts, and city typologies which has resulted in an effective and sustainable way to approach city logistics improvement for cities. In particular, the guidelines and toolkits are very valuable as a baseline for cities creating Sustainable Urban Logistics Plans.

All four projects have demonstrated success in meeting their goals and objectives.

 

8. NEW VEHICLE CONCEPTS

Projects
EU-LIVE – Efficient Urban Light Vehicles
RESOLVE – Range of Electric Solutions for L-category Vehicles
WEEVIL – Ultralight and ultrasafe adaptable 3-wheeler
Silver Stream – Social innovation and light electric vehicle revolution on streets and ambient
ESPRIT – Easily 3istributed Personal RapId Transit

The session on New Vehicle Concepts at the ERTRAC-EGVIA Conference provided an opportunity for an exchange of views on 5 currently running projects, namely EU-LIVE, RESOLVE, WEEVIL, Silver-Stream, ESPRIT, all of which are in or nearing the final phase of activities and in all cases are resulting in the physical realisation and experimental validation of at least one prototype vehicle.

During each of the presentations, various crucial issues were addressed and discussed concerning the design, development, and market acceptance of novel vehicles designed primarily for use in urban and suburban contexts. In each case, specific focus is being placed on the design from the user-centric perspective (e.g., ergonomics, ride-handling and stability, safety) and from a performance perspective, particularly with respect to the electric or electric-hybrid drivetrain solutions being proposed (e.g., the use of in-wheel motors) and the battery systems which remain a potential critical aspect from the point of view of cost and range.

Overall a common feature that emerged during the session related to the need to develop modular solutions to enable design flexibility on one hand and affordability on the other. From the attendees, questions were raised regarding the opportunity to perhaps mix promising aspects of each of the different solutions presented and how the EU industry may be able to compete in this sector with respect to the potentially fierce competition, particularly from China and other parts of Asia.

All five projects have demonstrated success in meeting their goals and objectives.

 

9. ULTRA-LOW EMISSION VEHICLES

Projects
REWARD – Real World Advanced Technologies foR Diesel Engines
ECOCHAMPS – European Competitiveness in Commercial Hybrid and AutoMotive PowertrainS
GasOn – Gas-Only internal combustion engines
HDGAS – Heavy Duty Gas Engines integrated into Vehicles
LOWBRASYS – a LOW environmental impact BRAke SYStem

Various fuel options for future powertrains were presented in the “Ultra-low emission vehicles” session: diesel, hybrids, and natural gas, and it introduced opportunities to drastically reduce particulates emissions from brakes have also been presented.

REWARD project is developing clean highly efficient Diesel powertrains and after treatment technologies for future passenger cars and light commercial vehicles that “go beyond Euro 6 limits under Real Driving conditions” (EU6 RDE). REWARD reported advanced after-treatment technologies development, friction reduction, and combustion efficiency, and optimized engine architecture. Furthermore, an approach for the development of a vehicle of performance and economy of a comprehensive B/C class Diesel engine and after treatment system for emissions beyond Euro 6 was shown.

ECOCHAMPS is aiming to achieve efficient, compact, low-weight, robust, and cost-effective hybrid powertrains for both passenger cars and commercial vehicles with increased functionality, improved performance, comfort, functional safety and emission levels below Euro 6 or VI. ECOCHAMPS reported on the 5 demonstrator vehicles that are realizing the project objectives.

GasOn is focusing on developing CNG-only engines able to comply with future noxious emissions and CO2 with simultaneous improvement of engine efficiency & performance.

The objective of the HDGAS project is to develop, demonstrate and optimize advanced powertrain concepts for dual-fuel and for pure natural gas operation engines, perform integration thereof into heavy-duty vehicles, and confirm achievement of Euro VI emissions standards, in-use compliance under real-world driving conditions and CO2 or greenhouse gas targets currently under definition. HDGAS reported on the development of LNG vehicle fuel system standardization, on a novel after-treatment system dedicated to natural gas engine applications, on the development of a low-pressure and of high-pressure GDI engine as well as one of low-pressure port injected dual fuel engine.

LOWBRASYS is developing a novel and low environmental impact brake system to reduce micro and nanoparticles emissions by at least 50%. Several advances in the brake concept that helps the transition to zero emissions vehicles were presented.

All five projects have demonstrated success in meeting their goals and objectives.

 

10. NEW MOBILITY PATTERNS

Projects
EMPOWER – EMPOWERING a reduction in use of conventionally fuelled vehicles using Positive Policy Measures.
ELIPTIC – Electrification of public transport in cities
CIPTEC – Collective Innovation for Public Transport in European Cities
TRACE – Opening the cycling and walking tracking potential
FLOW – Furthering Less Congestion by creating Opportunities for more Walking and cycling

In the last session of the conference, solutions for electrification, public transport, cycling and walking have been introduced via 5 projects’ presentations, providing the audience with inspiration on our mobility in the future.

EMPOWER aims to reduce the use of conventionally fuelled vehicles (CFV) in cities by influencing the mobility behaviour of CFV drivers and users towards fundamental change. The results of the project’s Research Questions and the potential of several positive incentive schemes were presented.

The ELIPTIC project is developing new use concepts and business cases to optimise existing electric infrastructure and rolling stock, saving both money and energy. ELIPTIC presented some results of the business cases’ development as well as some policy recommendations.

CIPTEC addresses the need for a cultural change to recognise customer needs in the design and delivery of services in the public transport sector. To do this, the project studies public transport demands and how they are affected. At the same time, the project also closely examines the public transport supply chain in an attempt to understand its needs and challenges.

TRACE is assessing the potential of movement tracking services to better plan and promote walking and cycling in cities and developing innovative tracking tools to encourage the take-up of walking and cycling measures. TRACE demonstrated the role of tracking data in the planning and policy processes by showing the results of several trials conducted in two European cities.

Finally, the FLOW project brings together transport modelling experts and walking and cycling experts to develop innovative, user-friendly tools to help cities to holistically evaluate the effects of walking and cycling measures on congestion. The potential long-term impact of FLOW was presented. All five projects have demonstrated success in meeting their goals and objectives.

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Past editions