On the 19th of September, ASSURED co-hosted the ASSSURED/JIVE talk, held at the UITP stand at InnoTrans 2018 in Berlin. The talk highlighted both the technological and the commercial aspects of battery electric and fuel cell buses for urban transport. After a networking breakfast, five speakers provided their insights into clean bus technologies, followed by a panel discussion about the acceleration of the upscaling of electric commercial fleets.
The talk was moderated by Umberto Guida (UITP), with the following speakers:
- Alex de Jong, Business Manager Public Transport, VDL Bus & Coach
- Geert Van Hecke, Head of Public Transport, Van Hool
- Giorgio Mantovani, Alternative Traction Concept Manager, Iveco Altra
- Julen Trojaola, Project Manager, Irizar e-mobility
- Romuald Witkowski, Regional Sales Manager, Solaris
Mr de Jong focused on e-mobility being one of the major developments in public transport, and how we need to create customised and flexible mobility solutions that are focused on the end-user. He underlined the importance of extended partnerships with all relevant players in the value chain, as well as continuous improvement and optimisation by team and fact-based learning.
In the talk held by Mr Van Hecke, topics such as optimised integration, standardised components, scale economies, and monitoring of the overall fleet were discussed, highlighting that Van Hool's fuel cell buses are ready for large commercialisation.
Mr Mantovani discussed the technological objectives Heuliez Bus/Iveco Altra has in terms of electric buses, hereby focussing on technologies that will allow for fast charging and will improve driving ranges between charging stations.
Mr Trojaola underlined that electric mobility is already a reality in many cities (Madrid, Amiens, Luxemburg, Bayonne) and presented the electric bus fleets that are in operation, also highlighting the different charging systems that are offered by Irizar e-mobility.
Finally, Mr Witkowski talked about increasing the market share of electric buses. "The next ten years will see the electric bus market expanding five fold. Now, it is growing at a compound annual growth rate of 20% in terms of unit sales," he stated.
You can find the presentations held by speakers here and here.