SAGE NEWSLETTER ISSUE 3, SEPTEMBER 2013 sage-project.eu DEAR READERS, EDITORIAL With this August issue of the SAGE newsletter we would like to wish everyone welcome back from summer vacations. We hope you all are filled with energy and ready for new SAGE challenges. Being half-way through the project and entering a new phase, the SAGE consortium will continue to advance the project and to share experiences and information between our automotive regions. The Joint Action Plan has been finalized and is available at our project website. Work now begins to prepare for the implementation. Our expectation is to develop a number of projects within our focus areas Green, Safe, Connected as well as New Business Models and Mobility Solutions. In order to succeed in implementing our ideas, we look closely to Horizon 2020, the new European framework for research and innovation. Before summer, SAGE finalized its international strategy for the Asian regions Nagoya (Japan), Daejeon (Korea), Beijing and Shanghai (China). Before the end of 2013 SAGE will have visited all four regions in order to learn more and to explore further collaboration possibilities. In this issue of the newsletter we report back from the fruitful visit to Shanghai. We also invite you to read the latest news from our regions on collaborative projects, new technologies and improved strategies. If you are interested to know more about the work we do in SAGE, please visit sage-project.eu or join us on the 11th of December at our annual conference in Torino. H. BLOMDAHL, COORDINATOR SAGE, REGION VÄSTRA GÖTALAND. News from Paris-Rouen region NEW STRATEGIC PLAN FOR MOV EO: IMAGINE MOBILITY! Within a 6 years strategic plan going from 2013 to 2018, the French automotive cluster in automotive and mobility fields Mov eo will enter a new era of its development. This plan will in many aspects challenge the current mission, priorities and organization of Mov eo. Jacques Chauvet, General Manager of the Mov eo Cluster Key points are as follows: The basic aim of Mov eo to generate collaborative projects and to create innovation has been confirmed, but enlarged to carry on projects members to the market. The Mov eo mission will now not only focus on TRL (Technology Readiness Level) 1 to 5 stages of innovative projects, but will also help its members to move to the market, from TRL 5 to 8 or 9. In other words, the cluster moves from creating projects to creating products, as said by the Ministry of Production Renewal and regional authorities which represent the main public funding organizations of Mov eo. In order to achieve this wider task, Mov eo will focus on key technologies with optimal market potential and in fields where French SME s and big players, academics and research labs are most competitive. 28 key technologies have been selected as priorities for the Mov eo scientific activities. A labeling process will ensure economic robustness of the projects and that the public funding will go to really promising innovations. New activities will be created: a new department called Mov eo-development will provide technical services to Mov eo members, such as marketing analysis, business plan settings, human resources management, intellectual property advice, contacts with business angels and financial funds. Mov eo will encourage SMEs to work collectively in order to answer as a group to bid offers coming from large enterprises. In order to increase the role of Mov eo and its members in European projects related to the H2020 Perspective, special initiatives will rapidly be developed. All these changes should allow Mov eo to be confirmed on a larger scale as the leading automotive cluster in France and as one of the most efficient European clusters in the field of Imagining Mobility. JACQUES CHAUVET
Buses that operate silently and with no emissions, which pick up passengers at indoor stops and run on renewable electricity will soon become reality in Gothenburg News from Västra Götaland region VOLVO LAUNCHES SILENT ELECTRIC BUSES IN GOTHENBURG Buses that operate silently and with no emissions, which pick up passengers at indoor stops and run on renewable electricity this will be the reality for an ultramodern bus route in Gothenburg starting in 2015. The technology will provide completely new opportunities for public transport in the cities of the future. Behind the initiative is the Volvo Group, in collaboration with Västra Götaland Region, the City of Gothenburg, Göteborg Energi, Västtrafik, Lindholmen Science Park, Johanneberg Science Park and the Swedish Energy Agency. This represents a completely new way of travelling and gives public transport the opportunity to contribute to a more pleasant urban environment. A quiet and emissionsfree public transport system can service parts of the city that are not currently accessible. It is great to be able to launch this in our home town in collaboration with the region and Gothenburg, says Olof Persson, President and CEO of Volvo. Sustainable urban development is closely associated with the development of new transport systems. The use of electric power will not just put Gothenburg on the map in terms of sustainable and innovative solutions for public transport the new bus route will also open up fresh opportunities for how cities and urban areas are planned. The electric buses will run between Johanneberg Science Park at Chalmers and Lindholmen Science Park on Hisingen, starting in 2015. The electric bus route constitutes a new way of using public transport, which is very positive for Gothenburg. It shows that Gothenburg is a progressive city when it comes to urban development. It is also in line with our priority goal that Gothenburg should reduce its carbon footprint and become a climate-neutral city, with an increase in sustainable travel, says Anneli Hulthén (s), Chair of the Municipal Executive Board. This is a great example of a strong Triple Helix collaboration. Besides the development of the actual buses, it also involves developing and testing new bus stop solutions, a traffic management system, safety concepts, energy supply and business models. The collaborative project goes under the name ElectriCity. SOURCE: AUTOMOTIVE SWEDEN MAGAZINE
News from Regensburg region NEW DEFINITION OF MOBILITY JOINT DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONCEPT CAR LINK & GO WITH SMART CONNECTIVITY HUB FROM MBTECH The dual-mode, connected, urban, electric concept car Link & Go was developed by the AKKA Group as part of an international joint R&D-project. This vehicle concept represents a visionary approach of mobility in the future, which demonstrates autonomous driving in combination with comfort and connectivity. Some notable electric/ electronic parts of this impressive concept car were developed by MBtech in the city of Neutraubling in Regensburg. The responsibility of the MBtech Group was to develop the smart connectivity hub which allows the flexible connection of vehicle communication-networks with internet-networks like smartphones/tablets, 3G/4G-Networks, Ethernet and also Bluetooth/NFC. This universal interface between the vehicle and internet enables the visions of connectivity. The coordinated development of a concept car in France and the simultaneous development of parts of the electronics and software in the Regensburg show how well European cooperation within research projects can succeed. The Link & Go was presented for the first time at the Geneva Motor Show 2013. The interface between the vehicle and internet enables the visions of connectivity. Happy winners from the Italian team THE E-GOMOTION CHALLENGE With three involved SAGE partners, the e-gomotion project is an excellent example of the SAGE objective; to stimulate to a closer corporation between regions and thereby reach an increasing pace of innovation within the major European growth market for safe and green road vehicles. The Challenge is an innovation competition on sustainable mobility organized under the European project e-gomotion and funded by the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Union. The project partners are RWTH Aachen, KIT Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and the three SAGE Partners Politecnico di Torino (coordinator since April 2013) Mines Paristech (Mov eo) and Chalmers UT (until April 2013). In 2013, the first edition of The Challenge involved over 150 high school students from France, Germany, Sweden and Italy. The students were asked to focus on a mobilityrelated problem in the area where they live and try to conceive an environmentally, economically and socially sustainable solution. The concepts proposed range from goods delivery on electric vehicles to apps and ideas meant to improve the quality of public transport, to programmes aimed at promoting the diffusion of e-bikes. The City of Torino decided to support the idea of a car-sharing online platform for high schools proposed by the Italian winning team and the project will see the light in January 2014, thanks to the collaboration with the website Bring Me. The four finalists teams will compete against each other on November 18, 2013 in Barcelona, during EVS 27, The International Electric Vehicle Symposium & Exhibition and Smart City Expo World Congress. Contact person: Prof. Ezio Spessa, POLITO-DENERG, ezio.spessa@polito.it www.e-gomotion.eu www.facebook.com/egomotioneu www.youtube.com/egomotioneu Twitter @egomotioneu
SAGE MEETS WITH STAKEHOLDERS IN SHANGHAI The Ba-Shi battery swapping facility. In May this year a SAGE delegation visited Shanghai. The objectives of the visit were to learn more about the Chinese automotive industry and R&I landscape as well as to explore cooperation possibilities with stakeholders in the region. The overall focus was International and Regional Collaboration In the area of Intelligent Transport Solutions and contacts were established with representatives from universities, industry and public authorities. On the first day SAGE met with SIAC (Shanghai International Automotive City). SIAC is a government agency responsible for starting a cluster program for electromobility in Jiading, the district with the largest automotive production in Shanghai and the chosen district by the government to be an EV zone. With emphasis on demonstration and evaluation, SIAC have at this point had 20,000 people test drive the electric vehicles. 16 different brands are represented and large amounts of data to analyze has been collected. Another initiative discussed at the meeting was the floating car pool project that SIAC is developing together with SAGE partner Viktoria Sweden ICT in Västra Götaland. At the end of the meeting the SAGE delegation was invited to test drive electric cars on the EV Zone test track. Later on the same day SAGE visited Tongji University and its Design and Innovation Factory. Prof. Jan Steel von Holstein gave the delegates an introduction to the design studio and to research and innovation in China. Tongji University already has cooperation with several SAGE partners, with a potential for further mutual development. Test driving of electric cars at EV Zone in Jiading. On the next day SAGE met with Shanghai Municipal Transport and Port Authority (SMTPA). The delegation learned more about passenger transport in Shanghai, urban logistics and distribution, freight transport and research projects in Shanghai. With 23.8 million inhabitants in Shanghai transport is a challenge. The metro system carries over 6 million passengers every day and the bus system almost 8 million. AB Volvo made a presentation of the BRT system, a possible area for cooperation. The last visit of the trip was to Ba-Shi, the largest bus company in Shanghai. Ba-Shi has three types of new energy vehicles: electric vehicles, hybrids and super capacitor buses. The SAGE delegates were invited to a an electric bus ride and a visit at the battery swapping facility, currently handling 168 battery swaps per day. Challenges with this technique include the cost of the batteries and an extensive number of faults in the buses. SAGE will continue to explore cooperation opportunities with Asian automotive clusters. Three more visits are planned for 2013: Nagoya in Japan, Daejeon in Korea and Beijing, also in China.
UPCOMING EVENTS 3rd International Conference on Driver Distraction and Inattention 4-6 September 2013 Location: Lindholmen Science Park, Gothenburg (Sweden) www.chalmers.se/hosted/ddi2013-en European Transport Conference 2013 30 September - 2 October 2013 Location: Frankfurt (Germany) http://etcproceedings.org/ ecartec Munich 2013 5th International Trade Fair for Electric Mobility and Hybrid 15-17 October 2013 Location: Munich Trade Fair Centre Halls A4, A5, A6 (Germany) www.ecartec.de/index.php?id=370&l=4 Electric Vehicle Symposium (EVS27) 17-20 November 2013 Location: Barcelona www.evs27.org ITS Conference 2013 2 December 2013 Location: Brussels http://ec.europa.eu/transport/themes/its/ events/2013_12_02_its_conference_en.htm SAGE Annual Conference 2013 11-12 December 2013 Location: Torino (Italy) More information: to come PARTNERS: French Automotive Cluster SAGE is a project funded by the Seventh Framework Programme: CONTACT VÄSTRA GÖTALAND Hanna Blomdahl Region Västra Götaland hanna.blomdahl@vgregion.se PARIS Marc Charlet MOV EO marc.charlet@pole-moveo.org WARSAW Yuhua Chang Warsaw University of Technology yuhua.chang@simr.pw.edu.pl REGENSBURG Christine Knorr City of Regensburg knorr.christine@regensburg.de PIEMONTE Anna Maria Caputano Region Piemonte annamaria.caputano@regione.piemonte.it sage-project.eu