Formular Registration

Normal 0 21 false false false SK X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

The importance awarded to electro mobility by actual automotive industry could not have been proved better than by organizing in the 22,000 square meters exhibition area of a special hall of Electro Mobility, a special activity “Ecosystem Electromobility” and the Electric Mobility Congress.

The two days allocated for this visit were barely enough not only to see all new models demonstrated in the show but also to path through all boots of companies involved in the effort o shaping the electric future of tomorrow cars.

Though a separate hall was dedicated to electric mobility, solutions and innovations in this area were also present in all other halls of the exhibition.

Some important car makers have chosen to exhibit their electric mobility solutions not only in booths located in the special hall but also in their main booths. Others have opted to concentrate all their solutions in a single booth. From our point of view the second choice was not always a good solution as the electric mobility models and solutions were shadowed by the new conventional modules that captured most of the attention of the participants. For the same reasons it was difficult sometimes to find the most relevant and accurate information from the exhibitor personnel because most of them had no enough deep insight in the electric mobility technology.

As a first impression we could see that every major car producer has invested recently in the development of at least one electric vehicle model. The introduction of electric cars must be done in an overall context that includes also the development of the infrastructure: energy production and storage, new materials and components, communication and ICT management. In this respect most of electrical vehicle producers were involved in partnerships with electrical energy producers and distributors in order to offer the individual and public charging infrastructure.

We could also learn that some companies are also developing different business models in order to offer for their clients the best electric mobility experience.

In presenting their three EV models that are going to be introduce on the European market next year, a Renault representative described the facilities the company offers for its customers:

· leasing of the car battery for reducing considerably the acquisition cost of the electric car

· EVs are aimed at this moment to be used mainly for the urban traffic. For longer travels outside cities (business or holiday trips) the company could offer to its customers a conventional car as part of a subscription contract.

The Quickdrop system which doesn’t imply the recharge of the battery but their rapid replacement in special charging stations was also demonstrated in the Renault booth. It will remain for the future to tell if this solution will be largely adopted or it will be outclassed by the wireless recharging concept demonstrated by Siemens and which is also the subject of an FP7 proposal elaborated by our Bulgarian partners from the Autoclusters project.

Normal 0 21 false false false SK X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

Companies demonstrating electric mobility solutions at Frankfurt Motor Show could be grouped as follows:

· major car producers

· electric mobility solution integrators

· electric mobility component producers

· electric mobility infrastructure providers

· developers of electric mobility concepts.

The EV models presented at Frankfurt Motor Show revealed that car producers are developing and testing electric mobility solutions in all vehicle range.

The big majority of models have been developed with typical usage in urban areas. The limited autonomy range imposed by actual technologies restricts the usage of EV on relatively short distances. The high prices of batteries are also an important factor that conducted most car producers to enter in the electric mobility market with small models that can be afforded by people willing to test this zero emission mobility.

In this category we can include the following demonstrated models: Renault Twizy, Mitsubishi iMiEV, Citroen C-Zero, Honda QEV, Mercedes E-cell, Peugeot iOn, Hyunday Blue On Electric, Smart Fortwo Electric Drive, etc.

Normal 0 21 false false false SK X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

Nevertheless, a group of models disposing of a range extender using either hybrid technologies or supplementary batteries were also proposed. These models are aimed at customers that are affording to buy a more expensive car but also at administrations, organizations and companies that operate large fleets of vehicles, mainly in urban areas (taxi, courier services or maintenance companies to name just a few).

Models like Renault Fluence, Chevrolet Volt, Opel Ampera, Volvo C30 Electric, Fisker Karma, Artega and others are good candidates for satisfaying these kind of demands.

Commercial vehicles and minibuses for urban transport are also in the focus of several car producers but also for EV solution integrators which are betting on local communities’ determination to decrease levels of gas emissions and noise in their area.

The development of EV can not be possible without the implication of major car component producers, especially those dealing with the electric part of the vehicles. The visit at their booth could give you the image of electric products that will be integrated in the next electric or classical vehicles with a strong focus on reducing energy consumption.

We could see at Siemens booth electrical motors, charging stations, inductive charging systems, at Johnson Controls booth batteries, battery control and battery monitoring electronic systems, at Jtekt booth electric power steering systems, at Aisin booth hybrid car related products and at Baumueller booth different types of electric drives for trucks. Other charging station solutions were present at e-ON booth but also at RWE one. We take a longer visit at Continental and Delphi booths as both companies have subsidiaries in Romania and more important for us in Iasi where they are developing a good relationship with the academic environment. We could discuss about the electronic controls, electric drives and safety systems which are also in our area of interest. A full range of electric products that are designed for electric vehicles we found at well known companies Bosch (electronics, drive systems) and Valeo (electronics, drive systems, motors).

Normal 0 21 false false false SK X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

It not an easy task to develop an electrical vehicle from the ground. Therefore some companies have chosen the solution to take an already existent chassis and accommodate necessary parts to build an electric vehicle tailored to the client needs. Some of the most important EV solution integrators we have visited at the Frankfurt Motor Show were German e-cars that demonstrated models based on Opel chassis, Brabas with models based on Smart and Mercedes chassis, Edag and Schaffler.

In a busy town where access lanes are many times crowded even the small electri cars will be slowed down and even blocked. Therefore, electric bicycle or scooter can be a viable alternative for mobility for small distances in urban areas. Well known bicyle producers but also car producers are testing the market with innovative products. We noted bicycles from Tante Paula, Peugeot (E-Vivacity, ae11), Elmoto and Honda (EV-neo).

What future will bring us in the area of electro-mobility was demonstrated by the concept cars revealed at the motor show by well known car producers like VW (Nils), Audi (Urban Concept), Renault (Fredzy and Zoe) but also by other, less know by us, companies like EDAG, Dekra or RIMAC Automobili (whose one electric car model we could test during the Autoclusters Project meeting in Sibenik).

By visiting the Frankfurt Motor Show we could better understand which is the actual state of the art in the area of electro mobility and put our analysis about the electro mobility infrastructure elaborated in the frame of SEEE-Mobility project into a new perspective.

Normal 0 21 false false false SK X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4