107 05/2019
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Nexus communication - Fleet Europe #106 - Periodic magazine - MAY 2019 - Deposit Office X
• MAKE YOUR EMPLOYEES MOBILE AGAIN • SOLUTIONS IN LAST MILE DELIVERY • URBAN MOBILITY AND SMART CITIES
FINANCIAL MODELS
SHARED MOBILITY
NEW ENERGIES
The future of leasing
Growth pillar for traditional players
Facts and myths about fast charging
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Everyone has an angle. Safety is ours. Safety is good for business. A simple collision in a car park can result in up to eight times the cost of fixing the damage to the car. Time and business lost, increased insurance premiums, incident reporting and the associated paperwork are the real costs behind low-speed collisions in the city. With our latest update to City Safety we have added steering support to help the driver take evasive action when required. Our focus is making your life easier, protecting your investment and saving money where it matters most – on the bottom line.
Official fuel consumption for the Volvo XC60 range in l/100km: Urban 6.1 – 10.2, Extra Urban 5.0 – 6.8, Combined 5.4 – 8.0. CO2 emissions 143 – 183 g/km. Fuel consumption figures are obtained from laboratory testing intended for comparisons between vehicles and may not reflect real driving results. Models may vary depending on market.
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FLEET EUROPE #107
VOLVOCARS.COM/FLEETSALES
LAST MILE 6-35 6
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The last mile conundrum
Urban mobility gets our cities flowing: Overview of the main options out there and what to look out for.
It’s time to rethink how we move ourselves and our parcels.
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Urban mobility and last mile access The rise of Low Emission Zones will boost last mile innovation.
12 Smart cities, smart last mile Whereas most cities around the world face the same challenges – from air pollution to traffic congestion – the solutions depend heavily on the city.
20 Shipping parcels in today’s traffic: The last mile isn’t only about getting people from A to B, it’s also about parcels and other goods.
18 Cities & companies to the last mile 5 Tips for useful city-company collaborations to enhance last mile mobility.
22 Learning from the best: E-commerce How does E-commerce impact mobility?
28 Charging right Making e-mobility work is not just a matter of enough charging stations. You need to know which ones you need and where to put them.
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29 Five last mile answers
Antwerp: smart city or smart to the city: The City of Antwerp commits to collaborate with companies to smooth the last mile.
New technology is transforming the transport of people and goods with door-to-door precision.
30 Last mile tech integration in practice Tech start-up Bringg brings state-of-the-art logistics software to delivery fleet operators.
32 Smoothing the last mile The changing urban mobility situations forces kerbside and parking management to adapt accordingly. These are 10 innovative dynamics.
34 “This is not a policy against cars”. Piet Vandendriessche and Annelies Vermeire, from Deloitte Belgium, explains their ambitious mobility targets.
FLEET EUROPE #107
COLOPHON CHIEF EDITOR: Steven Schoefs
EXPERT: Frost & Sullivan
PROJECT COORDINATOR: Céline Gilson
SALES: David Baudeweyns, Mélanie Gohy, Saskia Lannau, Elke Leën, Daniel Savigny, Aline Verpoorten
EDITORS: Benjamin Uyttebroeck, Dieter Quartier, Fien Van den Steen, Yves Helven, Frank Jacobs
MARKETING: Vincent Degives, Virginie Emonts, Benoit Delisse PUBLISHERS: Caroline Thonnon, Thierry Degives
CONTRIBUTORS: Daniel Bland, Stijn Blanckaert, Tim Harrup, Jonathan Manning, Mark Sutcliffe, Shane Curran
PICTURES: ©Shutterstock
TO CONTACT OUR TEAM: FirstletterfirstnameLastname@nexuscommunication.be 4
LAYOUT: Cible - www.cible.be
NEW ENERGIES 44
Get up to speed with DC fast-charging With battery size increasing and both heavyduty and long-distance use becoming ever more feasible, DC fast charging is gaining in importance.
SAFETY
36 “It’s about making the effort to discover what works”. Shared mobility expert Beate Kubitz explains why some bike schemes flourish (and others fail).
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Vision Zero: accident-free roads Technology aims to override the human errors that cause crashes and eliminate road fatalities and serious injuries.
REMARKETING 48
How blockchain will revolutionise cross-border logistics Even within the EU, ‘frictionless trade’ is an ambition rather than a reality. Just ask anyone relying on transnational vehicle logistics.
AUTONOMOUS 50
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4 Big hurdles for autonomy in smart cities The role of autonomous vehicles is yet to fully play out and some of the key attributes of autonomy will be the cause of many U-turns on the highway to completion of smart city programmes.
2019: the time to share is now. BMW, Daimler, Europcar and Sixt are ready to play a significant role in the changing mobility game.
We also focus on these channels on our website. Read all these selected articles here:
40 Philippe Bismut and Pascal Serres: an expert view on the future of the finance model.
42 With a smart van, you can. These new vans help you achieve optimum operational efficiency, safety and ROI, not least in the context of last mile deliveries.
FLEET & BUSINESS A C O M M O N V O I C E T O W A R D S T H E M A R K E T, PA R T N E R S A N D S U P P L I E R S
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COURAGE MOVES YOUR BUSINESS FORWARD The All-New ŠKODA SCALA
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FLEET EUROPE #107
ADVERTISERS
LAST MILE
THE LAST MILE CONUNDRUM Benjamin Uyttebroeck
@uytteb
Large cities in Europe are clogging up and people and goods alike spend countless hours stuck in traffic. It’s time to rethink how we move ourselves and our parcels over short distances. Today, over 54% of the world’s population lives in cities and that number is expected to increase to 67% by 2050. In OECD countries, urbanisation exceeds 80%. But how do you move from one place to the other? How do you get to the nearest railway or metro station? Cars are hardly an option for the congested streets in urban areas. It is estimated that drivers spend 50 hours per year in congestion at a cost of 1% of GDP. Local authorities across the continent are limiting the space that is reserved for cars by pedestrianising streets and squares, by limiting the number of available parking spaces and by making the remaining parking spaces more expensive.
Greenhouse gas
FLEET EUROPE #107
In Europe, the energy sector accounts for 78% of all greenhouse gas emissions, of which transport accounts for about a third. These numbers make the transport sector an ideal candidate for improvement, which can come from cleaner technology on the one hand and vehicle bans on the other. Such bans are getting more common and have been introduced or announced in more than twenty cities across the globe, more than half of which in Europe. The oldest bans targeted older diesel vehicles but newer bans also aim at petrol-powered vehicles. By 2025-2030, all ICE-powered vehicles will be banned in many cities and we can expect many more cities to announce similar policies.
The Seat Minimo, a Renault Twizy competitor, can provide an alternative to urban last mile transport.
Will power Once most vehicles on the road are zero-emission, they will still emit particulate matter. Indeed, electric cars produce small particle pollution from the wear on brake discs and tyres and by throwing up dust from the road surface. A European Commission policy report concluded about half of all particulate matter comes from these sources. Moreover, congestion will still be a problem for zero-emission vehicles. Even cars propelled by will power will not solve mobility issues. New criteria will undoubtedly need to be found to limit the number of vehicles that want to enter the cities.
of the hierarchy, followed by cycling, public transport and with cars only coming in fourth place. This modal hierarchy also requires government intervention. Making cities more walkable calls for wider pavements, dedicated conflict-free bike lanes, more greenery and benches. It also requires a mix of land uses, whereby offices, homes and shops can all be found in the same area. As a bonus, pedestrians spend more money than drivers, giving the local economy a boost. Fundamentally, most people agree making a city more walkable is what helps making cities great again.
Make cities great again If we want to protect our urban mobility, we will need fewer and cleaner cars. Ideally, cars will be shared, so they will be taking up parking places far less. Importantly, we will need various mobility modes with walking at the top
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Cars propelled by will power will still be stuck in traffic.
ADVERTORIAL
CONCEDED EDITORIAL SPACE
“WHAT MATTERS IS THE ACCESS TO MOBILITY� Olivier Reppert, CEO of SHARE NOW, about the merger of car2go and DriveNow, the goals of the new company and the importance of flexible mobility.
SHARE NOW unites the formerly independent car sharing providers car2go and DriveNow, and is part of the mobility joint venture of the BMW Group and Daimler AG. Together we are the leading provider of free-floating car sharing with over four million customers worldwide, including three million in Europe. Our customers can use over 20,000 vehicles in 31 cities in 14 countries. SHARE NOW is a sustainable as well as affordable alternative to the private car and provides easy access to an essential part of our everyday life, mobility.
What are the goals of SHARE NOW? SHARE NOW has a clear vision: to create sustainable mobility for and with cities. Our vehicles are used up to seven times more often than private cars. While privately owned vehicles are parked over 23 hours a day, a car sharing car of SHARE NOW remains in usage up to seven hours per day. This shows that car sharing frees up valuable space within cities and sustainably meets the mobility needs of millions of
people. As car sharing is a real alternative, more and more people are willing to get rid of their privately owned cars. By bundling our resources and knowhow, we want to further strengthen these positive effects.
Is car sharing also a real alternative for business customers? Being flexible as well as mobile is getting more important in daily professional life. The trend is moving away from the typical company car, which limits its user in so many ways. What really matters is the access to mobility. With free-floating car sharing, the daily commute to work as well as the way from the airport on the next business trip can be handled easily. Best of all, SHARE NOW is a really cost-effective alternative.
What do you think how will the car sharing market develop within the next years? Car sharing is just at the beginning of its growth. Even more important, however, is its crucial role when it comes to the breakthrough of electric mobility. Already today 3,200 of our
Olivier Reppert, CEO of SHARE NOW vehicles are fully electric. About 12,000 electric trips are taken every day with a SHARE NOW vehicle, and thus are driven locally emission-free. This year, we will continue to expand our electric fleet. By the end of 2019 over a quarter of our fleet in Europe should be electrically powered, as we are convinced that the future of car sharing is electric.
More info www.share-now.com
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FLEET EUROPE #107
What is SHARE NOW about?
LAST MILE
URBAN MOBILITY AND LAST MILE ACCESS Erwin Boumans
A large majority of Europe’s urban areas provide a home to 70% of the European population. As these urban areas already face problems regarding air quality, further developments and restrictions are needed.
UK
BELGIUM
GERMANY
London
Brussels
Stuttgart
• Ultra-Low Emission Zone into force since 8 April 2019
• Low Emission Zone in force
• £23m government fund to help charities and micro businesses
• Refund of £3,500 for either: - Scrappage for frequent use of Congestion-Charge Zone - Scrappage and purchase/ lease of Euro 6 replacement • Refund of £6,000: scrappage and contribution towards running costs of an electric vehicle
• Now minimum Euro (diesel) • Tougher standards in
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• From 1 January 2019: Minimum diesel Euro 5 and petrol Euro 1
2020
• Mid
2019: air quality analysis to check whether Euro 6 minimum is needed
Ghent • LEZ starts on
1 January 2020 • City divided in 6 sectors and 1 historic sector
Hamburg • Very small LEZ (2 streets) • Will probably be extended in the future
• Car-free areas in each sector • Goal: guide traffic to the inner ring road
Leeds • Clean Air Zone: starts on
1 January 2020
• Vehicles below Euro 6 pay to enter the CAZ • Most vehicles will be exempt: private cars, light goods vehicles, motorcycles…
Mechelen and Willebroek
SPAIN
• LEZ starts on
Madrid
1 January 2021
• Euro 1 (petrol) and Euro 3 with particle filter (diesel) • Older vehicles can buy a
Є35 day pass
• From 24 April 2019: Distintivo Ambiental sticker required to enter and park in Central Madrid
THE NETHERLANDS
FLEET EUROPE #107
Amsterdam • For lorries over 3.5T:
• From 30 November 2018: start of LEZ in Central Madrid • Authorisation required before entering Central Madrid • Authorisation can be obtained by residents, people with a parking space or people working in the area
Euro 4
• 2020: tougher standard for lorries + larger LEZ for buses and coaches
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Electric and autonomous vehicles Creating restricted areas alone is not sufficient. It is key that European cities also develop efficient and clean alternatives to support our welfare and health in the future. Changing the usage of personal and professional vehicles is one of those possibilities. Real-time vehicle connectivity is a recent development that can help in this respect. Detailed intelligence from vehicles with real-time information from the road can assist traffic-control centres in lowering traffic jams. For example, a lot of people already use the app Waze to have the quickest routes. Lowering traffic jams will increase commuting efficiency and reduce employees’ stress levels. The implementation of electric vehicles will also help improve people’s health in cities. However, there’s still a wide gap between EV sales and sales of fossil-fuel vehicles. Nevertheless, EV shares will increase, especially in the urban mobility market where travelling distances are shorter.
Car sharing and autonomous driving technology also lead to fewer vehicles and more safety on the road. In Germany, for example, we see that car sharing has grown to 1 million members.
Create a bike friendly environment Many cities also try to make cycling safer and more popular. Bike sharing lets users rent a bike at one location and deposit it in another part of the city. The introduction of free-floating bike fleets increases the attractiveness of this alternative way of transport even more.
Invest in alternatives It is undisputable that cities try to improve air quality in the city centres through LEZs. But doesn’t that shift the problem towards the areas outside the city centres? With the evolution of urban mobility, people and companies need to invest in alternative transportation methods such as public transport, bikes, electric vehicles, sharing models…
‘Superhighways’ for bikes are being built in cities like London and Belgium. These have extra wide lanes and allow cyclists from outside the city centre to enter the city via well-maintained and clearly marked lanes with as few interruptions as possible.
Analysis by Erwin Boumans, Partner Indirect Tax BDO and Chairman of the Automotive & Mobility sector group in BDO Belgium
However, although biking is growing fast, it has a very low importance in the total percentage of transport.
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FLEET EUROPE #106
How to adapt your (LCV) fleet management to the Last Mile context
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LAST MILE
SMART CITIES, SMART LAST MILE Fien Van den Steen
Whereas most cities around the world face the same challenges – from air pollution to traffic congestion – the solutions depend heavily on the city. Smart cities can create smart last miles.
Multimodal The last mile is no longer a car-exclusive matter. Moreover, replacing the car by a multimodal approach will be more effective in today’s mobility situation. The move of many traditional mobility players towards mobility as a service shows that this dynamic will determine the future of mobility. At the moment it will be tough to find a city that is not enhancing its infrastructure to offer multimodal transport to take the pressure off the roads.
Transportation hubs
FLEET EUROPE #107
One secret ingredient to a multimodal last mile is a seamless offer. ‘We need a door-to-door approach,’ explains Koen Kennis, municipal executive councillor for mobility in Antwerp, ‘all elements of the journey should connect seamlessly, and every individual element should offer safety, comfort and quality. […] Our ambition is to connect transport networks in mobility hubs where people can change between mobility modes, from (shared) cars over (shared) bikes to public transit.’ ‘Freedom of choice is crucial for the success of this kind of transit hubs,’ explains Mr Kennis, ‘since commuters will make different choices depending on the particular circumstances.’ Hence, providing a variety of options, and assuring their
optimal interconnections, will incentivise commuters to leave the car outside the centre, regardless of the circumstances.
Park & ride These transportation hubs should not only be located in the centre where one transportation mode can be connected to another, but also outside. Cities are increasing their park-and-ride facilities at the outskirts of the city, where personal vehicles can be interchanged for a variety of mobility modes and where the real last mile can begin.
Shared mobility The mobility services offered at those transit hubs or P&R are no longer restricted to public transport, but often include various forms of shared mobility as well. Cities play a crucial role in facilitating both infrastructural and legislative frameworks to allow shared mobility providers to offer their services. Many cities see the offer of shared vehicles expanding and are looking to integrate them in the existing mobility system safely and profitably. The City of Antwerp for instance, permits the mobility services of shared bikes (Velo, Cloubike, Mobit), shared cars (Cambio, Bolides, Poppy), motorcycles (Poppy, Scooty) and shared scooters (Bird).
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Yet these new mobility services require some infrastructural adaptations as well, which many cities are still struggling with. In order to find a way out, several cities are looking to tax these services. The city of Paris, and other French cities, for instance, announced plans to tax free-floating scooter companies in order to finance dedicated parking spots. Meanwhile, the city of New York is considering the introduction of a congestion tax for ridehailers.
Kerbside and parking management As the example of Paris shows, kerbside and parking management have to be redesigned as well. For instance, while shared mobility and multimodality should decrease the need for parking, the new mobility modes will need another kind of parking. The City of Antwerp’s parking policy is to encourage drivers to park at P&R and off-street in the city centre. At the outskirts, drivers can switch to alternative mobility modes to complete their last mile.
Cities must adapt their infrastructure to prepare for mobility of tomorrow.
Rather than being a fixed lane of parking spots, the kerbside might become a flexible mosaic of loading zones, dropoff and pick-up zones, parking for free floating and docked shared vehicles, and pedestrian and cycling lanes.
Active last mile The latter shows that cities must adapt their infrastructure as well, if active mobility is to become a part of the total mobility offer. Some cities are very elaborated like the Sidewalk Project in Toronto, where Alphabet (Google) is piloting the street of the future. Various cities around the world are converting car lanes into cycling and
pedestrian lanes. Buenos Aires, for instance, has turned some of its traffic lanes into bus lanes, and converted the freed-up bus lanes into pedestrian-only and pedestrian-priority zones. London has implemented some cycle superhighways on busy routes and is now proposing to make half of the streets either completely car-free or pedestrian-priority. And Paris converted a busy highway next to the River Seine in a car-free pedestrian pathway in 2017.
1 payment, 1 platform In addition, payment methods should be simplified and become conveniently accessible in one app, rather than in a variety of tickets. This evolution is already seen in the rise of MaaS providers, such as Whim and Moovit. ‘MaaS platforms will help in the future to create unobstructed commuting,’ predicts Mr Kennis. Several MaaS providers are keen to take off in Antwerp. ‘Because Antwerp and its partners already offer a lot of open data and have a good level of cooperation,’ says Mr Kennis.
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Convincing people of the offer All the above measures are taken on the level of infrastructure, which is definitely the cities’ task. However, there is no point in new mobility forms if people are not convinced to use them. It is therefore important to remove the obstacles surrounding information and payment issues. Cities can set up information campaigns about the use and availability of the multimodal mobility offer, and so can companies inform their employers. Cities can provide the infrastructure; companies can provide the information.
Some cities, like Paris, are considering a tax on ridehailing services or on free-floating scooters.
FLEET EUROPE #107
At the same time Antwerp – as many other cities –facilitates free parking for shared vehicles. The city of Oslo takes it even further and is converting former parking spaces on the streets into bike lanes, benches and even tiny parks. By the beginning of this year, the city had finished a process of removing 700 parking spaces, while adding charging stations for EVs and parking spots for drivers with disabilities.
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URBAN MOBILITY GETS OUR CITIES FLOWING Benjamin Uyttebroeck
@uytteb
Urban mobility is no longer a choice of a car, a bus or a taxi. The number of options that are available has skyrocketed and their share in the mobility mix is growing. Here’s an overview of the main options out there and what to look out for.
BIKES Cycling has grown in popularity and use beyond traditional bicycle countries like Denmark and the Netherlands. Folding bikes make it convenient to use a bike for part of your route and take the bike with you in your car, on a bus or a train. Their portability also means you can prevent risk of theft because you don’t have to leave it on the street. Shared bikes add an extra layer of convenience, taking away all responsibility for maintenance and repair. Free-floating shared bikes, though not always popular with city administrators, offer almost unlimited flexibility. Bicycle leasing brings quality bikes within reach of everyone, either as a stand-alone solution or combined with a car. Alphabet, ALD, Athlon, KBC Lease
and many other leasing companies are already offering bike lease programmes in certain markets. Swapfiets, a Dutch company specialised in leased bikes, rolled out its service in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Denmark. Now, both folding and shared bikes are increasingly assisted by electric motors. The only downside that no one’s managed to rule out? Cycling in rain still makes you wet…
+ Versatile: there’s a bike for everyone
Brompton bike hire combines two bike trends: folding bikes and shared bikes. Only available in the UK.
Cycling in rain is uncomfortable
FLEET EUROPE #107
KICK SCOOTERS Kick scooters first popped up as children’s toys but shared scooter companies like Lime and Bird introduced them to the general public. Their fun, low-tech appearance makes them more accessible than bikes, and the electric motors give them a very useful autonomy.
likely to have done so on a rebranded Xiaomi like the M365. You can have yours for under ¤400. Expect a range of around 30km at up to 25km/h.
+ Easy and fun
For people that prefer to own their own scooter, Xiaomi is a good candidate. If you’ve ridden a Bird, Lime, Spin or another shared scooter, you’re very
Susceptible to bad terrain
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Affordable, electric and shared: e-scooters make urban mobility fun.
MONOWHEELS
SHARING IS AGGREGATING
Monowheels could be described as an option between cycling and walking. They take some getting used to, but more experienced riders like them for the speed they offer (between 15 and a staggering 30km/h), for their relatively low weight (10 to 15kg) and their portability, making them the ideal option to combine with public transport or a car. Prices start around ¤300 for the popular Segway-Ninebot ONES2.
+ Portability
Learning curve
Monowheels are light and nimble, but riding one takes getting used to.
MOTOR SCOOTERS Motor scooters are particularly popular in Mediterranean cities like Rome, Barcelona and Madrid, where they dominate traffic. Japanese and Korean competitors like Honda and Sym take on European manufacturers like Vespa and Peugeot. Prices start at around ¤1,500 for a 50cc-model and about twice that for a 125cc scooter. Traditional petrol-powered scooters are now being accompanied by electric variants like the Vespa Elettrica, which is now available for preorder at a price of ¤6,390. As is the case with bikes, scooters can also be leased from various leasing companies as a stand-alone vehicle or as an option alongside a car.
The Vespa Elettrica marries traditional looks with a modern electric powertrain.
+ Nimble and fast
Choosing one mobility mode does not preclude you from using another one, giving you an unprecedented level of flexibility. In many cases however, you will need to install a wide range of apps to unlock different services. Aggregator apps like XXimo, Whim, Olympus and many other offer a wide selection of options within the same app, provided these aggregators have deals with each operator you’re interested in. Vaigo is a new solution, born in Belgium, that goes one step further. Rather than setting up shop in selected cities and looking for local partnerships, it turns the process around. Vaigo implements your mobility policy and simplifies the admin, payroll and invoicing part. It takes care of managing accounts with any mobility provider on the market, including for public transport subscriptions and best-of-breed MaaS solutions. You decide what is available to whom, within which budget limitations and whether additional approval flows are needed.
Vulnerability
PUBLIC TRANSPORT
Increasingly, public transport companies are electrifying their bus fleets, including those in Helsingborg (Sweden), Brussels (Belgium), London (UK). From the start of 2020, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg will be the
first country in the world where all public transport is free. The initiative is controversial even though public transport was already heavily subsidised in Luxembourg.
+ Cheap and reliable (but depends on location)
Can get crowded, quality uncertain
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Starting in 2020, all public transport will be free in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
FLEET EUROPE #107
Public transport is mostly a local matter, which means that quality and coverage can vary wildly. Comparing and finding providers can be challenging. International connections are managed in part by commercial players like Eurostar and Thalys.
LAST MILE
AUTONOMOUS SHUTTLES Shuttle services to take people to their final destination are popping up across the globe. Airports are often ideal locations for autonomous shuttles that drive along dedicated, controlled tracks. At Heathrow, for instance, passengers can board a Podcar to go from the business car park to Terminal 5 or back since 2011. Navya, a French autonomous shuttle and taxi manufacturer, operates various routes across Europe, including one in Paris’s La Défense business district. Aided by more advanced technology, these shuttles do not require dedicated tracks and they can share the road with other vehicles.
The EU-funded project AVENUE is operating mini-fleets of autonomous electric buses in low- to medium-demand areas of four cities (Copenhagen, Geneva, Luxembourg and Lyon). Negotiating mixed traffic remains a challenge though.
+ Speed
Very spotty availability
AVENUE autonomous shuttle on the streets of Luxembourg.
MICROCARS Hardly larger than a go-cart, powered by electric motors and ideal for urban environments – they’re a small category, consisting mainly of the Renault Twizy. Seat unveiled its Minimó at the start of 2019, but it is as yet to enter production. It will be on the roads by 2021 and it will almost certainly be available as a shared vehicle. Another contender is the Swiss-made Bicar, the first EV that can run solely on solar energy. The Renault Twizy, on the other hand, has been around since 2012 and that’s starting to show. The carmaker
promises a range of 100km, but users report that can halve in winter temperatures or when pushing the vehicle to its limits. Batteries can be bought with the vehicle or they can be rented from Renault.
+ Easy to park
Not really usable outside urban centres
Microcars are ideal car alternatives for urban driving.
SHARED CARS Uber and Lyft require no introduction, the former having entered the language to describe the uberisation phenomenon. Shared cars are available with a driver (ridehailing) or without one.
Respiro (Seat), Uniqway (Skoda), Cambio (Germany, Belgium), Miles (Germany) and many, many more.
Nevertheless, it is a highly competitive market with many players vying for their share. Earlier this year, BMW and Daimler merged their mobility services into a joint venture. Other players include We Share (Volkswagen),
You pay for what you use
+ Many different providers and formulas
Respiro offers car sharing in Spain.
FLEET EUROPE #107
URBAN MOBILITY IN YOUR MOBILITY POLICY The selection of the urban mobility mode depends on the mobility needs of the business person coupled with the available offer. It will not be possible to develop a programme that is as straightforward and simple in last mile and urban mobility as a typical vehicle fleet programme, but it is possible to extend a fleet policy with a chapter on last mile and urban mobility, indicating which type of mobility modes can be used by what employees and on what conditions. The policy should also include clauses around compliance and safety.
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ADVERTORIAL
CONCEDED EDITORIAL SPACE
ALFA ROMEO PIONEERING AT ALL LEVELS Taking pride of place in the centre of the exciting Alfa Romeo model range for 2019 is the stylish and sporty Giulietta. Italian style and technical excellence offer maximum driving satisfaction in total safety. Giulietta embodies the unrivalled ‘Alfa Spirit’ that for over one century has typified the cars made by Alfa Romeo. The car is light and efficient as a result of the choice of materials and its weight-to-power ratio, displaying the attention to detail typical of the very best Italian design. Pleasure shared Alfa Romeo is not only pioneering the future of cars with style, however, but also with innovative ownership possibilities. The brand is launching U-Go by Leasys, the first integrated platform that offers Leasys retail customers the possibility of sharing their car. U-Go by Leasys is quite simply the first innovative peer-to-peer car sharing platform in Europe with no equals in the automotive world. Giulietta and U-Go by Leasys are the perfect combination to join the concepts of shared integrated mobility, style and driving pleasure. Alfa Romeo Giulietta also caters for the most varied of configuration demands:
Alfa Romeo Giulietta in distinctive Veloce trim.
• five trim levels And as if that is not enough, Alfa Romeo has returned to the Formula One stage this year with former world champion Kimi Räikkönen behind the wheel.
• six new packs • 1.4-litre 120 HP turbo petrol Tonale Concept Car pioneers the future of SUVs.
• 2.0 -litre 170 HP with Alfa TCT • two-zone automatic climate control • cruise control • steering wheel controls • Uconnect infotainment with touchscreen. • 3D sat nav • rain and light sensors • electrochromic interior rear-view mirror • electric rear-view mirrors • front and rear parking sensors
Forward looking Alfa Romeo is not content to provide demanding motorists and fleet managers with an exciting range including Giulietta, Giulia and Stelvio, but is resolutely looking to the future of motoring. Presented at the Geneva Motor Show, the Tonale Concept Car shows the first Alfa Romeo compact plug-in hybrid SUV. Following on from the outstandingly popular Stelvio SUV, Tonale joins the growing segment that interprets the trademark language of beauty of Alfa Romeo. It is a compact utility vehicle with an urban vocation and an athletic personality.
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More info www.alfaromeopress.com/ index.php?lng=2
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• 1.6-litre 120 HP Multijet with manual or Alfa TCT automatic
LAST MILE
CITIES & COMPANIES TO THE LAST MILE Fien Van den Steen
Companies rely on city infrastructure for the last mile, but cities might start relying more on companies than ever. Here are 5 tips for useful city-company collaborations to enhance the last mile.
1 Shared needs and solutions
Find out if the city you are operating in offers a dedicated programme to address corporate last mile mobility and logistics issues. The city of Antwerp, for instance, organises ‘Smart Ways to Antwerp’ which offers companies a mobility scan, mapping, routing and even a tailor-made guide for the last mile.
2 Shared Support
Cities are facing severe challenges considering quality of life and health of its citizens due to traffic. Therefore, they are looking to all means to green up the last mile. Cities need companies to inform and incentivise their employees to switch their car to a more sustainable mobility solution. In return, they often provide incentives such as (fiscal) discounts on (e)bikes, public transit passes, and/or electric vehicles.
3 Shared Venture
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One of the strategies to clean up the last mile is the switch to EVs. As a matter of fact, many city councils are changing city fleets to electric fleets, from EVs for staff to waste trucks and busses. Find out what your city is doing, where they plan to install the next charging stations and which EV companies they are working with, maybe you can find an offer that serves you both? The same logic applies to cities that are implementing LPG, CNG, or hydrogen into their fleet.
4 Shared Parking
Eventually any kind of transportation – except for walking – stops at a parking spot, which is another problem cities have to solve. Demand for parking spots in cities goes up during off-office hours, such as mornings and
Cities and companies urgently need to work together to make the last mile more efficient. evenings before and after people go to work, and during weekends when people head to the city for shopping and leisure. This is precisely when your company’s car park is probably empty. Why not opening it up to help your city solve the parking issues?
5 Shared Hubs
A fluent last mile nowadays requires a diverse and flexible mobility offer, so the mobility mode can be adapted to the particular needs of that situation. Therefore, it might be wise to locate staff-intensive departments of your company in the vicinity of a transportation hub, where a variety of mobility modes can substitute the car.
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In addition, nothing is stopping you from approaching your municipality and having a look at how their mobility offer will evolve in the future, so you can plan ahead. At the end of the day, aligning corporate mobility needs and the city’s mobility offer can be a win-win in terms of effective city planning and effective last mile.
Aligning corporate mobility and the city’s mobility policy can be a win-win scenario.
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LAST MILE
SHIPPING PARCELS IN TODAY’S TRAFFIC Benjamin Uyttebroeck
@uytteb
The last mile isn’t only about getting people from A to B, it’s also about parcels and other goods. There are more options than ever to ensure they get to their destinations in today’s congested and car-free streets. The rise of internet shopping is often blamed for the growing LCV fleet entering our cities every day. In Brussels, for instance, 25% more LCVs were registered in 2018 than in 2017. That’s more than our congested cities can cope with but fortunately, there are alternatives to the traditional delivery van.
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As cities are increasingly instating bans on ICE-powered vehicles or indeed any vehicles, delivery companies are looking at new ways to get parcels to their destination. They’re not the only ones looking for solutions for the last mile. Plumbers, lift repair technicians and many other professionals are also open to new technology.
Parcel pick-up points make it possible to avoid congestion during the last mile by eliminating it.
Cargo bikes
Electric vans
Cargo bikes have been around for a long time, but modern technology has broadened their use cases far beyond the traditional bakery deliveries. Designs are streamlined and more often than not, they are equipped with an electric motor that assists the rider. Bodystyles vary widely, too, with twoand three-wheel variants being on the market and some including an enclosure for the driver.
It took a bit longer for vans to be electrified than for cars, but more manufacturers are now offering them. Renault was one of the first manufacturers to offer vans with electric powertrains and its line-up now includes the Kangoo ZE, the Master ZE and the Twizy Cargo. Mercedes-Benz boasts an eVito and an eSprinter and Ford, PSA and Nissan all have their own electric LCVs. Maxus, a SAIC subsidiary, limits its offering in Europe to the EV80.
UPS and DHL are only two of many courier companies that are using such vehicles in various cities.
When electric vans first entered our streets, they were unavailable as
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refrigerated units as those vehicles consumed more powers than could reasonably be charged in batteries without sacrificing payload. Today, you can get an electrified fridge unit from Renault (Kangoo ZE and Master ZE), Nissan (e-NV200) and many more.
Small vans Cargo bikes are convenient for city deliveries, but there are alternatives for companies looking for something faster or with a slightly higher payload. The Renault Twizy, an electric microcar that’s been in Renault’s portfolio since 2012, is also available in a cargo variant,
TECHNOLOGY IS KING
Flytrex and Aha use drones for deliveries in Iceland’s capital Reykjavik. Regulation is a problem, though.
Delivery companies rely on technology to ensure their electric vehicles won’t run out of power during their routes, to make sure they don’t enter restricted areas and to communicate with consumers about when and where they can pick up their parcel or expect it to be delivered to their door. No last mile solution can exist on its own without a digital platform, fed by big data and often managed by telematics companies like TomTom Telematics or Geotab.
Shared vans Mobility today is all about using and sharing and vans shouldn’t be different. At least, that’s what companies like UZE Mobility say. The German start-up ordered 500 StreetScooters that will be put at the disposal of private citizens who occasionally need to haul large items. Van2share (previously known as Car2share cargo), an initiative of Mercedes-Benz Vans, parks vans at a customer’s premises that can be hired on a pay-per-use basis. The service is intended to improve utilisation and make it possible for vans to be shared by several companies. Sharing vehicles has become mainstream for passenger transport and we see no reason why it would be any different for goods transport.
Drones
A somewhat larger vehicle is made by Adaptive City Mobility, whose ACM City is also available in both a passenger and a cargo version. Despite its small size, there’s room for a Euro pallet in the back. The vehicle’s batteries, offering a 160km range, can be charged in 6 hours but they can also be swapped. Hold your horses, because the ACM City hasn’t entered production yet.
Parcel pick-up points What’s an easy way to avoid extra traffic to take parcels to their final destination? Don’t take them their yourself. Instead, they can be collected in parcel pick-up points, often located in post offices, supermarkets, railway stations or other public places. In many cases, the locker sends an automated message to the customer’s smartphone when the parcel arrives. Often, they are accessible 24/7, making them a very convenient option. Critics say they still generate traffic from people going to collect their parcels although they are often located to be on a route people would take anyway.
ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL Choosing the right vehicle to get goods to their destination was easy when regulation and congestion didn’t ask for more than a fleet of vans. Today, that’s no longer the case and delivery strategies need to reflect this. However, there’s no easy one-size-fits-all solution and local conditions and regulation will always need to be taken into account.
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which ditches the passenger seat for a 180-litre boot that can carry up to 75kg. Like its passenger sister, there’s a 45km/h and an 80km/h version and both claim a range of 100km.
In Fleet Europe 106, we investigated new trends and evolutions for drone deliveries. It’s more than science fiction, as witnessed by Aha, a delivery company from Iceland that’s been carrying out drone deliveries since 2017 together with Flytrex, an Israeli drone
operator. Today, they make drone deliveries possible along 13 routes in Reykjavik. The drones don’t actually land, but hover over their destination and lower their cargo with a cable. Nevertheless, regulation is a problem: if customers want to receive goods at their home by drone, they need written permission from their neighbours.
LAST MILE
LEARNING FROM THE BEST: E-COMMERCE INSPIRATION Yves Helven
E-commerce might very well be the biggest success since (and due to) the digitisation era. According to Eurostat, 69% of all European internet users has purchased goods or services online in 2018. But how does this industry impact mobility? Western Europeans shop online the most (70% and up have ordered online in 2018) whilst only 20% to 30% of Romanians, Bulgarians, Turks and Montenegrins clicked the “buy now” button. Most people spend between ¤100 and ¤500 every three months, up to 20% of 25-to-54 year olds even spend over ¤4,000 per year (Eurostat). Conclusion: e-commerce is big business.
Obstacles
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E-commerce businesses, such as Amazon, know that the customer experience is essential to grow their customer base. Customers don’t rate their experience based on the average of the service experience, but on the peaks: Amazon is as good as its worst delivery. On the customer service side, the parameters can be controlled by the etailer (e-commerce retailer), but the main area of dissatisfaction – and therefore the main obstacle for growth – is one that we know all too well: lastmile delivery.
Parallels with mobility In addition to the pressure from consumers who want their parcel on time at the correct address, e-commerce is adding Prime services and deliveries of perishables (e.g. food) to
Deliveries aren’t only planned, they become immediate in some cases. the equation. In other words, deliveries are not only “planned”, but become “immediate” in some cases. This brings us to users of mobility services: their needs are also immediate. Someone is walking around, it starts raining and the person orders an Uber. For the user, it’s not acceptable that the Uber driver will confirm the ride an hour later – it needs to happen within a 5-minute threshold.
How e-commerce deals with last mile deliveries Maybe we can learn some lessons from the e-commerce business? Here are some trends that are positively affecting on-time delivery:
1. SMART TECH AND SENSORS: connecting last-mile deliveries with external elements, which can be traffic, weather, conditions of the delivery location, make last-mile deliveries easier to plan and execute. 22
2. FORM FACTOR: gone are the days of the truck or the van. Microvehicles, drones and robots are increasingly used to deliver parcels. Autonomous vehicles and drones are said to deliver up to 78% of all parcels to customers (McKinsey) within a couple of years.
3. WAREHOUSING: a shift in traditional warehousing has led to the development of urban warehousing, rather than distribution centres outside the cities. Alternatives to urban warehousing are mobile warehouses (or pick-up points) or convenience store pick-up points.
4. PREDICTIVE SOFTWARE: preparing to deliver goods before the client has ordered them, is what software can do for e-commerce. If consolidated, the e-shop has enough data, based on consumer behaviour, to stock up articles close to the future consumer.
5. GIG ECONOMY VERSUS LEGACY CARRIERS: solutions such as UberRUSH and GrabDelivery are based on one principle, i.e. rather than sending the guy to the destination, use the guy who’s already there.
How to translate this into mobility? SMART TECH AND SENSORS On a bright summer day, people like to cycle or walk, but on a rainy winter night, a taxi or hailed ride is more comfortable. Knowing the conditions of the last mile is essential: aggregators, such as ReachNow and Whim, can steer the mobility supply chain towards the most appropriate mode of transportation.
FORM FACTOR Micro-mobility, such as bicycles and scooters, take less space and are more mobile than cars. Not only are they easier to electrify, reduce noise and emission pollution, but they are also easier to fund, both for the provider and the user. In addition, they fulfil the modern city’s objectives of creating a friendlier city environment.
WAREHOUSING The principle behind warehousing is not to find an alternative mode of transportation, but to reduce the need for transportation. Similarly, for corporate mobility, the question needs to be asked: is a trip to the office really necessary? Various alternatives, such as WeWork space, home office and digital conferencing can, and should, replace part of the employees’ trips.
PREDICTIVE SOFTWARE The future fleet managers are no longer negotiating OEM agreements. They will spend their time analysing how asset usage can be maximised and selecting mobility vendors that can deliver what the employees need. The heatmap of employee movement will become an important tool for the mobility manager, as it will determine the supply chain and incentivise the vendor to fill in the gaps between offer and demand.
carsharing solutions are a good example of ready-to-use mobility.
Need for alignment The parallels between the last mile challenges of e-commerce and mobility are obvious. Nevertheless, the commercial mechanisms are entirely different: the mobility industry hasn’t even approximatively the market size of e-commerce. Also, the e-commerce consumer is entirely aligned with the industry in the need for fast and reliable last mile solutions, which is not the case for mobility. Mobility is a young industry, struggling with solutions as well as a customer base willing to pay for last mile options. Today, regardless of the parallels, it looks like the mobility industry is not benefiting from developments in the logistics industry, lacking the scale, the funding and the alignment between supplier and client.
GIG ECONOMY Last mile is typically not filled in by public transport, but by local solutions that are readily available. Pooling and
SAFETY
RIDEHAILING SAFETY TIPS Jonathan Manning
Business travellers using an Uber-type service require a different kind of guidelines and safety rules.
Most cities operate an official licensing system in which only licensed taxis will have an illuminated TAXI sign on their roof. Licensing usually means the driver, vehicle and insurance have been verified, which promises a safer environment than the less regulated ridehailing sector.
However, Uber, as the leading ridehailing firm, has worked with law enforcement agencies to create safety guidelines for customers:
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Request the ride indoors and wait inside until the app shows the driver has arrived.
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Before entering the car, check that the car registration plate, driver photo, and driver name all match the app.
3 4
Sit in the backseat so it’s safe to leave the vehicle on either side.
Tap ‘Share status’ in the Uber app to share the driver’s name, photo, vehicle, and location with a friend, who can also track the trip. 23
Share details of your Uber ride with a friend to ensure your safety.
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Contact the driver through the Uber app – don’t share personal information.
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The rapidly changing landscape of last-mile travel presents new duty of care responsibilities for companies. Employees may no longer be driving company cars into congested urban areas, but even as passengers in taxis and ridehailing cars their safety remains a corporate responsibility.
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CONCEDED EDITORIAL SPACE
HARNESS THE DELIVERY POWER OF HERE AND NOW To compete in the connected world, logistics companies need total visibility and traceability of vehicles and packages. HERE Tracking and Fleet Telematics APIs offer state-of-the-art solutions for fleets of all sizes.
The street names may change, but from Belfast to Berlin to Belgrade, and from Stockholm to Stuttgart to St. Petersburg, the challenges facing delivery fleet operators are depressingly common. Congestion is killing traffic speeds, locating addresses is difficult amid the cut and thrust of city driving, and finding a safe place to park while making a delivery is virtually impossible. At the same time, business-to-business clients expect goods and services to be delivered on their behalf ever more quickly and punctually; and consumers want to know the exact arrival time of their parcels and packages. The result is a high pressure environment where costs can soon escalate. Research by the management consultancy McKinsey & Company found that the last mile’s share of the total parcel delivery cost can frequently reach or exceed 50 percent. Yet customers increasingly expect free or, at the very least, low cost delivery with the shortest possible deadline. Opacity at every stage of the supply chain can not only affect transit time and cost to the end customer, but also customer retention.
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Failure to meet these exacting customer service demands can lead to even greater long-term costs, as reputational damage undermines brand equity. The answer, from Dublin to Dubrovnik and beyond, lies in the tightest management controls built upon cutting-edge technology. This technology was once the exclusive domain of just a handful of global logistics giants,
By combining replanning, routing, sensor data, historical data and predictive modelling, HERE Fleet Telematics provides managers with the information that enables them to rapidly replan the supply chain before problems materialise.
but the democratisation of both hardware and software means the most sophisticated transportation solutions for speedy deliveries are now available to thousands of smaller logistics and services companies.
It has subsequently built on this worldleading expertise in digital mapping to solve the challenges presented by lastmile deliveries, helping fleets to maximise the productivity of their vehicles and to reduce costs consistently.
Dedicated logistics solutions
HERE Tracking, for example, brings technological solutions that take the industry to the next level, overcoming both the technological weaknesses and error-prone functionality of many legacy systems that are still in common use. To compete in the connected world, logistics companies need to utilise systems with failsafes built in, such as real-time tracking that
HERE Technologies, for example, has developed a suite of transportation and logistics solutions which can transform the efficiency and performance of delivery operators. The company employs 8,000 people around the world, with offices across Europe, the United States and Asia Pacific, and was a pioneer of in-car navigation systems.
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at any one time, all pick-up locations, delivery locations, business hours, fuel stations and predicted traffic volumes. This information can then be converted into an optimised route plan that allocates deliveries to the available fleet. Thanks to HERE’s expertise in digital mapping – ranked as the world’s leading location platform in 2018, ahead of Google, by the respected analyst and consultancy Ovum – its API-powered solutions also include high-quality places, pinpoint addressing and geocoding capabilities that swiftly convert longitude and latitude coordinates into street addresses and business names. HERE’s Fleet Telematics APIs collect real-time data on the number of a fleet’s vehicles on the road at any one time, all pick-up locations, delivery locations, business hours, fuel stations and predicted traffic volumes. This information can then be converted into an optimised route plan that allocates deliveries to the available fleet.
The power of real-time information Armed with this uninterruptible information, logistics companies can know in real time the status and location of every shipment, rather than simply where it was last scanned or where it was scheduled to be. This pinpoint, 24/7 visibility is an essential building block of greater efficiency and improved customer service, enabling logistics companies to get on the front foot and be proactive rather than just react to events, says Erminio Di Paola, head of Tracking, HERE.
“Real-time tracking quickly signposts delays, losses in capacity and provides insight into shipping inefficiencies,” he said. “Imagine a vehicle or a connected shipping container that knows it’s headed toward a storm before it even leaves port. By combining real-time location, optimal routes, sensor data, historical data and predictive modelling, HERE Tracking provides managers with the information that enables them to rapidly re-plan the supply chain before problems materialise. This optimises asset utilisation and reduces waste of time and effort – and does so while things are still in motion.”
The future of tracking and logistics Looking ahead, HERE is in the process of integrating machine learning into its transportation and logistics solutions, so that its systems learn from millions of kilometres of real deliveries to forecast the most efficient routes. Because, in this fast-changing, multi-connected world, there are still some certainties – the pressure to deliver on time, while saving effort, money and resources is only ever going to rise.
Precise, real-time, end-to-end tracking also enables operators to set geofences for their vehicles, ensuring that vehicles are on the correct route for post-drive analysis. Geofencing via HERE Tracking can also send realtime, automatic alerts when an asset is moved or in motion.
Plug into your own management system For businesses and fleets that already have their own management systems, HERE’s Fleet Telematics APIs can offer priceless extra levels of functionality across the entire logistics spectrum. They collect real-time data on the number of a fleet’s vehicles on the road
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More info www.here.com
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eliminates the potential to lose an asset between checkpoints. In addition, the system is built on new technology that relies on smaller devices with battery lifespans measured in years, rather than months or days. The smart technology works both indoors and outdoors, so there’s no danger of skyscrapers blocking GPS signals and no need to rely on older technologies like GNSS. This also means fleet operators can follow a vehicle or package from the road into a warehouse in real time.
The most critical component of HERE solutions is real-time, connected data. Real-time tracking eliminates the vulnerability that time between checkpoints allows and ensures that asset location data is not only accurate, but actionable.
LAST MILE
SMART CITY OR SMART TO THE CITY Fien Van den Steen
The urban mobility situation is changing fast, which impacts the last mile for companies and citizens, and not always for the better. Therefore, the city of Antwerp commits to collaborate with companies to smooth the last mile. As many other European cities, Antwerp is seeing how traffic congestion, new mobility modes, the implementation of a Low Emission Zone to cope with air pollution and digitalisation are shaping the mobility scene. In order to create the best last-mile solution for people and cargo, for citizens and companies, and in an efficient, and environmentally-friendly way, the city is committed to city-business collaboration. ‘The city is collaborating intensely with companies,’ says Mr Kennis, municipal executive councillor for mobility, city of Antwerp. Therefore, they set up the project Smart Ways to Antwerp (Slim naar Antwerpen) and the Marketplace for Mobility (Marktplaats voor Mobiliteit). Both strategies are dedicated to incentivise the collaboration between companies and the city.
Smart to Antwerp
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‘Finding effective solutions together for corporate commuting and for logistics, that’s the primary objective of Smart Ways to Antwerp,’ says Mr Kennis. Since 2016 the city of Antwerp has changed into a huge construction site. Many traffic-related construction projects are on their way to improve mobility in the city in the long-term. However, in a bid to prevent the optimisation projects to deteriorate the traffic situation in the long term, the city of Antwerp has created Smart Ways to Antwerp. The project ensures the city remains accessible, both for leisure travellers and for corporate commuters, and optimises the last mile with or without construction work.
The shared bicycles of Antwerp are a crucial part in the entire Smart Ways to Antwerp project, led by executive councillor Koen Kennis.
5 TIPS & TRICKS FROM KOEN KENNIS Companies can do what cities can do, therefore Mr Kennis gives our readers some advice to smooth the last mile, based on the experience of the city of Antwerp. 1. Integrate alternative mobility in the company culture, such as public transit, cycling and walking 2. Invest in high-quality bike parking infrastructure 3. Add bike leasing to your leasing portfolio 4. Add shared cars to your company fleet 5. Locate people-intensive functions in the city centre nearby traffic hubs, so employees have various alternative mobility modes In collaboration with the city: develop dedicated transit hubs near business parks, which might include specific mobility modes where public transit does not have sufficient potential.
Safe, smart and convenient Smart Ways to Antwerp maps the construction sites, and their traffic impact, as well as all alternative transportation modes, so citizens and employees are not stuck in (construction) traffic with their car. ‘Smart Ways to Antwerp allows you to come to the city safely, smartly and conveniently.’
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On top of that, the city tries to incentivise a sustainable last mile as well. For instance, the smart route planning tells you when your route will cross into the Low Emission Zone with an automatic warning system. The city even gives specific incentives to leave your car at home, such as a discount on the purchase of an e-bike.
CALLING FOR COLLABORATION Since 2016, Smart Ways to Antwerp has been launching yearly calls to attract companies to expand the Marketplace for Mobility together with the city of Antwerp. The first started in 2016, the next will be launched in May 2019. The results of the previous calls:
2016, 1st call.
Tailor-made corporate plan While these suggestions apply to all commuters in Antwerp, the city has elaborated a specific corporate programme to find the smartest, safest and most convenient way to get your employees to the office and back. Smart Ways to Antwerp offers to elaborate strong corporate mobility plans for companies with 20 employees or more. ‘Smart Ways to Antwerp offers profound analyses of the travel behaviour of employees, detecting the possibilities for smarter commuting,’ explains Mr Kennis. This will prevent the traffic reality from paralysing your employees on the road. ‘In addition, companies can let their employees try out various alternative mobility modes. And lastly, together with the companies, the accessibility managers of Smart Ways to Antwerp can develop tailor-made accessibility guides.’
Marketplace for Mobility A crucial part of Smart Ways to Antwerp is the Marketplace for Mobility, which aims to expand the mobility services of Antwerp to increase the accessibility of the city, both for the last mile of passengers and for freight. Companies, but travellers in general as well, can access the Marketplace for Mobility to find convenient and effective mobility and logistics solutions.
With these projects, the city of Antwerp is determined to provide a smart last mile, relying on business-city collaboration. The city has made the move, what are you waiting for?
COLLABORATING COMPANIES BY THE NUMBERS
90
companies participate in Smart Ways to Antwerp
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companies made a scan of their mobility needs by the city of Antwerp
24,854
employees were screened for this mobility scan
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partner companies are working together to provide the sustainable last mile, this includes shared bikes, e-scooters, shared cars, applications, leasing platforms and even flex offices
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2017, 2nd call.
18 projects were selected, among which some targeting logistics and 11 targeting people mobility.
2018, 3rd call.
Targeting heavy-weight cargo and urban distribution via inland navigation. This call has a lot of opportunities for construction companies, waste management companies and the hospitality and catering sector. Various pilot projects will start in 2019 to enhance the transportation of cargo by using inland navigation.
2019, 4th call.
In May 2019 a fourth call is expected to be launched, of which the granted projects will be announced by the autumn of 2019.
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Antwerp, the second biggest city in Belgium, after Brussels.
Smaller and bigger companies found solutions for people and cargo traffic, consisting of innovative software applications, bike services, the pooling of freight, and the use of inland navigation [The city of Antwerp is located at the River Scheldt and many companies are not only located in the vicinity of the river, but also around the various canals and docks].
LAST MILE
THE RIGHT STATION IN THE RIGHT PLACE @DieterQuartier
Choosing strategic locations for charging stations avoids journeys to out-of-the-way locations.
Making electric mobility work is not just a matter of enough charging stations. You need to know which ones you need and where to put them - two questions telematics has the answers to.
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Today, there are some 150,000 public charging points for electric vehicles in the European Union. At least 2.8 million will be needed by 2030, according to conservative estimates by the European Commission. That translates to almost a 20-fold increase over the next 12 years. Still, it’s more than just about planting more charging totems. Some areas require more sockets than others because they are visited by more EVs. Also, the type of “visit” can differ considerably and has an impact on the type of chargers you need. If vehicles mainly come to a certain area to park, regular AC chargers will probably do the job. In the context of last mile deliveries, a different approach may be required.
Pinpointing the hotspots To understand which infrastructure is needed and where, the authorities, E-mobility Service Providers (EMSPs) and Charge Point Operators (CPOs) can count on the support of telematics. Data scientists from Ford have developed an algorithm, based on more than 1 million kilometres of driving data and including where vehicles actually stopped, to pinpoint the places that could help drivers integrate charging within their operating patterns, rather than making special journeys to out-ofthe-way locations. Following in-depth analysis in Greater London, the team concluded that it would be possible to significantly improve access to on-the-go charging through deploying a relatively small number of strategically positioned rapid-charging stations. “Being able to harness, analyse and leverage the huge amounts of data that is available through existing vehicle use can make a real difference to how easy we find it to get about in the cities of the future,” said John Scott, project lead, City Data Solutions, Ford Mobility. “We at Ford are committed to delivering smart vehicles for a smart
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world – including electric vehicles that will contribute to cleaner, quieter towns and cities. But we also want to try to use data to help improve investment efficiency into the necessary infrastructure to support that approach.” Leveraging one of the world’s largest organically grown vehicle datasets, Geotab has access to aggregated data blanketing every major urban roadway throughout North America. That enables the telematics giant to locate optimal charging station locations based on real EV traffic. In EV-dense countries like Norway and the Netherlands, but also emerging e-nations like Sweden, these rich data can also reveal revenue-generation opportunities. Where demand is high and supply scarce, the company that fills the gap can strike electric gold.
20x
the number of charging points is needed by 2030
LAST MILE
FIVE LAST MILE ANSWERS Jonathan Manning
New technology is transforming the transport of people and goods with door-to-door precision. Pinpoint precision is vitally important for last mile deliveries to help couriers save time when locating customer addresses. This app has divided the entire world into a grid of 3m x 3m squares and given each square a unique three-word address. Armed with this information, delivery drivers (or drones in future) can avoid turning up at the wrong door or wrong side of a building, improving the efficiency of last mile operations.
Building on its expertise as a route planning app, providing users with multi-modal journey options, times and directions, Citymapper has recently launched its Pass in London. This adds ticketing and payment to the app, delivering a genuine Mobility as a Service offering in the UK capital. The Pass includes public transport, bicycles and cabs, bundled into a monthly subscription fee. Citymapper as a travel planning app is live in 39 cities around the world, including Barcelona, Madrid, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Berlin, Milan, Rome and Paris, so expect the Pass to launch elsewhere.
www.what3words.com
Fighting back against the proliferation of start-ups in the mobility space, Now can be used as the unofficial umbrella name for the joint venture between two manufacturing powerhouses, BMW and Daimler. The OEMs are investing ¤1 billion to develop five on-demand mobility channels with carsharing, ridehailing, parking, charging and multi-modal transport solutions, and have integrated the moovel app for trip planning, navigation, and booking rides, bike shares and bikes.
www.citymapper.com
Recently acquired by business accelerator Via ID, Ubigo is a Swedish Mobility as a Service operator with a live service in Stockholm. Customers subscribe for a certain number of days or hours of use of public transport, car hire, car sharing, bike sharing and taxis, and access them with the UbiGo app. The company is targeting European cities with more than 1 million residents. www.ubigo.me
The pioneer of Mobility as a Service, Whim gives its users access to public transport, city bikes, taxis, and hire cars via its app. Payment is either on a pay-as-you-go or subscription basis, with monthly fees ranging from ¤49 to ¤499 in the app’s native Helsinki, depending upon the level of services available. Whim also has operations in Antwerp, Belgium and the West Midlands, UK. Corporate subscriptions are in the pipeline and the company expects to be live in 16 areas by the end of this year. www.whimapp.com
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www.reachnow.com
LAST MILE
BRINGG IT ALL TOGETHER Mark Sutcliffe
Ambitious tech start-up Bringg is stripping the risk, uncertainty and expense from the problematic last mile of the delivery journey by bringing state-of-the-art logistics software to delivery fleet operators.
– the last link in the delivery chain is often the weakest.
Geolocation technology But there is a new generation of logistics platforms which combine the latest real-time geolocation technology with stock inventory and customer relationship management modules with big data processing to create a seamless logistics solution.
Guy Bloch, CEO, Bringg: “Customer expectations have been raised so quickly that traditional delivery models no longer meet those expectations.”
FLEET EUROPE #107
Until relatively recently, deliveries were seen as a difficult and unprofitable aspect of the retail sector, fraught with risks and challenges. Many retailers have invested millions of euros into unprofitable and problematic delivery fleets which are impossible to abandon for fear of losing market share among the growing numbers of online customers who want their shopping delivered to their door. For others, the simplest solution seemed to be to outsource the delivery operation to a logistics specialist and hope they looked after your goods and your customers. But as anyone who has waited for a parcel that never arrives knows all too well
And unlike outsourcing delivery and logistics, the proponents of the SaaS (Software as a Service) approach, maintain that it allows businesses to bring their delivery fleets back in house and take back control of their customer experience. Bringg is an enterprise software platform which allows retailers to exercise end-to-end control of their delivery operations. With clients operating in the food retail and white goods sectors, Bringg has grown rapidly worldwide since its establishment in 2013.
Hyper growth Following an additional $25 million funding round in January, Bringg is currently undergoing what it describes as a ‘hyper growth phase’. Bringg’s platform can transform every aspect of the customer delivery journey – but it is especially proficient in managing the problematic last mile portion of the journey so that the retailer, delivery driver and end customer are all kept informed about the status of the package.
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Bring CEO Guy Bloch said: “The delivery and logistics sector is changing beyond all recognition. You could describe it as the Amazon effect. Customer expectations have been raised so quickly that traditional delivery models no longer meet those expectations. Order now, get it delivered sometime next week no longer cuts it.”
Re-schedule delivery “Customers expect choice and flexibility when it comes to delivery slots and they want it cheap or even free. They also want control and transparency – they want to see that their package is on its way and they want the flexibility to contact the delivery driver and re-schedule the delivery location or time in real-time.” “In this environment, the only option for anyone who delivers large quantities of anything – whether it’s pizza or personal computers – is to automate, optimise and orchestrate their deliveries.” “And the choices come down to four simple options: do nothing, try to meet the challenge with ad hoc tech solutions provided by a third party, invest heavily to develop your own solutions in-house or take a long term holistic approach and partner with an enterprise software platform to deliver the solution.” “Increasingly we are finding an overlap with our platform and clients’ Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Inventory Management
Bringg is taking on the last link in the delivery chain, traditionally the weakest link in the online shopping experience.
Seismic change “The entire delivery and logistics sector is undergoing seismic change and the pace of that change continues to accelerate. Businesses need to wake up and realise they need to do more – much more – to meet the future expectations of their customers.” Bringg’s platform enables businesses to streamline logistics and deliveries and significantly improve the delivery experience by keeping the customer constantly updated on the whereabouts of their parcel. The platform allows companies to move from inefficient or loss-making deliveries towards cost-effective delivery operations that balance the needs of all the participants in their delivery ecosystem – from management at headquarters, through the teams in the field, and all the way to the end-customers. Bringg is expanding rapidly in Europe, where it is working with retailers such as The Cooperative Group, Cdiscount, Planzer and Boulanger.
In the USA, working with Bringg proved transformational for rapidly expanding food retailer Panera. Using Bringg’s enterprise software platform enabled Panera – a chain of fast casual restaurants – to take total control of its delivery operation.
In-house delivery fleet In 2015, from a standing start, Panera established its own in-house delivery fleet and recruited thousands of drivers to deliver sandwiches, soup and healthy salad bowls to customers in 897 cities and 43 states across the USA. Customers order online, at a kiosk within a restaurant or via an app and their meals are delivered to the home or – increasingly workplace. Clients were so impressed with the ease and reliability of transaction that their average spend and frequency of purchase both rocketed and they quickly became loyal – and profitable – customers. At a time when many retailers are still making a loss on food deliveries, Panera’s digital ordering and delivery operation now accounts for a third of total sales and has been the single
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largest factor in Panera’s recent explosive growth. Closer to home, French online retailer Cdiscount has been working with Bringg since 2017 to offer customers the reassurance of real-time visibility of their deliveries of valuable white goods. After successful trials in Bordeaux, Lyon and Paris, the platform was rolled out across the country last year. In addition to bringing efficiencies to the delivery operation, Cdiscount experienced higher levels of customer satisfaction as evidenced by the integrated customer feedback facility within the platform.
“Businesses need to wake up and realise they need to do more.” Guy Bloch (Bringg)
FLEET EUROPE #107
systems and when you combine these platforms, the outcome in efficiency terms is much greater than the sum of their parts.”
LAST MILE
SMOOTHING THE LAST MILE Fien Van den Steen
The changing urban mobility situation forces kerbside and parking management to adapt accordingly. Here are 10 innovative dynamics.
Parkside and kerbside management as we know it, but not as it could serve mobility of today and the future.
KERBSIDE MANAGEMENT
1 Flex zones.
Previously kerbside zones were fixed and mostly dedicated to car parking but today, kerbsides become flexible playgrounds of cities where a wide variety of functions alternate throughout the day. A loading zone in the early morning becomes a ridehailing zone during office hours.
FLEET EUROPE #107
2 Flexible loading.
Loading zones are no longer fixed, but flexible in location and in pricing in order to optimise both delivery and mobility. The loading zones located further away from the transit hotspots can be cheaper and occupied for longer, compared to those in the inner cities.
3 Flex payment.
Flex zones require flexible pricing as well. Depending on demand the price can
increase or decrease, incentivising the kerbside users to occupy less space and/or less time during peak times, while taking more time during off-peak hours.
PARKING MANAGEMENT
1 Hands free.
4 Flex parking.
Rather than fixed parking spots, cities see the growing need for flexible parking spots, such as drop-off and pick-up zones for ridehailing and ridesharing vehicles.
In order to reduce parking space and make the parking process as efficient as possible, various parking companies start experimenting with autonomous parking technologies. They go further than parking assistance, but use external devices to bring the car to its spot, such as the robots in the SaintExupĂŠry Airport car park in Lyon.
5 Flex mobility.
2 Car free.
Cars, pedestrians and cyclists have to share the kerbside with an array of new mobility modes. Besides dedicated parking infrastructure for the docked bikes and scooters, the dockless ones are filling up the streets. The city of Paris, however, introduced a scooter tax which it will use to create scooter parking zones.
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Autonomous vehicles can change parking altogether. They drive themselves into a confined parking spot, they don’t need space for doors to open and for people to get in or out. Recent research of the University of Toronto found that if car parks could be redistributed into this perfect size, 62% to 87% more cars could be parked.
3 Ticket free.
More and more parking providers offer the opportunity to pay via your smartphone, while several startups are working on ticket free parking apps, which even include routing to the most nearby available parking spot. Saving you time and money.
There are various ways how kerbside and parking management can and should be adapted to the changing urban mobility needs and offer and optimise the last mile.
4
A NON-STOP TREND
Fine free. Taking it a step
further, the start-up Parkbob even includes all parking rules, so you don’t have to worry if you would be violating parking rules. Via the Parking Made Easy function, drivers can simply ask their phone how long they can stay in their current parking spot, and Alexa will provide you the fine free answer.
5 Seamless free parking.
Lately several Mobility-as-a-Service applications are integrating parking apps in their total mobility offer, to provide a genuinely seamless last-mile experience. Such as SpotHero into the Moovit app, and Arrive into the Avis app.
João Caetano Diaz, Board Member of the Alliance for Parking Data Standards and Member of the Policy and Strategy Committee of the European Parking Association, explains how the traditional parking providers are adapting their business. “The main challenge is the necessity to adapt all car parks to a digital future. The traditional parking flow doesn’t fit in a world of autonomous vehicles, connected cars, shared vehicles. Car parks need to adapt to a ticketless free ride future, and they need to gain digital visibility if they want to keep in business. On-street parking will face the same challenges. Payment will be automatic and made by the car itself, as soon as the car system detects the vehicle has stopped in a parking zone.” Caetano Diaz sees how many companies are elaborating digital platforms. “Some are more advanced than others, but the trend is going in the right direction.” Does he estimate the traditional parking business will be disrupted any soon? “There won’t be real disruptions,” he says, “but gradual changes. The move to digital parking is a non-stop trend.”
A C O M M O N V O I C E T O W A R D S T H E M A R K E T, PA R T N E R S A N D S U P P L I E R S
The Car Remarketing Association Europe (CARA)
established by key players in the used car market industry 6 REASONS TO JOIN CARA 4. Network with decision makers. As a non-profit, CARA offers a
1. Get unique industry insight. CARA is a forum for top remarketing
unique forum to engage with the industry’s top deciders.
execs to share their views and knowledge.
5. Create synergies to benefit your business. In the multi-faceted
2. Help develop industry standards. CARA creates and improves
shared interests.
3. Learn about digitisation and new market trends. CARA aims to
6. Give the industry the voice it needs and deserves. CARA is com-
understand and enhance new remarketing business opportunities.
mitted to defend the industry’s interests, in Brussels and elsewhere.
To get more information about the association or to become a member, please visit our website www.cara-europe.org 33
FLEET EUROPE #107
world of remarketing, CARA is the place to bundle and defend
standards and shares best practices for the European used-car trade.
LAST MILE
“THIS IS NOT A POLICY AGAINST CARS” Benjamin Uyttebroeck
@uytteb
Piet Vandendriessche, CEO, Deloitte Belgium
Annelies Vermeire, Fleet and Mobility Manager
A 25% reduction in CO2 emissions and a 10% reduction in kilometres driven by 2021. Those are the ambitious targets Deloitte Belgium set. Fleet Europe spoke with CEO Piet Vandendriessche, winner of the 2019 Belgian Mobility Manager of the Year award together with Fleet and Mobility Manager Annelies Vermeire.
DELOITTE BELGIUM • 4,000 staff • 3,000 cars, all in operational leasing • Most client-service staff have a company car • Juniors (1-3 years’ experience): Mini with green wing mirrors FLEET EUROPE #107
• Vehicle choice reduced from 132 to 15 models • National fleet policy • New focus on MaaS
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“Benefit cars with generous taxation advantages are a strictly Belgian thing,” said Mr Vandendriessche. “Other countries also have benefit cars, but their fiscal advantage is much lower.”
CO2 footprint
“Of course, this means we have a higher CO2 footprint than Deloitte member firms in other countries. Nevertheless, I’m convinced our carbon footprint isn’t really higher if we take into account the fact that Deloitte staff in other countries often use their own personal car.” “In our case, buildings make up 9% of our CO2 footprint, international travel 22% and vehicles 69%. We’ve already improved our building’s carbon footprint by 40% by moving to the Gateway building at Brussels Airport and we’re confident we can reduce our vehicle footprint, too.” Reaching these ambitious targets requires support from the executive team and from the CEO. Ms Vermeire has obtained this backing, as evidenced by the fact that this interview was done with the CEO.
A positive plan “Our mobility plan is a positive plan. Deloitte wants to take up its responsibility as a sustainable actor in Belgium by encouraging its employees to consider all available alternative modes of transport. It is not a plan against the car,” stated Mr Vandendriessche. “We’re a client-facing business and in some cases, a car guarantees our clients the standards they expect from us in terms of speed, availability and mobility. That may be the case for clients based in locations that are less (or not at all) accessible by public transport. On the other hand, we want to encourage our people to make a conscious mobility choice, in order to achieve two greater goals: helping reduce our CO2 footprint and helping solve traffic congestion.”
Mobility hub
By reducing the act of travelling itself, staff can limit their carbon footprint.
Deloitte not only offers a varied range of alternative transportation modes, such as public transport, (shared) bikes, shared cars, reimbursement of parking costs at the train station, the organisation also encourages flexibility in terms of the location employees can work from: at home or at one of the 12 regional offices. This aspect is crucial, as it supports the holistic nature of Mobility@Deloitte. By reducing the act of travelling itself, staff can limit their carbon footprint.
Car models Deloitte has harmonised its car park, reducing it from 132 to 15 models and instated a CO2 cap on emissions. The company is also transitioning from a diesel only policy into a policy where drivers can use diesel, petrol, hybrid or electric cars, depending on the usage case. “As part of our sustainable mobility plan, our objective is to systematically introduce EVs in our fleet and incentivise them by offering wallboxes to employees who opt for an electric car, charging cards and reimbursement of home charging costs. There are also charging stations at the office,” said Mr Vandendriessche.
Unlimited mileage As part of a responsible mileage plan, Deloitte is targeting a 10% reduction in kilometres driven by the organisation’s employees. “We’re not there yet, but the turning-point has clearly been reached,” said Mr Vandendriessche. “In addition to Deloitte’s multimodal mobility offer, the organisation stimulates responsible mileage. Unlimited mileage covered by the organisation does not reflect the philosophy of sustainable mobility.”
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Deloitte Belgium has its head office at Brussels Airport, a mobility hub. Their office in the Gateway building is easily accessible by public transport. “By bringing alternatives closer to our people, we encourage them to choose mobility options tailored to suit their individual needs.” “In the long term, our new policy should be a zero-sum game,” said Mr Vandendriessche. “At this moment, though, we are investing to install additional charging infrastructure and offer multimodal mobility options.”
MaaS Deloitte is helping its staff find the best mobility option for each trip, encouraging them to consider alternative modes of transportation. Deloitte uses a combination of existing MaaS platforms and their own mobility app, Get To Work. The company also has a dedicated team to counsel staff on the best mobility option.
Lead by example Through various campaigns like a Bike to work week or a Carpool week, Deloitte wants to raise awareness of the options. “We want to challenge people’s mobility habits, and we notice a positive effect. More people are using public transport and using their bike to come into the office than before. Since the launch of our mobility plan last June, nearly half of our people have opted for a positive change.” “These campaigns serve a double purpose,” said Mr Vandendriessche. “We want to encourage people to try out something new but we also hope they will motivate each other to do so. In that respect, I have decided to come into the office by train or by bike at least once a week, too. I have also swapped my car for an electric BMW i3.”
“In the long term, our new policy should be a zero-sum game.” Piet Vandendriessche (CEO, Deloitte Belgium)
FLEET EUROPE #107
“Many services we offer are provided at our clients’ offices all over Belgium or abroad. So there’s no understating the importance of mobility,” said Piet Vandendriessche, CEO Deloitte Belgium. Together with Annelies Vermeire, Fleet and Mobility Manager, he has overhauled his company’s mobility policy.
MAAS
WHY SOME BIKE SCHEMES FLOURISH (AND OTHERS FAIL) @Frank_J_Jacobs
Some bikeshare schemes end in chaos and debt. But a recent one in Cardiff flourished right from the start. Why? Shared mobility expert Beate Kubitz wrote up a report: “It’s about making the effort to discover what works.” At the soft launch of Nextbike’s Cardiff City Bike Share scheme in May 2018, the average number of daily trips per bike was 4.27. That’s more than double the national average for the UK (2.10).
Dockless vs. docked Cardiff succeeded where other cities failed – notably Manchester, where a Mobike scheme had to be withdrawn in 2017. The Manchester scheme was dockless, the Cardiff one is docked. But that only partly explains their respective failure and success. “The dockless nature of the Mobike scheme created a ‘free-for-all’ narrative, which meant that the bikes didn’t feel ‘owned’, leading to a vicious cycle of neglect and vandalism. The media narrative, initially positive, became very critical.” However, it’s not so much the docklessness that is at issue, Ms Kubitz points out; rather the urge, driven by big investments, to generate rapid and large returns: “Second-generation dockless schemes, like one in Enfield, have learned the lesson: they use hybrid docking, have improved signage, etcetera.”
Students trialled the scheme, and today still constitute a large, enthusiastic core of its membership. Another factor of success was a previous bikesharing scheme: although it had been withdrawn, it had generated a lot of expertise and experience, for example on the best locations for the docks. Geography is another relevant factor: biking wouldn’t work in a hilly city. Fortunately, Cardiff is no San Francisco. The Welsh capital’s streets are relatively flat. “Nevertheless, for some more uneven routes, the operator is bringing in electric bikes – which can make a big difference.”
Virtuous circle And so, many factors help explain the success of Cardiff’s shared bike scheme. But they all add up to one over-arching principle – a self-reinforcing, virtuous circle. “Nextbike was able to tap into an existing cycling culture, with good infrastructure. Close partnerships with the city, the university and others helped create a sense of pride and ownership in the scheme.”
“If you want your shared bike scheme to succeed, do your homework,” says shared mobility expert Beate Kubitz.
“And an effort was made to make it very visible and accessible. And crucially, care was taken to craft a positive story across traditional and social media,” Ms Kubitz recounts.
Corporate benefit Although the corporate sector was not a structural partner from the beginning of the scheme, there is evidence that companies are benefiting from it. In 2017, 7% of the 12 million bike trips in and around Cardiff were to and from work. That is likely to have gone up considerably, as Nextbike reports that its most popular route is between Cardiff Central Station and Cardiff Bay, an area with a large corporate presence. “The central lesson: if you want to offer a successful shared bike scheme, do your homework way ahead of the launch, become a reliable partner, and offer a solution that works seamlessly with public transport and other mobility options,” Ms Kubitz concludes.
FLEET EUROPE #107
Time and effort Conversely, what stands out about Cardiff is the time and effort that went into the scheme before the launch. “Nextbike reached out to the university, which has various sites throughout the city; conferred with the city council, which was very receptive to the scheme; and talked with local cycling groups. They made the effort to discover what works.”
A pre-existing cycling culture, successful partnerships, previous experience – and geography: some of the factors explaining the success of Cardiff’s recently-launched shared bike scheme.
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SHARED MOBILITY
?
: THE TIME TO SHARE IS NOW
Fien Van den Steen
2019 is the year in which established mobility players are putting the shared mobility card on the table, ready to play a significant role in the changing mobility game. Daimler and BMW joined the forces of respectively Car2go and DriveNow, while Sixt launched the first complete MaaS app for individual mobility from car rental to ridehailing, and Europcar
announced 2019 will be the year when it will scale up of its New Mobility Business Unit. Time to have a chat with these four big mobility players.
BEFORE
To share or not to share The following companies have their own angle and specialised background to provide shared mobility, which is made stronger and more authentic thanks to their decades of experience in their own sectors.
Yet, there are some parallels which could determine the future of mobility, which is not only a move towards shared mobility, but towards electrification and automation as well.
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2019 may be the year in which Share Now, Europcar Mobility Group and Sixt launched new (shared) mobility initiatives, it is definitely only the beginning.
FLEET EUROPE #107
AFTER
SHARED MOBILITY
SHARE NOW A decade of experience “Together with the other companies Free Now, Park Now, Charge Now and Reach Now we want to be a leading player and game changer in the mobility sector,” said Olivier Reppert, CEO of Share Now, the new joint venture of Daimler and BMW. However, he underlines that both OEMs already had the idea of shared mobility about ten years ago, “when Daimler invented the first pilot in the world for a free-floating carsharing service.” The decade of experience in combination with the OEM background are Share Now’s biggest advantages, explained Mr Reppert. “We have over ten years of experience in steering, maintaining and distributing huge fleets in urban environments, more than any competitor. With Share Now, by combining our
strengths and long-time experience in the mobility sector, we will be able to defend and extend our position in the market. In addition, we have the advantage that we benefit from the technology, resources and experience of our parent companies BMW and Daimler.” Does that mean that the car manufacturing activities will be substituted? By no means! “A carsharing company obviously needs cars for its business,” said Mr Reppert. “We are one of the biggest Smart customers today.” In addition, Mr Reppert gives two reasons why carsharing actually helps car manufacturers. “One, there will always be people who want to buy cars, especially in not so densely populated areas. Two, with carsharing, we serve the use-cases in densely populated big cities, making sure that the cars are highly utilised and need to be exchanged more often.”
TAKEAWAYS
• “For many of our customers their first experience with electric mobility was an electric Share Now vehicle. Surveys show that our customers are very keen on electric vehicles and really like to drive them.”
• “The use of autonomous vehicles will be a further quantum leap for carsharing. We estimate that, with autonomous vehicles, we can fulfil the same demand as today with only half of our fleet. That means that we could do the 35 million rentals we do with 20,000 cars today with 10,000 electric and fully autonomous vehicles in the future.”
SIXT Anytime, anywhere
FLEET EUROPE #107
“We believe that car rental is only one component of a complex mobility mix,” explained Vinzenz Pflanz, Senior Vice President Group Sales, Sixt SE. “That’s why we offer our customers an integrated mobility platform with our Sixt app. The aim is to offer them the highest availability of vehicles and the appropriate mobility options at the best price, anytime, anywhere.” Wouldn’t a mobility app undermine Sixt’s car-rental activities? On the contrary, Mr Pflanz sees the combination as a strength. “By combining car rental and carsharing, we can use our
entire fleet flexibly in both product ranges and adapt it to the current needs of our customers. In addition, we have no fixed business areas. Our customers are therefore not restricted in their routes but can return the vehicle they used for sharing in Berlin or Hamburg to one of our 500 branches throughout Germany, for example. These advantages put us in a unique position that puts us ahead of all our competitors.” Indeed, car rental continues to be Sixt’s core business. “Strictly speaking, the idea behind carsharing or transfer services is the same as with car rental: customers rent a vehicle for their current mobility needs. We have more than a century of experience in this
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SHARE NOW IN NUMBERS
4 million customers today
20,000 vehicles
30
locations
EVs:
20%
> Today in the European fleet
25%
> Target by the end of the year > Fully electric fleet in Paris, Madrid, Amsterdam, Stuttgart > Partly electric fleets in 12 cities in Europe and North America
business. Mobility is currently undergoing change and we play a key role in shaping it.” Therefore the ambitions of the Sixt app are quite high. “Our aim is to shape the mobility of the future for our customers. We want to position the Sixt app internationally as a real alternative to your own vehicle. We always have the vehicles in our fleet that are state-ofthe-art and that our customers want from us. This will continue to be the case in the future.”
SIXT IN NUMBERS TAKEAWAYS solution. The decisive factor is their desire to reach their destination as quickly as possible, as easily as possible and as cheaply as possible. We therefore believe that mobility in the future will only work in an integrated and overall way.”
20 million
Around customers worldwide and growing steadily
EVs:
• “As a premium supplier, we have the latest models from leading vehicle manufacturers at our disposal, which are also equipped with intelligent driver assistance systems of Level 3 and 4.”
EUROPCAR MOBILITY GROUP
or chauffeur services with our brand Brunel.”
Diversification
Yet, rental remains at the core. “Vehicle rental is our historical business: we have been Europe’s leading car rental provider for almost 70 years! What’s more, our diversification is quite recent. Hence, the car-rental activity still represents the major part of our turnover.”
“As a car rental company, Europcar built the fundamentals of the usage and sharing economies into its core business – mobility – a long time ago!” said a spokesperson for Europcar Mobility Group. “Today, we want to become the preferred mobility service company by offering attractive alternative solutions to vehicle ownership.” And it’s paying off: “Since 2014, our Group has undertaken an in-depth transformation by diversifying its activities beyond the historical car-rental business. From a car rental specialist, the Group has become a global provider of mobility solutions, offering a wide range of services, from traditional mobility solutions – car rental, van and truck rental – to new mobility services such as vehicle sharing with our brands Ubeeqo, GoCar and Scooty,
The new services provide excellent complementary services. “Thanks to our mobility solutions, we are perfectly able to meet the needs of customers for any length of time: from tens of minutes to several weeks, or for any kind of vehicle needed: car, van, scooter or even bike! We are thus convinced that car rental, carsharing and other new mobility modes are highly complementary.” In addition, the Group focuses on connected vehicles, as the first step towards autonomous vehicles. “For example, Europcar Mobility Group
TAKEAWAYS
• “Our customers’ expectations and needs are rapidly evolving, and we all know now that the traditional model of owning a car doesn’t fit-for-all anymore.”
• “We also count on our carsharing services (Ubeeqo, GoCar, E-car) to evangelise electric vehicles: by definition, urban mobility favours e-mobility, with short distances and short rides. Once you’ve tried an electric vehicle in cities, you are more likely to use electric or hybrid vehicles for long-distance rides.”
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8%
slightly below , and target to gradually increase the percentage
has started its global Connected Cars project in Spain by connecting 1,000 (5,000 very soon) cars in Palma de Mallorca. The project is the starting point of an ambitious programme to deploy connectivity solutions on a large scale across the Group countries and Business Units next year.” These investments and these expanding services are paying off and will determine the future of Europcar Mobility Group even further. “The new mobility activities of the Group experienced 52% growth in 2018 versus 2017 (YTD results end of Q3 2018). In this context, the Group has set an ambitious target for those activities for 2019, with a doubling of its revenue.”
EUROPCAR MOBILITY GROUP IN NUMBERS
7,7 million customers
100 million transactions per year
315,000 car fleet
FLEET EUROPE #107
• “People no longer want to opt for a single mobility
FINANCIAL MODELS
THE FUTURE OF LEASING Steven Schoefs
Individually, Pascal Serres (formerly deputy CEO at ALD) and Philippe Bismut (recently retired as Arval’s CEO) are highly experienced car lease experts. Combined, their knowledge approaches that of an industry oracle. Let’s hear them out on the financial models that are shaping the lease industry of the future.
Pascal Serres on doing leasing business in China: “I think it’s too complicated a market.”
FLEET EUROPE #107
Philippe Bismut on subscriptionbased leasing: “I don’t think the offers currently out there are really sustainable.”
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Philippe Bismut: “Two years ago, people were predicting the end of operational leasing because of the introduction of IFRS16, the new lease accounting standards. Nothing of the sort happened. That’s because the value proposition remains compelling: vehicle rental with services included, for a fixed cost. That will also be the basis for its continued success. Even if over time there will be some changes, as people expect more flexibility.” Pascal Serres: “Let me look to where we may be in 30 or 40 years. I think we’re on the brink of an Autonomous Vehicle (AV) revolution. Just as an AV doesn’t need a driver, drivers won’t need to own a specific car anymore. Owning a car will become a rarity, like owning an airplane today. The AVs will be a collective tool, owned by big platforms. We drivers will rent cars for anywhere between a few minutes to a few years.”
PRIVATE LEASING PB: “Private leasing will accelerate. The only obstacle is the sense of ownership that many still have when it comes to a car. My sense is that we’ll have fewer company cars of the benefit kind, and that instead we’ll have either a mobility budget or a cash for car option, but for more employees. Those two trends combined are still good news for the vehicle lease industry, as the number of eligible employees will increase.”
Private leasing means private customers, means higher potential risk. PS: “You’re right, but that’s just how retail works. That’ll be a challenge for leasing companies, who are used to B2B. They’ll have to invest. But retail is profitable in so many ways. So why not for cars?”
USED-CAR LEASING PB: “Used-car leasing will not be popular with big corporates, as the car is an element of revenue. But it’s a possibility for SMEs and private consumers. Used-car leasing is very interesting, both from the supply side and the demand side. There is a common interest in further developing this.” PS: “People who are well off can afford to lease premium cars with premium
service. But there is another segment of people who would be interested in used-car leasing, at good prices and with good service. And it doesn’t have to be Ryanair.”
EV LEASING PS: “If you forget about those people who buy an EV to be politically correct, and if you want an EV to save money, you need to do more than 25,000 to 30,000 km to get a benefit. That’s a fairly limited group of potential buyers. I think EVs are more suited to being rented than to being owned, at least at the moment.”
SUBSCRIPTION-BASED LEASING PS: “Subscription is just a right to access, so it can mean everything. Even full-service leasing is a kind of subscription. What is mostly meant by subscription, however, is aggregators bundling various mobility services at for a certain fee. Most models I’ve seen – whether they’re including public transport of bicycles on top – all had only one profitable component: car leasing.”
There is another way to define subscription as well… PB: “Yes. Basically, you subscribe to a car service, and you can switch cars when you want. Of course, that’s already possible via rental, whether, short-, mid- or long-term. At the moment, if you factor what it costs you as a supplier, subscription models are very costly. There are some subscription offers out there, but for me, those are manufacturers making marketing expenses to promote their brand.”
INTERNATIONALISATION PS: “Internationalisation will remain paramount for lease companies, as it generates economies of scale. But only if you create synergies between your different subsidiaries. Of course, different countries will have different cultures, and that must be respected. But you can aim to share as much back office as possible.” PB: “We see local lease players disappearing. But the remaining global lease players will have to work with mobility partners which are to a large extent local. Public transport companies, for example.”
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Some lease companies have subsidiaries in Asia-Pacific. But will it ever be as important a market as Europe? PB: “The market in APAC potentially is much bigger than in Europe. The question is strategic: is it feasible for a European company to take the lead in that market?” PS: “There are two good reasons to partner: if the price to enter the market on your own is too high, and if the market is too small to be profitable on your own. The question in APAC is whether either of those conditions applies. Let’s examine the four main markets in APAC. First, Japan. Highly dominated by local companies, a bit like the US. None of the leading companies wants to enter the market, as the entry price is too high. Then, Australia and New Zealand. Why not – but it’s far away, which makes running a subsidiary difficult. Third: South East Asia. We instinctively think those countries are small, but remember that Vietnam alone already has more than 100 million inhabitants. Finally, China. I think it’s too complicated a market.” PB: “China is a very tough market for outsiders: culturally speaking, and just to understand the nuts and bolts of doing business. That’s why it’s good to have a Chinese partner.”
NEW LEASE PARTNERSHIPS ON THE HORIZON The complete interview with Philippe Bismut and Pascal Serres can be found online. Read it now.
THE FINANCE MODEL UNRAVELLED Don’t forget to read our complete analysis on the future of the Finance Model in our previous Fleet Europe magazine.
FLEET EUROPE #107
FULL-SERVICE LEASING
CONNECTED
WITH A SMART VAN, YOU CAN @DieterQuartier
Empty miles, wasted time and fuel and unsafe practices no longer have a place in today’s connected world. These new vans help you achieve optimum operational efficiency, safety and ROI, not least in the context of last mile deliveries.
2 Safety.
The introduction of electro-mechanical power steering allows for more ADAS, such as lane keeping assist, trailer assist, crosswind assist, on top of post-collision braking, rear traffic alert and side monitoring.
3 Last mile.
The Transporter 6.1 is equipped with a separate cargo space locking system, so it can be used in ‘postman’ mode or ‘workshop’ mode. Available later will be a Courier Package with enhanced components for frequent stop-and-go use.
VW TRANSPORTER T6.1. Volkswagen has nothing to prove in the midsize LCV segment and has been building on the success formula for decades. Generation 6.1 is indeed an upgrade instead of an entire new model, but things have changed more than the nosejob suggests.
1 New energies.
4 Connected.
3 Last mile.
4 Connected.
Next to the eternal 2.0 TDI in several power outputs you can now opt for an all-electric version with a battery of up to 77.6 kWh in capacity, allowing for 400km of NEDC range.
The T6.1’s new vehicle electrical system architecture features an integrated SIM card (eSIM). This eSIM opens up a new array of web-based functions and services.
FORD TRANSIT CUSTOM PHEV After thorough real-life testing by actual customers in the London area, Ford is now ready to launch the plug-in hybrid version of the successful Transit Custom. It is the first manufacturer to offer this technology in the one-tonne segment.
1 New energies.
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The concept is that of a range-extended electric vehicle, whereby the 1.0 EcoBoost acts as a generator rather than a conventional engine. The 13.6-kWh battery gives 50 emission-free kilometres, the ICE adds another 500.
2 Safety.
The company’s Qualified Vehicle Modifier (QVM) programme has been expanded to 100 accredited converters in Europe. Every QVM partner has access to manufacturer-grade vehicle information, enhancing flexibility and safety.
It is possible to charge the battery using the efficient combustion engine while you are nearing the city. That way you can enter the LEZ without emitting so much as a gram of CO2 or toxic emissions. 42
With Ford Data Services, the Blue Oval enables large fleets to receive tailor-made data sets through the cloud that can be seamlessly integrated into their own fleet management systems.
stress-free journeys for drivers and disturbance-free deliveries and collections for residents.
1 New
3 Last mile.
The 40-kWh battery from the second-generation Leaf enables this compact van to drive from 200km on combined driving cycle, up to 301km in city conditions on a single charge.
The Nissan e-NV200 is more than just a 100% electric van that is ideal for lastmile deliveries. It is a mobile power unit that can give back energy to power the world around it or balance the grid.
2 Safety.
OPEL VIVARO
Vivaro will also be available with all-wheel drive for even more grip in demanding circumstances.
The new generation is no longer the non-identicaltwinoftheRenaultTrafic,but a sibling to the Citroën Jumpy/Dispatch and the Peugeot Expert. It can load more stuff than before and boasts a range of Euro 6d-temp compliant engines.
1 New energies.
The clean diesel engines can be mated to a low-friction manual 6-speed transmission or an 8-speed automatic for more efficiency. The service interval can be extended up to 50,000km.
2 Safety.
The advanced IntelliGrip traction control with five drive modes enhances stability and safety on slippery surfaces. Shortly, the new
energies.
Single-shift transmission and Hill Start Assist make driving easier and safer. The instant torque and smooth acceleration ensure
In late 2020, an all-electric version will be added to the portfolio. That makes the Vivaro a perfect match for the electric VW Transporter T6.1 and the Mercedes eVito when it comes to inner-city deliveries.
4 Connected.
During the course of 2019, the new Vivaro will be available with Opel Connect telematics
An advanced 8-speed auto makes this Toyota very attractive for stop-and-go delivery jobs in the city. It can be mated to the state-of-the-art 130hp 1.5 BlueHDi, which complies with the Euro 6.2 emission standard.
The booming compact LCV segment gains yet another competitor: the Toyota Proace City. It is built by PSA and features the same safety, connectivity and convenience as the Berlingo/ Partner/Combo triplets.
4 Connected.
Controlled from smartphone, tablet or computer, the NissanConnect EV app allows owners to intuitively track and log driver reports digitally. They can check information on the battery charge level, start the battery charging and set the vehicle’s climate control remotely.
3 Last mile.
1 New energies.
TOYOTA PROACE CITY
A cargo space of 4.2 m3 that can hold two Euro pallets or cargo weighing up to 701kg makes this a capable van. The floor sits at just 52cm from the ground, making it easy to load and unload.
2 Safety.
Two dedicated cameras relay clear, real-time images to a ceiling-mounted 5” screen so the driver can see “through” the metal panels and be aware of what is happening behind and alongside the vehicle.
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service. The factory-fitted connected device sends out vehicle and driving data that can be integrated in your fleet management tool.
3 Last mile.
The Proace City is one of few vehicles in its class that can accommodate two Euro-pallets. The Smart Cargo system uses a folding outer passenger seat and a hatch in the bulkhead to provide an extra 0.4 m3 of load space and to increase maximum load length by 1.3m.
4 Connected.
Toyota offers a solution called ProBusiness Fleet Telematics, allowing you to optimise your TCO through geolocalisation, predictive maintenance and driver behaviour monitoring.
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NISSAN E-NV200
This can be monetised and therefore reduce TCO.
NEW ENERGIES
GET UP TO SPEED WITH DC FAST-CHARGING @DieterQuartier
With battery size increasing and both heavy-duty and long-distance use becoming ever more feasible, DC fast charging is gaining in importance. Here’s what you need to know and what EV pioneers Tesla, BMW and Nissan have to say about it. Time is probably the most precious resource in a business environment. Salespeople, service technicians, delivery men, ride hailers… they cannot afford to park their EV at an 11-kW AC station for two or three hours during business hours before being able to continue their journey. For long-distance driving, there is no alternative to DC fast-charging – unless you swap your battery pack, but that is only possible in China today, if you own a Nio. The charging capacity of such DC fast chargers ranges from 20 to 150kW, depending on location and charging standard, but the majority works at 50kW. The higher the capacity, the higher the strain on the battery cells, which degrade overtime. Knowing that the capacity will go up to 400kW, are OEMs covering themselves with warranty restrictions and cautionary paragraphs in user manuals, or can you DC charge at libitum?
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Tesla: stay away from zero Tesla was unavailable for a telephone interview, but shared with us the sources of the relevant information. The Tesla support page mentions that the peak-charging rate of the battery may decrease slightly after a large number of high-rate charging sessions, such as those at Superchargers. To ensure maximum driving range and battery safety, the battery charge rate is decreased when the battery is too cold, when it is nearly full or when its condition changes with usage and age. These changes in the condition of the battery may increase
total Supercharger time by a few minutes over time. As to the announced V3 charging stations that offer a capacity of up to 250kW, Tesla says that all Tesla models/trims will benefit from the elimination of power sharing in V3’s architecture. The peak rate each vehicle achieves will vary with size of battery pack, State-of-Charge, battery and ambient temperature conditions. Basically, the system is clever enough to protect itself against damage and if you want to DC charge frequently, that’s absolutely fine from a warranty point of view. The latter only voids when the damage can clearly be attributed to non-compliance with Tesla’s words of caution in the manual: “Do not use the battery as a stationary power source. Doing so voids the warranty.” A second circumstance under which the customer is held responsible for any damage to the battery is when you let the charge level fall to 0% - something for which the car will try and protect
Ana Paola Reginatto, head of EV at Nissan Europe: “The battery will outlive the car and can be put to use as a power storage unit.”
itself – or when you leave the Model S unplugged for an extended period.
BMW: use DC at will The German premium carmaker will hit the 100,000-unit sales milestone in the coming months with the i3, which never seized to improve itself. From 22.6kWh in 2013, the battery capacity has now reached a much more comfortable 42.2kWh for some 300 WLTP km of range. Regarding DC fast-charging, BMW says that the stress put on an individual battery is a combination of DC charging power, battery capacity, charging frequency, charging duration and charging profile. All BMW i3 (max.
If you want to DC fast-charge frequently, that’s absolutely fine from a warranty point of view.
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RAPIDLY EXPANDING DC CHARGING NETWORK Today, there are three DC fast-charging standards: Tesla Supercharger, CCS (Combined Charging Standard) and ChaDeMo. Most EVs today come with the second type, but Nissan sticks to the third one. Tesla cars are the only ones that can use all three systems by using adapters.
50kW DC charging) and the upcoming BMW iX3 (max. 150kW DC charging) can be charged with their maximum nominal DC charging power without negative effects, the carmaker confirmed. For all current BMW BEV models the same warranty conditions apply, even if you use the maximum nominal DC charging power all the time. For future DC charging powers above 150kW the individual charging profile becomes more relevant to limit stress for the battery, BMW says. The battery cells will need advanced cooling during charging and a more robust cell chemistry. As to the charging profile, the charging power over time is controlled by the car. Even if the DC charging station offers 350kW, the car itself limits the power to what the manufacturer considers optimum for the car. This way the charging usually starts with the maximum power the car allows, e.g. 150kW, and after a while it goes down to, say, 120kW to limit stress for the battery. The individual programming of the charging profile is key for the optimum between short charging time and a long battery life. The BMW battery warranty conditions reflect this approach, dixit the carmaker.
Nissan: battery outlives the car The Japanese OEM has sold over 150,000 all-electric vehicles in Europe and more than 400,000 worldwide since the launch of the first-generation
Leaf in 2010, making it the manufacturer with the most extensive experience in e-mobility. It is the only large EV manufacturer that sticks to the Japanese ChaDeMo fast-charging standard (see box out). “The ChaDeMo network is still the biggest DC fast charging network in Europe, with 8,000 charge points,” explains Ana Paola Reginatto, Head of EV at Nissan Europe. “Frequent use of DC chargers is not a problem per se, but we recommend a mix of AC and DC. It’s important not to wait until the battery is empty, but charge whenever you can – which is mainly AC at home, at the office or semi-public stations at supermarkets, for instance.” “The majority of ChaDeMo chargers today deliver DC at 50kW, but the latest ones reach 100kW. Our upgraded Leaf with a 62-kWh battery can charge at this capacity,” she adds. ChaDeMo also allows Nissan to offer bi-directional charging – something that the other OEMs are not yet ready for. Bi-directional charging enables you to give power back to the grid and make money off your EV’s battery. That has an impact on the TCO and actually does not put extra strain on the battery, so you do not have to worry about accelerated degradation. “Actually, the battery will outlive the car and can be put to use as a power storage unit.”
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Tesla Superchargers. The Californian EV maker says it now has more than 400 Supercharger locations in Europe, with a total number of more than 3,200 charging points. In 2017, Tesla said it was adding eight locations a month and opened 20 new Superchargers a week in Europe. Today’s Superchargers offer a capacity of 120kW, but the next-generation V3 ones, which will gradually be deployed throughout 2019, will reach 250kW. CCS. More than 2,000 CCS Combo DC fast chargers were installed in Europe last year, an increase of over 50% compared to 2017. According to the CCS Charge Map, there are now roughly 6,000 CCS chargers on the Old Continent. Germany has the most: 1,600, followed by the UK (1,150), Norway (600) and France (550). On average, 5.6 new ones are installed every day. Most of them yield 50kW, but the latest Ionity chargers offer 150kW. The next step would be 350kW. ChaDeMo. There are about 8,000 ChaDeMo fast chargers in Europe, i.e. 30% more than CCS. In September 2018, Europe became the most ChaDeMo-rich continent in the world – it overtook Japan, the birthplace of the standard, which now stands at some 7,500 units. The UK hast the highest number (1,250), followed by Germany (1,050), France (1,000) and Norway (900). Like CCS, the latest generation chargers can pump electrons at a rate of 150kW, but 400-kW chargers are in the making.
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BMW’s i3 can charge at 50kW, but the upcoming iX3 is able to digest 150kW.
SAFETY
VISION ZERO: ACCIDENT-FREE ROADS Jonathan Manning
Technology aims to override the human errors that cause crashes and eliminate road fatalities and serious injuries.
Technology should help achieve the Vision Zero ambition for road fatalities. Vision Zero: at every level from vehicle manufacturers to city authorities, national governments and even the European Commission, the goal is clear. No one should be killed or seriously injured on the continent’s roads. Only the date by which this ambition is to be achieved changes, ranging from 2020 to 2050, depending on the party involved.
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In April, official European Union figures revealed only the slightest 1% drop in road fatalities between 2017 and 2018, and little improvement since 2013. Overall, 25,100 people were killed and 135,000 seriously injured in road accidents in the EU28 in 2018. As a result, politicians are now stepping up their efforts to reduce the risk faced by drivers, cyclists and pedestrians. EU institutions have announced plans to mandate certain safety equipment on all new cars from 2022, including autonomous emergency braking, reversing cameras, lane-keeping assistance, warnings of driver drowsiness and distraction (such as mobile phone use), and the installation of black box data recorders so the causes of
accidents can be captured, analysed and ideally eliminated.
Seatbelts Elżbieta Bieńkowska, European Commissioner responsible for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, said: “With the new advanced safety features that will become mandatory, we can have the same kind of impact as when the safety [seat] belts were first introduced.” The European Commission forecasts that its proposed measures will help to compensate for human errors and save over 25,000 lives and avoid at least 140,000 serious injuries by 2038, as it paves the way to zero fatalities and serious injuries by 2050. One of the new technologies that it wants to make mandatory is intelligent speed assistance (ISA), which automatically limits a vehicle’s speed to the local speed limit.
Inappropriate speed Excessive or inappropriate speed is responsible for 15% of road fatalities in the UK, according to car safety expert
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Matthew Avery, director of insurance research at Thatcham Research. “Greater adherence to speed limits would avert many accidents and mitigate the effects of those that do occur,” he said. Manually-set ISA systems became a requirement for cars to achieve a fivestar Euro NCAP rating for safety last year. OEMs, however, are not just looking at in-vehicle technology to reduce danger; they are also exploring the opportunities presented by connected vehicles. Volvo, which has embarked on an ambitious project to ensure that “by 2020 nobody should be seriously injured or killed in a new Volvo car,” has developed an advance warning system that connects its new cars and Volvo Trucks via real-time, cloud-based technology. This allows the vehicles to communicate hazard light alerts to each other; as soon as any connected Volvo switches on its hazard lights, it automatically triggers an alert to all nearby connected Volvos, warning drivers of a potential danger ahead.
CYCLING AIRBAG As bicycles account for a growing share of last mile journeys, thanks to bike share schemes, rider safety has become a pressing concern. The Hövding is a collar that helps to solve this problem by inflating into a head-covering airbag to protect riders knocked off their bikes. Tests at Stanford University found that it almost completely eliminates skull fractures and lowers the risk of concussion by up to eight times. The Hövding records a rider’s movements 200 times per second, and an algorithm distinguishes between normal cycling and an imminent fall, at which point the airbag deploys. The downside? It costs ¤299.
DRIVER MONITORS Volvo has announced plans to install in-car cameras to monitor the behaviour of the driver in its next generation of cars. The aim is to eliminate drink-driving and distracted driving, which are both frequent causes of crashes. The technology will detect when there’s a lack of steering input from the driver for extended periods of time, as well as drivers who have their eyes shut or off the road. If the car senses dangerous driving behaviour, it will be able to limit its speed, alert the Volvo on Call assistance service or even slow the car to a standstill.
TYRE MONITORS
DASH CAMS
Company drivers are notoriously poor at checking their car tyres, so IntelliTread from Tyrata provides a welcome solution for fleets and leasing companies. It’s a real-time, tread wear sensor that will give highly accurate reports on the depth of grip left in the rubber. IntelliTread passes an electrical signal through the tyre, and the signal changes as the tread wears down. Tyrata says the technology can detect changes as small as 1mm. The readings can then be wirelessly transmitted back to the fleet manager.
Traditional forward-facing cameras filmed journeys on a loop, saving video footage in the lead up to a crash to help resolve insurance claims. New artificial intelligence-based systems, such as Samsara’s AI Dash Cam, take this one step further by actively helping to avoid collisions. The camera identifies when a vehicle is too close to the vehicle in front, when it drives through a stop sign, and when it exceeds the speed limit. It then alerts the driver and automatically sends these ‘near miss’ videos to the fleet manager.
The Active Distance Assist DISTRONIC from Mercedes-Benz is one of a number of new technologies that help drivers to maintain a safe distance from the vehicle in front. Ideal for safer driving in bumper-to-bumper congestion, the system also increases safety on other roads by automatically reducing the car’s speed as it approaches a bend, T-junction or roundabout. It will also slow a car down as it approaches a junction signalled by the satnav route.
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SAFE DISTANCE SYSTEMS
REMARKETING
HOW BLOCKCHAIN WILL REVOLUTIONISE CROSS-BORDER LOGISTICS @Frank_J_Jacobs
Even within the EU, ‘frictionless trade’ is an ambition rather than a reality. Just ask anyone relying on transnational vehicle logistics. But a solution is at hand: blockchain provides the transparency that the sector needs to flourish. Cross-border logistics is one of the ‘deliverables’ for the European Car Remarketing Association (CARA). In other words, it’s one of the areas which the organisation has identified as most in need of progress. Differences in preference and price provide the cross-border trade in used vehicles with great potential for profit; were it not that much of that potential is sapped by the problems posed by the logistics side of the business.
Persistent risks Once a transport crosses borders – even within the supposedly homogenised single market of the European Union – the lack of transparency opens up persistent risks of uncertainty on delivery times, miscommunication between links further removed on the chain and unexpected administrative burdens, to name but a few dangers.
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And that’s not mentioning VAT, mileage and import tax fraud, which according to a European Parliament report from November 2017 account for billions of euros in economic damage each year – up to ¤9.6 billion for odometer tampering alone.
progress is complex, again because of the international angle. The eCMR – an electronic certification of transported goods – could contribute to resolving some of the outstanding issues. As the digital successor to the CMR, the old paper waybill, the eCMR can be exchanged in real time via tablets or smartphones, greatly reducing admin.
Pilot programme But while some EU countries have ratified the document, Germany – Europe’s major market, and even more crucial when it comes to automotive – has not. Some good news in that respect: at the start of April, Germany’s freight transport logistics association BGL joined the EU pilot programme Aeolix for testing eCMR. BGL’s participation will come to an end in August, however, with no word on Germany’s acceptance of the principle. Fortunately, governments aren’t the only ones looking to solve the cross-border logistics conundrum. Just about now, a consortium of Finished Vehicle Logistics service providers is launching Vinturas, a platform that could revolutionise cross-border logistics.
Those problems add up to a huge amount of friction, which explains why barely 9 million used vehicles out of an annual EU total of 45 million are traded across national borders.
The consortium consists of five major European players in the market – and the ambition is that many more will join. But what exactly does Vinturas do?
Streamlining, harmonisation: these are the solutions on everybody’s lips. But
“Our product is not the logistics service itself, but transparency of
Customer journey
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Jon Kuiper, CEO of Vinturas: “It is not about the logistics service itself, but about transparency of the entire logistics journey.”
the entire logistics journey,” says Jon Kuiper, formerly the CEO of Koopman Logistics Group and now heading up the consortium. “Compare it to what you and I as consumers have come to expect from an online purchase of, say, a book. With the right tracking number and the right app, we can follow the entire journey of that book from warehouse to our front door. Vinturas offers the same kind of customer journey, but for vehicles.” Using the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) as immutable anchor, Vinturas assembles and secures existing logistical data in a single platform via blockchain technology – offering accurate, stable and real-time insight in vehicle logistics.
Barely 20% of used vehicles in the EU are traded across borders. Blockchain technology will help remove the barriers to growth.
Stock days A more reliable cross-border transport solution will have major beneficial effects on the remarketing industry, Mr Kuiper says: “It will help reduce stock days for used vehicles. And that’s important, because the resale value of a used car reduces by an average of ¤10 per day.” Vinturas targets not just the used-vehicle market, but also the 16 million new vehicles that are shipped across Europe each year.
“With the move to electric vehicles on the one hand and mobility services on the other, OEMs need to fundamentally rethink their business models. This implies significant investments, but also large cost savings in operations. Our blockchain-based logistics platform offers a solution in that respect,” says Mr Kuiper. But it’s not just OEMs that can benefit: “For their logistics solutions, many fleet-owner work with legacy systems that are based on national processes.” Once the logistics chain crosses borders, the inefficiencies accumulate.
competitors in the field, when it comes to building a unified standard across the industry, they are collaborators. “From September, we will start working with OEMs, dealers, lease companies and fleet owners,” says Mr Kuiper. And Vinturas’ rising tide will lift all boats: conservative estimates put the efficiency potential of such a platform for the European logistics industry at a savings of ¤250 million per year for new-car logistics, and ¤100 million for used cars.
Efficiency potential Vinturas positions itself as a reliable, entirely digital, cost-saving solution on a European scale, able to offer the benefits of IT investment that most smaller logistics companies aren’t able to make. The consortium partners are all safely sharing their data – and they want to include as many players in the consortium as possible. Although they may be
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Blockchain technology finally breaks the transparency barrier that created so much friction in transnational logistics until now.
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By offering indisputably correct information, blockchain technology finally breaks the transparency barrier that created so much friction in transnational logistics until now. By the same token, the Vinturas platform’s blockchain technology can also be used to verify the veracity of the odometer readings of used vehicles, comparing them to historical readings; thus striking a major blow against mileage fraud.
AUTONOMOUS
BIG HURDLES FOR AUTONOMY IN SMART CITIES Shane Curran
The role of autonomous vehicles is yet to fully play out and some of the key attributes of autonomy will be the cause of many U-turns on the highway to completion of smart city programmes. In the last 10 years, full urban mobility has moved from the realm of science fiction to a conscious design feature in smart cities. Carsharing, ridesharing, integrated public transport and pedestrian friendly shopping precincts are becoming standard features. Yet there remain four key areas that are yet to be addressed completely: congestion, competition, infrastructure and regulation.
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Congestion
One of the least understood drawbacks of autonomous vehicles is their potential to increase (yes, increase) congestion.
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In the current environment, the ownership of a vehicle means that the vehicle is at your beck and call. It waits patiently in your garage or driveway and when you wish to use it, it’s there ready for you. It’s a powerful incentive to own. Full autonomy removes this incentive by creating intelligent, connected, autonomous cars. Within a relatively short period you can expect that block-by-block the vehicle network will know what the likely demand is, where it will come from and have vehicles on stand-by where they are needed in all but the most extraordinary of circumstances. So how does this create more congestion? In two ways.
Self-driving car can drive more closely together than piloted cars.
First, to meet demand in a peak period, a larger number of vehicles are required than usual. Second, autonomous vehicles will be seen as assets generating revenue. Once you have that asset, it’s best to keep it on the road where it is more likely to make a return. What that means is that there is a temptation to have all vehicles on the road at all times. There are ways to combat this, as we’ll see in a moment, but congestion is a significant issue that must be addressed for autonomous vehicles to work.
2 Competition
As we’ve already seen, competition is likely to play a significant role in driving congestion up, but without competition it’s unlikely that we’ll see the pricing pressure needed to make autonomous vehicles cost effective.
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Part of the difficulty is that a fleet of autonomous vehicles is more comparable to a public transport network than it is to a taxi network. Efficiencies will depend on asset owners having the ability to deploy resources with some assurance of a return. Unrestricted competition could too easily lead to an excess of assets or to assets being deployed into smaller, more profitable locations, leaving many areas unserved. Part of the answer will be in the use of a centralised deployment system to ensure that vehicles are deployed according to algorithms that best suit the city rather than the asset owner.
3 Infrastructure
Autonomous cars can operate in ways that are quite different from piloted vehicles.
LIDAR
SMART CITIES
Perhaps the most important part of the autonomous car is the LIDAR. Originally named as a blend of «light» and «radar» the name is more often associated now with «Light Imaging and Detection».
While this article focuses on transport and mobility, the concept of ‘smart cities’ goes well beyond that. The underpinnings of smart cities is the use of IoT (Internet of Things) to analyse usage and manage city resources for facilities as diverse as power plants, water supply networks, waste management, schools, libraries, hospitals, and similar community services.
Once the most expensive part of an autonomous vehicle, the LIDAR has come down from an average cost of around $75,000 as recently as 3 years ago to as little as $7500 for AV quality LIDAR. Even with that drop, experts say they will continue to get cheaper. The unit works by shooting out lasers in every direction at once and measuring the time for them to return. This lets it build up a 3-D image of the surrounding area.
This level of connectivity also means that conventional traffic management measurements such as traffic lights or road signs are no longer necessary. These changes however are only possible where roads are clear of piloted vehicles. A major challenge for smart cities will be the timing of the switch to “Autonomous Vehicles Only”.
4 Regulation
One simple example of this is the practice known as “platooning” whereby vehicles are able to travel at high speed much closer together than would usually be the case. Each vehicle knows exactly where the other is and what the other vehicle is about to do so the need for a safe following distance is all but negated.
As we’ve seen above, there are a variety of ways that autonomous cars will change the way we operate but the first step will be the legalisation of the cars themselves. The Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, signed in 1968, includes the principle that a driver is always in control of a car. This has meant that for EU countries (all of which are signatories) enabling legislation is required for self-driving cars to use public roads. Some progress has been made in this area, with many countries passing legislation that permits testing on public roads, but further steps will be
required before the vehicles can come into common use. Even in those countries where the convention does not apply, legislation will be required to remove ambiguities. Questions of liability need to be resolved and regulatory measures to ensure smooth operation must be put in place. For smart cities, these regulatory measures must go even further, ensuring that vehicle owners and manufacturers comply with the cities’ objectives which will usually include improvement of ecological impact.
The time is now The challenges presented by self-driving cars to smart cities are significant, but the benefit provided means that they are successful for the smooth operation. Only time will tell whether city authorities can successfully address issues of congestion, competition, infrastructure and regulation, but the time to act is now.
Until the end of the 19th century, the horse and carriage was the most common form of transport in most cities. As various types of engines became more common, the carriages powered by these engines were known as “horseless carriages”. The name was appropriate because everyone knew what a carriage was and this was a type of carriage that didn’t require horses.
In much the same way, the name “self-driving car” or “driverless car” makes sense at present because we know what a car is and the special feature in this case is the absence of a driver. As time goes by and driverless cars become more common, this is unlikely to remain their name!
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SELF-DRIVING CARS?
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NETWORK
6-7
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INSPIRE
EXPERIMENT
NOV. 2019 ESTORIL
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