An international consortium including AIT and DLR meets up with experts and fleet managers to better understand user needs.
Vienna (AIT): The shift to e-vehicles confronts fleet operators with major challenges, above all high investment costs. The recently launched research project EUFAL, standing for Electric Urban Freight and Logistics, aims at providing a platform of exchange as a decision support system for those operators. The platform includes tools and advice for companies at different stages of Electric Vehicle (EV) implementation, being the early planning of EV use, the implementation of EV use, and the optimization of the EV implementation. In the next weeks, national experts and practitioners come together in five workshops in in the five participating countries Austria, Denmark, Germany, Poland and Turkey. They exchange their knowledge to better address users’ needs in the further development of the platform.
The challenges of EV implementation in commercial fleets
Although it is commonly believed that EVs are suited to perform last mile deliveries especially in urban areas, only some companies make use of electric delivery vehicles. Up to now, electric vehicles have been considered as perfect substitutes of conventional vehicles, but the aligned problems still need to be solved: difficulties to deal with the inter-day variability of tour-lengths, problems to integrate EVs into existing fleets and working forces and missing own and reported experiences. However, the potential for EVs is much larger. In order to achieve this, logistics concepts and the usage of EVs have to be optimized jointly, taking the particularities of different spatial areas into account. EVs, integrated into mixed fleets, could be used in urban areas, while traditional vehicles could operate in surrounding areas. Alternatively, the use of micro-distribution centres in connection with urban distribution could be imagined.
Project coordinator Jens Klauenberg from DLR (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt) assures that “Projects in the field of electric mobility in commercial transport have shown that there is a lack of information for decision makers and fleet managers concerning technical possibilities and costs of EVs. The EUFAL Platform of Exchange will address these needs.”
The EUFAL platform: How to get decision makers and fleet managers working with it
To address user needs and subsequently guarantee the active and intuitive use of the platform, decision makers and managers of commercial fleets will be engaged in user requirement workshops and knowledge exchange events. On 23 and 24 October, their needs will be collected and discussed in the AIT premises in Vienna.
Jürgen Zajicek, Research Engineer at the AIT Center for Mobility Systems: “EUFAL will support companies with information for their EV implementations at the best level possible. The aim is to have demonstrations of commercial EV fleets including all kinds of company owned cars at different stages of development. Learnings from the EV implementations and the integration of sharing solutions will help to improve the platform and provide the needed knowledge to future users to promote electric commercial transport.”
Contracting entity: ERA-NET EME Electric Mobility Europe
The project EUFAL is co-funded by the ERA-NET Cofund Electric Mobility Europe (EMEurope) and national funding organizations. EMEurope is co-funded by the European Commission within the research and innovation framework programme Horizon 2020 (Project No. 723977).
The EUFAL platform: http://www.eufal-project.eu/
Project Consortium:
DLR, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, Institute of Transport Research, Germany
AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Austria
Borusan Lojistik Dagitim, Depolama, Tasimacilik ve Ticaret A.S., Turkey
Copenhagen Electric, Denmark
DTU Management Engineering, Denmark
eM-Pro Elektromobilität GmbH, Germany
Maritime University of Szczecin, Poland
AIT Austrian Institute of Technology
The AIT Austrian Institute of Technology is Austria’s largest non-university research institute. With its eight Centers, AIT regards itself as a highly specialised research and development partner for industry. Its researchers focus on the key infrastructure issues of the future: Energy, Health & Bioresources, Digital Safety & Security, Vision, Automation & Control, Mobility Systems, Low-Emission Transport, Technology Experience and Innovation Systems & Policy. Throughout the whole of Austria – in particular at the main locations Wien Giefinggasse, Seibersdorf, Wiener Neustadt, Ranshofen and Leoben – around 1,300 employees carry out research on the development of those tools, technologies and solutions that will keep Austria’s economy fit for the future in line with our motto “Tomorrow Today”.
Center for Mobility Systems
Mobility is a fundamental core element of our society. At the Center for Mobility Systems, around 100 experts are developing holistic mobility solutions for the future based on the interrelation of passenger mobility, mobility of goods, and transport infrastructure. Efficiency, safety, ecological sustainability and the human factor are at the heart of the research and development efforts. Leveraging comprehensive system know-how, scientific excellence, market knowledge, and many years of international experience, AIT experts are using innovation to lead industry and society into the future of mobility.
Contact:
Florian Hainz BA Bakk
Marketing & Communications
Center for Mobility Systems
AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH
florian.hainz@ait.ac.at | www.ait.ac.at
T +43 (0)50550-4518 | M +43 (0)664 88256021
Mag. Ellen Fethke
Project Dissemination & Communication
Center for Mobility Systems
AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH
ellen.fethke@ait.ac.at | www.ait.ac.at
T +43 (0)50550- 6623
Daniel Pepl, MAS
Corporate and Marketing Communications
AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH
daniel.pepl@ait.ac.at | www.ait.ac.at
T +43 (0)50550-4040