Revolutionizing Public EV Charging in Jersey: The Collaborative Endeavor of Virta and Jersey Elect

Virta entered into an agreement with Jersey Electricity (JE) at the end of 2022 with operations commencing at the beginning of 2023. The initiative entails a comprehensive modernization of Jersey’s public EV charging infrastructure.

Jersey’s public charging network, known as Evolve, is owned and provided by JE. The partnership with Virta enables JE to leverage ever-improving software and solution capabilities, and affords JE the opportunity to develop innovative solutions for customers.

The physical charging points are being upgraded as a part of the infrastructure investment. For EV drivers, this will mean a smoother and more convenient charging experience, as well as the opportunity to use a single application both in the Island as well as anywhere in the Virta European and UK-wide network. Across the Virta network, and with roaming agreements included, this will mean over 90,000 chargers across Europe.

Virta is providing a complete turnkey solution and supplying JE with charger management, electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE), and a full scope of payment solutions covering the Island’s public EV charging network. Although the Island is only 9 by 5 miles in size with a population of just over 100,000, there are about 130,000 vehicles in Jersey. With the increasing adoption of EVs comes the demand for fast, reliable, and convenient charging, which were the main reasons JE chose Virta.

Read the article on Virta.global website
Image is from the same article on the Virta website.

Finland Unveils Groundbreaking Remote Monitoring Center for Tampere’s Driverless Shuttles, Pioneering the Future of Autonomous Transportation

Marking a significant advancement in autonomous transportation, Finland has reached a noteworthy milestone by inaugurating its inaugural remote monitoring center for self-driving shuttles in Tampere. Operated by REMOTED, the center aims to support safety drivers and facilitate the transition from vehicle-based control to remote supervision. With the pilot program already underway in Hervanta, where passengers have shown great satisfaction with the robotic buses, the ultimate goal is to achieve full autonomy and eliminate the need for onboard safety attendants. This endeavor stands as a momentous stride towards reshaping public transportation in Finland.

 

Transforming the commute experience for specific passenger groups

The introduction of driverless shuttles in Tampere has brought about a transformative commuting experience for specific passenger groups. Since January, these autonomous vehicles have been ferrying passengers from the tram terminus to Lintuhytti and operating in the Ahvenisjärvi area of Hervanta. Among the regular customers are pensioners who have found the service particularly beneficial, enjoying the convenience and reliability provided by the robotic buses.

Elevating both safety and efficiency via remote surveillance

To ensure a smooth transition to fully autonomous operation, each of the three autonomous buses currently operating in Hervanta is accompanied by a safety driver. The safety drivers play a vital role in guiding passengers and taking control of the vehicle in case of emergencies or malfunctions. However, REMOTED‘s remote monitoring center aims to gradually reduce reliance on safety drivers by enabling remote control capabilities. By remotely supervising the buses, one supervisor can monitor multiple vehicles, leading to cost savings and increased operational efficiency.

Evaluating the potential of remote control functionalities and seamless information integration

The ongoing testing phase also focuses on exploring the possibilities of remote control functions. Commands such as starting the vehicle, stopping it, and opening the doors can be issued remotely, further enhancing the autonomous capabilities of the robotic buses. Additionally, REMOTED plans to integrate open data, including weather and traffic information, into the monitoring process. Equipped with cameras, the buses provide real-time visual feedback to the remote supervisors, allowing them to detect and address potential issues swiftly.

Positive passenger feedback and future prospects

Despite the challenges, the driverless shuttles have garnered praise from passengers. Over 4,000 passengers in Hervanta and over 1000 in Lintuhytti have already experienced the convenience and reliability of this innovative mode of transportation. Pensioners rely on the service, and families with strollers have appreciated the buses’ accessibility. Integration with existing transportation systems has further increased passenger numbers, with the route guide now indicating seamless transfers between the autonomous buses and other modes of transport. As the day to day of the shuttle service determines the duration of testing before removing safety drivers, the expansion of autonomous shuttle projects and fleet size becomes crucial for a sustainable and driverless future.

Read article on EasyMile’s site
Photo by REMOTED

Data Analysis Reveals the Intricate Relationship Between Air Quality and Transport

Driving Sustainability: Transport for West Midlands Harnesses Environmental and Transport Data Integration to Bolster Local Transport Plan

Vaisala’s Data Empowers Sustainable Transport Schemes: Transport for West Midlands Utilizes Weather and Environmental Sensors, Partnered with VivaCity Traffic Monitoring Sensors, to Measure Carbon Emissions and Air Quality, Driving Climate-Friendly Transportation Initiatives.

The West Midlands is the second largest region in the United Kingdom, where nearly six million residents live and work. In this geographically diverse area, TfWM has embarked on a journey that will change the way residents and others see and use local transport.

The vision to reimagine how people get around the region will result in an fairer, safer and healthier West Midlands, reducing the impact on the environment and encouraging sustainable travel.

Collaboration and innovation

TfWM engaged VivaCity to deploy 300 traffic monitoring sensors and 62 Vaisala weather and air quality measurement stations. This combination gives TfWM detailed and accurate traffic information and weather data across a large network.

Benefits of combining weather, air quality and traffic datasets

Each Vaisala sensor measures the most important urban pollutant gases (NO, NO2, O3, CO) and particles (PM1, PM2.5, PM10,) and is equipped with a weather transmitter that measures six of the most important weather parameters: air pressure, temperature, humidity, rainfall, wind speed and wind direction.

The weather and air quality insights help TfWM to understand not only current weather conditions across the region, but also the relationship between weather and traffic. Weather is one of the major causes of changes in traffic behaviour, and idle vehicles pollute much more than moving ones.

The weather and air quality insights, alongside traffic data, offer the potential for TfWM to optimise traffic signals and speed limits to help traffic move more smoothly, to reduce congestion and improve air quality.

About Vaisala

Vaisala is a global leader in weather, environmental, and industrial measurements. Building on 85 years of experience, Vaisala provides observations for a better world, with space-proof technology even exploring Mars and beyond. They are a reliable partner for customers around the world, offering a comprehensive range of innovative observation and measurement products and services. Headquartered in Finland, Vaisala employs over 2,000 professionals worldwide and is listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki stock exchange.

Read article on VivaCityLab.com site
Photo by Luke Matthews on Unsplash

PayiQ is building on a Firm Foundation

Pay have now established our ticketing services all over Finland and can count over 500,000 users. This means that we have now reached technical maturity, found market fit, and have the financial foundation to start taking the next steps.

An important focus area is City Acc, and all its possible applications. City Acc is a revolutionary ecosystem we are developing to transform the way we access and track transport. But that’s not all. With City Acc, we are also providing a fun and engaging way to measure and reduce CO2 emissions for individuals, organizations, and regions alike.

During Q1, we secured financing for the City Acc initiative MVP, and our first app with game-changing capabilities will be available in the app stores when this article is posted. By teaming up with award-winning German mobility analytics technology we can add to our service an AI-driven CO2 footprint calculator that can track up to 20 different modes of transport. With this feature, both individuals and cities can gain valuable insights into real-life mobility choices and how they affect the carbon footprint.

The business model of City Acc ecosystem is manifold and needs to be explored. Right now, we are focusing on the one hand on the individual experience involving local services and stores, and on the other hand on the corporate, municipal, and regional levels.

For the individual, every time they make a sustainable travel choice and save 5kg CO2, they earn Climate Coins. Coins can then be exchanged for vouchers from our partners. Building and managing an ecosystem of partners will be a priority in the coming months. Once that ecosystem is up, we can bring a variety of new services and opportunities to our users. One fun feature is that this partner network can be international. CO2 calculation and usage spans European wide.

The other immediate field of opportunity is turning sustainability into a competition between organizations, cities, and regions. Driving down emissions caused by traffic is one of the hardest climate-related challenges we have, and here we have a fun way to engage more people to think and act for the good of the planet! Through the data provided by the app, it is easy to see who is making the most progress. We have already received a very positive, at times excited reaction from companies and municipalities. We hope to see some companies and maybe even municipalities in friendly competition against each other in lowering their CO2 footprint already this year.

Read the whole blog article on PayIQ’s home page by By Pirkka Lankinen, CEO of PayiQ
Image is also from the same blog on the PayIQ website.

 

 

 

Business Finland aims to make Finland a globally recognized provider of sustainable, carbon-neutral solutions for cities

The Decarbonized Cities Program launched by Business Finland on April 18, 2023 aims to make Finland a globally recognized provider of sustainable, carbon-neutral solutions for cities. The program helps Finnish companies and organizations to find international cooperation and business partners. New exports are estimated to amount to several billion euros.

Smart solutions and sustainability principles drive global urban development

Urban development has a significant impact on climate change: cities consume 78% of the world’s energy and account for more than 60% of greenhouse gas emissions. In the near future, more than two-thirds of the world’s population will live in cities. The largest challenges in urban environments are related to the built environment, energy, and traffic. From the point of view of the cities of the future, the utilization of digitalization and data as well as new business models have great potential.

Most major cities in Europe and in many other OECD countries have set a challenging goal to become carbon neutral by 2030 or 2035. The EU has selected 100 cities to implement the EU’s Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities mission. Six of these are located in Finland: Espoo, Helsinki, Lahti, Lappeenranta, Tampere, and Turku. The goal of the mission is to achieve climate neutrality by 2030 through developing smart and sustainable solutions.

Decarbonized Cities Program In a Nutshell

  • The aim is to help Finnish companies and other stakeholders to create new business and networks by solving urban carbon-neutrality issues.
  • The program will increase and strengthen the multisectoral supply and expertise that cities need to manage their CO2 emissions and energy transition today and tomorrow.
  • Long-term relationships with foreign cities are established in terms of both innovation and business.
  • New Finnish exports will amount to EUR 3 billion.
  • The program will involve close collaboration with selected domestic and foreign cities, large and small companies, researchers, and other stakeholders.
  • The program will focus on comprehensive solutions instead of partial solutions.
  • EUR 150 million will be allocated to the development and modification of solutions.
  • The program will run until 2028.

Read more on The program’s website

The picture is from the program’s website on the subject

Virta closes €85M growth funding to increase EVs’ charging platforms impact on accelerate growth in Europe and Asia-Pacific

Finland-based Virta Ltd, a global leader in the fast-growing Electric Vehicle charging platforms industry(1), has secured new €85M growth funding. The funding round has been among the biggest in the sector in recent years.

The sum consists of €65M equity investment from Virta’s existing investors, led by the private equity firm Jolt Capital, and co-invested by Future Energy Ventures backed by E.ON., Helen Ventures, Vertex Growth Fund, Finnish Industry Investment, Lahti Energy, Vantaa Energy, and Kotka Energy. Twenty million euros will be received from Business Finland, which offers innovation funding for companies and research organizations.

Over 1 000 professional EV charging businesses in 35 countries run their EV charging services on the Virta platform. Together, these charging network operators constitute one of the biggest public networks in Europe. Including roaming, the network enables EV drivers with access to over 350 000 charging points.

Virta and EV charging industry are heading to the era of green hypergrowth

Virta’s growth has continuously surpassed the industry average, and in 2022, Virta Group’s annual revenue grew 112% to €39M (preliminary figures). As a result, Virta was ranked on the Financial Times 1000 Europe’s Fastest Growing Companies list for the fourth time in a row in 2023. With the fresh funding, Virta aims to grow its charging transactions by more than fivefold in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region by 2025.
(1) Estimated number of charging points in Europe in 2025 compared to 2021 +475% from 0,4 million to 2,3 million and 7,9 million in 2030. Sources: ACEA, ICCT, IEA, BNEF, DNV 2030 estimates.

Read full news story on Virta.global site

The picture is from the Virta website news on the subject

A Unique Living Lab Environment In Tampere For Urban Transport

Business Finland is funding Tampereen Raitiotie Oy’s Lyyli Living Lab development environment through the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) funding program, which is part of the Sustainable Growth Program for Finland. Lyyli Living Lab is an inclusive RDI environment for the development, validation, and the acquisition of market references of sustainable, rail-based, smart urban transport technologies and services.

Lyyli Living Lab is a real-life development and test environment for urban transport products and services. At its core, it is a tram car equipped with exceptional measurement devices, IT connections, and a data management and analytics system.

LYYLI LIVING LAB
  • Operations started in Tampere in early 2022.
  • Lyyli Living Lab is an open piloting, development, and validation environment that invites Finnish and international operators to join its partner company network and to use its services by submitting an application to Tampereen Raitiotie Oy and agreeing on a partnership fee corresponding to their chosen participation period.
  • The operations of the Lyyli Living Lab development environment are steered by the TURMS innovation cluster, which is financed through partnership fees and Business Finland’s funding that will continue to the end of 2025.
  • The steering group of the innovation cluster includes Tampereen Raitiotie Oy, Skoda Transtech, Business Finland, Business Tampere, City of Tampere, VTT, and the University of Tampere.
  • Business Finland has granted EUR 366,000 to the rail transport laboratory. In addition, Business Finland has granted funding to the SmartRail ecosystem.

RRF FUNDING IN A KEY ROLE

Lyyli Living Lab is designed to meet the needs of companies as well as public, research, and other organizations that develop transport and mobility technologies and services. These companies and organizations are partners in the TURMS innovation cluster and use the RDI environment.

TOWARDS INTERNATIONAL MARKETS

Business Finland’s cooperation with Tampereen Raitiotie demonstrates that it is able to fund activities that differ from conventional research and development activities also through innovation clusters, for example. The potential for similar arrangements may also exist elsewhere.

The main goal of Business Finland is to make the group of organizations participating in the ecosystem more international.

RRF – 5G/6G, AI, Quantum – development environments and microelectronics

For 2023, Business Finland will open a new funding call for projects aimed at building or developing test, pilot, research, and innovation infrastructures that promote the development of 6G, AI, and quantum computing and advancing microelectronics.

For more information, please contact us or leave a message in the online customer service with the identifier RRF – 5G/6G, AI, Quantum – development environments and microelectronics.

The Sustainable Growth Program for Finland related to the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) aims to accelerate the development of competitiveness, investments, increased competence levels, and research, development, and innovation. It specifically focuses on promoting the green transition and the digital change.

Olavi Keränen
Business Finland
olavi.keranen (at) businessfinland.fi

 

Read the full article on Business Finland site

The picture is from the Business Finland website article on the subject

German city becomes frontrunner through sustainable software from Finland

Back in March of 2022 Vediafi and the German district of Warendorf began a joint pilot project. The aim was to further develop the Clean Vehicle Mobile application to fit the sustainable and operational needs of our clients. For this, two vehicles of the type VW Caddy were equipped with tracking hardware connected to the vehicles’ O.B.D. port. The connecting backbone of the tracking capabilities was the Gurtam Wialon system.

During the pilot, Vedia’s development team used the data from the daily use of the vehicles to improve the solution further. Thanks to the extensive user feedback the team enhanced not only the core system itself but also the user interface. This resulted in a comprehensive while at the same time easy-to-use software solution.

The pilot project officially concluded with the result being a great success for both parties. The combination of the CVW and CVM proves a highly increased efficiency for fleet management in the district. Following, on the 1st of August 2022, the combined Clean Vehicle Wizard and Clean Vehicle Mobile Solution solution officially entered full service.

“We are happy to start a collaboration with the Warendorf District, which is the first area in Germany where Vedia’s solution for cleaner and more efficiently utilized vehicles is used to build the smart city of the future. There is a pressing need for sustainable urban development that can be enabled by digital platforms such as the CVW. Together with our city and enterprise partners, we are actively developing smart and clean solutions that enable sustainable traffic.”

– Matti Lankinen, CEO of Vedia

The German Market

Vedia specifically selected the German market as the stepping stone for internationalization as sustainable solutions are relatively rare in the region. As sustainability and decarbonization have been key focus areas for Vedia, the market situation in Germany is an ideal environment for expansion.

Since then, Vedia has expanded its expansion scope to Austria and Switzerland. The goal is a presence throughout the European markets. Vedia hopes to become a key actor in the reduction of emissions throughout the Schengen zone. This will allow us to help pave the way to a greener future.

Future development plans

With the aforementioned success, the development of the CVW has not yet finished. After discussions with several partners from both the public and private sectors, plans for further development emerged. By Q4 of last year the development of the Clean Vehicle Planning solution had begun and in February of 2023 Vediafi was able to present the first version of their vehicle booking and planning system. The goal of this addon to the CVW is to help both managers and employees to make better decisions when selecting vehicles. The system makes decisions based on data from our database and user inputs. In the future, this will also include charging and range information on electric vehicles to enable more efficient usage of modern fleet vehicles.

There is still more to come on the horizon. You can stay up to date with our progress and
find out more about the Clean Vehicle Wizard solution here:

Website https://vedia.fi

Blog https://www.vedia.fi/blog/

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/vediafi-oy/

Autonomous Driving Industry Seeks Viable Solutions Amidst Economic Challenges

The autonomous driving industry has had a challenging ride in recent months; many of us will have seen a number of negative headlines about the industry and its future. The reason we see these headlines now is, at least partly, due to the ramifications of a challenging economic climate. In today’s economic climate – the industry, investors, and perhaps most importantly – the end customers – need to see solutions that are technologically and commercially viable in 2023-2024.

The path to commercial viability, for us at Sensible 4, lies in the difference between open and closed road operations. From the perspective of autonomous driving, open roads pose two key challenges: the first is a lack of consistent AD regulation to be able to operate in the first place, and the second is a need for the technology to be able to manage the unpredictability that comes with other road users, whether their behaviour is law-abiding or not.

Closed road environments, such as industrial sites, are an altogether different prospect. Industrial sites (factories, shipping terminals, mills, plants, logistics yards, and quarries) have a common approach and standards to match. The automated truck fits well into this picture of safety first and adherence to protocol. It’s not just the site environment that lends itself well to automation; the very nature of the industrial site operation sees trucks drive at slow speeds, across short distances, continuously carrying out repetitive tasks. The demand for digital transformation in manufacturing and logistics sites, coupled with the need for sustainable and efficient business operations, is driving the deployment of autonomous driving technology in the industrial segment.

Revolutionizing Industrial Transportation: Sensible 4’s DAWN™ Platform Enables Autonomous Driving in Challenging Environments and Weather Conditions

In 2022, Sensible 4 released DAWN™, a unique autonomous driving platform, which enables our customers to build and retrofit heavy-duty vehicles that can self-drive in the most demanding industrial environments (dust, mud, gravel) and weather conditions (snow, rain, wind). It’s a product that is developed based on the original logic for establishing Sensible 4 – enabling continuous automated driving, irrespective of the environmental and weather conditions. Since launching DAWN™, we have partnered with industry leader UD Trucks to automate a heavy-duty Quon dump truck at a live industrial site in Japan. The successful completion of the project represents a significant, and exciting, milestone for the future of automated transportation within the industrial segment. The potential for this technology to revolutionize mobility in the industry is exciting, and with the readiness of the technology today, the benefits can be realized in a short time frame.

Read related blog on Sensible 4 site, Written by Harri Santamala,
CEO of Sensible 4

The picture is from the Sensible 4 website article on the subject

Proxion and Relesoft agree on export-oriented cooperation

The digitalization of railways is a significant change and a huge opportunity for innovative players in the industry. Proxion has decided to accelerate its internationalization together with Relesoft Oy. Our goal is to help industry and railway infrastructure managers in building a safer, more efficiently functioning and smarter interoperable railway system.

 

Proxion’s expertise is recognized in Europe and Relesoft Oy has a unique implementation of the latest European specifications into technological products. Together, we are able to meet our customers’ needs by adapting current and future technology into a modular entity. The EULYNX specifications have reached the level of maturity where industry will witness the widespread adoption of standardized interfaces. The winning solutions of digital control command communication, signalling and automation systems will be built on EULYNX open standards, which aim to significantly reduce the lifecycle cost for signalling systems. The control and automation system forms the core of digital rail transportation. The founders of the EULYNX project are 13 European infrastructure managers, led by German Deutsche Bahn. Relesoft’s technology, together with the services provided by Proxion, offers customers around Europe the opportunity to more effectively utilize EULYNX and ETCS specifications in control and command system (CCS) in design and during the implementation of projects.

Read more info on Proxion website to learn better how Proxion and Relesoft cooperation works.