In nearly all competitive procurements last year the number of electric buses chosen for city use exceeded the minimum requirements. Electric buses have made a real breakthrough. This presents a challenge to many communities on how the new equipment should be introduced. Tampere took advantage of VTT Smart eFleet simulation service in preliminary studies for electrification.

The technological development of electric buses has advanced by leaps and bounds in recent years. Meanwhile, pressures to reduce emissions in city transport help promote the electrification of bus services. Urban bus transport is regulated by an EU directive, and the national regulation linked with it is taking effect in Finland in 2021.

According to the directive, 41% of procurements for new buses in Finland should be based on clean energy. This means buses powered by electricity, biogas, biodiesel, or hydrogen. In addition, the directive requires that half of these buses should be zero-emission buses powered by electricity or fuel cells.

High expectations, complicated optimisation

Electric buses come with high expectations: they are expected to be as reliable diesel buses, but they must also be energy efficient, and have low emissions. The user experience should also improve. The introduction of electric buses requires comprehensive evaluation of costs and performance. The actors are not always aware of everything that should be considered in the evaluation.

VTT Smart eFleet solution serves as a roadmap for the electrification of bus transport. It offers unbiased information as a basis for decision-making. With the help of the service, it is possible to ascertain the most cost-effective way to introduce electric buses, while maintaining the quality of service.

Planning infrastructure for charging is one of the key questions. “The type of charging is affected by issues such as the features of the buses, their use, and preconditions for maintaining battery capacity on bus lines. Simulation makes it possible to visualise the effects of different choices. The aim is green transport with lower total costs than those of diesel buses”, says VTT’s Research Scientist Mikaela Ranta.

The VTT Smart eFleet service supports the electrification of public transport in many ways. It can be used as a tool for strategic planning and the anticipation of technological development. Simulation can also help in the planning of investments in infrastructure for charging. It also helps in the planning of tendering out public transport and for comparing the profitability of electric and hydrogen buses.

Electric bus traffic expanding in Tampere

An extensive change is taking place in Nysse, the public transport system of the Tampere area, where tram transport begins this summer. Meanwhile, Tampere and its nearby municipalities are planning the electrification of bus transport. The first four electric buses were introduced in the area already in 2016, but now there are moves for more extensive electric bus transport.

In preliminary studies for the electrification of urban buses Tampere has utilised VTT Smart eFleet solution. The simulation tool has given information to help planning in matters such as technical solutions for electrification and their costs.

“We used the service to model four distinct bus routes. We examined the kinds of situations in which fast charging on a route is the most sensible option, and when it is better to charge the batteries at a charging station at the depot, outside the route”, says Juha-Pekka Häyrynen, Transport Planner at Nysse.

“The key observation was that there are no self-evident solutions for the choice of a suitable charging strategy. Battery technology has made great advances, but it is not profitable to run all transport on depot charging. On some bus lines charging on the route remains an economically sensible option.”

By using the simulation service, Tampere did not aim at a detailed comparison of the options, or to optimise actual transport. Instead, the aim was to find fundamental principles for the bigger picture. ”VTT Smart eFleet is a useful and functioning tool for this kind of advance planning. Without simulation it would have been difficult for us to verify what was examined in the advance report”, Häyrinen says.

Switching the driving power to electricity is a significant move in urban bus transport. “Carriers, bus manufacturers, and those ordering the service have varying degrees of readiness for involvement in the change, and development moves forward at different speeds for different actors. Coordination is a challenge for the transition phase: buses have an operating life of about 15 years and the change in the driving power should be implemented in a manner that does not waste investments. This is a change that we plan to carry out in a controlled manner”, Häyrynen says.

Data promotes success in electrification

The VTT Smart eFleet examines the introduction of electric buses with data in mind. Background data requires information about the buses’ routes and schedules, as well as the planned equipment and its technical information. It is also possible to utilise traffic data from peak times and information on the planned charging locations. VTT also takes urban topography into account.

“VTT can collect a large portion of this information, and information about the vehicles is available directly from the manufacturers. In addition, the more information the client can give, the more detailed analysis can be made”, Mikaela Ranta notes.

The VTT Smart eFleet is the result of decades of research, experimental measurements, and technical data. This data is utilised in the analysis of different kinds of vehicles, infrastructures, and operating environments. The aim of the service is the successful electrification of bus transport and the best possible technical and economic solution for an electrified public transport system.

Read more about VTT Smart eFleet solution and contact VTT’s experts.

This article is published on Linja magazine of Linja-autoliitto 06/2021

Energy and fuels, drone systems, airport technology, aircraft components, research, testing and education as well as maintenance, repair and operations form the backbone of Finnish Aviation Landscape. 

The roots of the Finnish aerospace industry take us 100+ years back in time when the primary purpose was to build a national air defence fleet for Finland. Since then the industry has grown massively and the Finnish test beds and development projects run by Finnish research organizations and universities allow continuous development of new services in aviation, airports, autonomy and UAV’s. 

Read the eBook Finnish Aviation Landscape by Business Finland to learn why Finland excels in the reforming aviation industry and what kind of opportunities test beds, ecosystems and research organisations have to offer for foreign players.

A boost for traffic service development: Traffic and transport data now even more comprehensive

Fintraffic will now be able to provide even more comprehensive traffic and transport data to both traffic/transport-sector developers and end users in Finland. In accordance with an agreement signed with Traficom, transport information services, finap.fi, matka.fi and some Digitransit services have been transferred to Fintraffic. This will enable the provision of a globally unique set of traffic and transport data to traffic/transport-sector service developers. It also constitutes an important step in introducing new traffic/transport solutions and building a more functional traffic system.

Transport information services offer a variety of collated data, such as information about the services provided by companies that operate transport connections. The transfer of these services to Fintraffic is the natural next step in collating and making traffic data available for the benefit of the entire sector.  Comprehensive traffic data will give Finland a development environment that is globally unique.

“The breakthrough of new traffic services and solutions requires a smooth flow of information between routes, vehicles, modes of transport, service providers and end users. The collation, processing and sharing of traffic and transport data in Fintraffic’s services is an important step in the development of the transport market. By increasing the level of digitalisation in traffic and creating rules for a fair data economy, Finland can become a leading traffic market in Europe – a market that will create more competitive alternatives to private cars, provide efficient logistics, and offer new business opportunities”, says Fintraffic’s CEO, Pertti Korhonen.

A one-stop shop for traffic situation information and public transport routes and timetables

Fintraffic has already been providing road condition information, road weather cameras and a situational picture of traffic via its Traffic Situation service, for which there is both a web-based and mobile app version. The company also shares a comprehensive range of traffic data with service developers via the Digitraffic service’s open interfaces. About 10 million interface calls are made to this service every day.

Fintraffic’s other digital services include Train Departures, Drone services, Port Activity (a digital platform for ports),  and Traffic Customer Service. The latter is provided in cooperation with the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency and Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment.

In addition to these, the transport information services that are being transferred to Fintraffic (finap.fi and matka.fi) will create a firm foundation for developing services that combine different modes of traffic, as public transport routes and timetables will be available in the same place as information about the traffic situation for other modes of traffic.

Almost a hundred operators building the traffic system of the future

Fintraffic has already brought together a hundred operators to build a traffic ecosystem.

“Over the coming years, renewing traffic and developing well-oiled travel chains will, above all, involve making much better use of traffic data.  This requires us, in cooperation with a broad range of other operators, to find ways of promoting the data economy in the development of traffic solutions. This work will be carried out in working groups that will focus on developing areas such as traffic situation data, traffic data system architecture, and logistics data and interfaces,” says Janne Lautanala, Chief Ecosystem and Technology Officer at Fintraffic.

ITS Finland, which is involved in creating the ecosystem, welcomes any proactive action to develop the quality and availability of traffic data resources.

“As a special assignment company, Fintraffic will play a unique role in promoting the data economy in traffic and logistics. In addition to its statutory tasks, it will operate in the market by building an open data ecosystem in which, in line with its strategy, it will act as an enabler and create a framework for data utilisation and the development of new market-based services. Data expertise in traffic and logistics can create a competitive advantage for the entire sector. Now is the time to get involved – to safeguard your company’s interests during the development of the ecosystem, to create a common set of rules, and to actively support industry operators in both national and international markets,” says ITS Finland’s CEO, Marko Forsblom.

Read the original article on Fintraffic’s web page.

MaaS Global, the world’s leading mobility-as-a-service platform and the company behind the award-winning Whim app has acquired Spanish mobility startup Wondo.

As part of the transaction, Ferrovial will become one of the shareholders of reference of the company. Whim and Wondo are both on a mission to transform the global transport sector, which is expected to boom to € 7.6 trillion by 2030. They will provide sustainable mobility in the cities around the world and freedom of mobility for the people.

Whim provides users all transport services in one app. It allows users to book and pay for all their trips one trip at a time or with a convenient monthly subscription. With over 16 million trips made since its launch in November 2017, Whim is the first all-inclusive MaaS solution commercially available on the market. Whim is currently live in several European and Asian markets and preparing for new launches.

“The acquisition of Wondo enables us to rapidly expand to new markets and increase our B2B and B2C service offering, which is crucial in the rapidly-evolving MaaS market. MaaS is a business of a critical mass and it requires volume and gravity. This transaction is a prime example that the consolidation of the MaaS industry is now taking place, and we intend to continue playing an active role in it” says Sampo Hietanen, CEO and Founder of MaaS Global.

Wondo is an urban mobility marketplace, which provides integrated access to multiple modes of transportation.

“Given our shared DNA, we are thrilled to join forces with the MaaS Global team to contribute to the creation of the leading global MaaS platform. We complement each other’s geographical reach and service offering and have a similar vision on the future developments of the MaaS sector”, says Ion Cuervas-Mons, CEO of Wondo.

Wondo has historically been backed by Ferrovial, Spain-based multinational focused on the transport infrastructure and urban services. As part of the transaction, Ferrovial becomes one of MaaS Global’s strategic investors.

“Ferrovial is very pleased to join forces with MaaS Global to develop a winning value-added proposition in the mobility-as-a-service space. This is another step in the strategy of the company to be at the center of the changes that are transforming the shape of urban mobility”, says Andres Camacho Donezar, Director of Mobility of Ferrovial.

NOR Capital acted as financial advisor to MaaS Global.

Read the original press release on MaaS Global’s web page.

FABULOS project formed a platform for advancements in autonomous driving. 

The three-year-long Horizon 2020 project FABULOS has come to an end. For Sensible 4 – a Finnish autonomous driving software company – the project meant growth and a framework for developing the software product. Along with the project Sensible 4’s autonomous driving software and ability to offer autonomous retrofits improved significantly. As the final conference of FABULOS was held in February, Sensible 4 now heads for commercial product launches.

FABULOS was a Horizon 2020 funded, Europe-wide project. The purpose of FABULOS was to seek new solutions and technologies for cities, to prepare them for future mobility solutions. It was a collaboration between companies and public entities such as the city of Helsinki. But for Sensible 4, it meant a lot more.

The earlier EU project SOHJOA helped in forming a basis for the new autonomous driving software company. The FABULOS project gave Sensible 4 a guiding light to develop the last-mile autonomous transit solution.

“FABULOS project was a successful accelerator for us and the emerging European autonomous driving industry”, says Harri Santamala, the CEO of Sensible 4.

THREE PROJECT PHASES CULMINATED IN SUCCESSFUL PILOTS

The project had three phases planned for a period of three years: Solution design, prototype development, and field testing.

The project started mostly with documentation planning, but in the second phase the vehicles started to roll in. The autonomous shuttle bus GACHA was announced in 2019 while the FABULOS project was running.

An important part of the second phase was the laboratory testing of the vehicles. This is why an autonomous driving computer with a full sensor stack and wiring was taken into the EMC chambers, once used by Nokia. GACHA vehicle was driven into the cold chamber equipped with a dynamometer to test the performance of the vehicle’s drivetrain in really cold conditions.

“Although our technology works just fine on nice summer days, we need to test the vehicles also for harsh arctic conditions”, Santamala continues.

The highlight of the project was the third and final phase, two pilots on the public roads, one in Helsinki and another Gjesdal Norway. It was clear for Sensible 4 to utilize the new GACHA shuttle bus within this phase. Also, a Dongfeng CM7, Renault Twizy, and a couple of Toyota Proaces got an autonomous retrofit in Sensible 4’s workshop and drove their parts in FABULOS pilots.

The first open pilot was also intended to transport passengers to European TRA 2020 conference in 2020, but it turned out to be a mostly closed field test in times of global pandemic. Yet this didn’t stop the FABULOS from happening.

FABULOS BROUGHT NEW FEATURES AND A PILOT ABROAD

The second open pilot at Gjesdal was one of the first autonomous driving pilots abroad for Sensible 4. The Gjesdal pilot also underlined the long arc of software development within the company: In just three years the new generation of vehicles had stepped into the service. In just three years the sensor stack was renewed and software was more or less rewritten to better drive the new vehicles.

For Sensible 4 the FABULOS project was successful. For a startup and freshly hired engineers, the FABULOS formed a series of waypoints guiding the way forward.

“For example, the ability to autonomously drive to the bus stop and leave from it was developed within the FABULOS project”, tells Janne Luukkaa, one of Sensible 4 first software engineers. Other largely FABULOS-related software modules include the Remote Control Center (RCC) with all its interfaces to third-party solutions. Also a small, but important feature of making a voice call from the autonomous vehicle to the Remote Control Center was developed within FABULOS scope.

“We’re looking forward to continuing developing the European technology sector competitiveness in future programs”, tells Santamala. Along with its commercial customer projects, Sensible 4 is taking part in new Horizon 2020 programs, like SHOW with an autonomous pilot in Tampere at the end of the year. The next year, 2022, Sensible 4 will launch Dawn, the commercial autonomous driving software.

This time Sensible 4 is no longer a startup. Within just one year the company has nearly quadrupled its personnel, moved to a new bigger office space and also expanded the business to Central Europe and Japan. GACHA was the first vehicle built by Sensible 4, but new pilot projects and collaborations with industrial partners are on the drawing board. FABULOS has had an important role to play in this positive development.

Read the original press release on Sensible 4’s webpage.

First in Finland: Fireproof charging cabinet for electronic bicycle batteries at Aalto University metro station

The City of Espoo and LatausPolku Oy are launching charging cabinets for electronic bicycle batters at three major transport hubs in Espoo: A Bloc in Otaniemi, Pikkulaiva in Espoonlahti and Iso Omena in Matinkylä. Finland’s first fireproof charging cabinet will be put into service in Otaniemi, Espoo, in April.

The City of Espoo has set itself the goal of achieving carbon-neutrality by 2030. Transport accounts for about one-third of Espoo’s climate emissions, so we need to pull out all the stops to curb them.

“Increasing the share of cycling as a part of our daily mobility is one of the key elements of achieving carbon neutrality in transport. Electric bicycles make travelling in the city a smooth ride,” says Mari Päätalo, Project Manager at the City of Espoo.

Leave your battery in a locked and fireproof charging cabinet for storage

The idea is to provide a service that allows cyclists to leave the batteries of their electric bicycles to recharge, for example, while they do their shopping or for the duration of their work day. Although batteries are thoroughly protected at the factory, there is a risk of them catching fire as they age and gain wear and tear. The charging cabinet for electric bicycle batteries currently being launched detects a potential fire and extinguishes it using a patent-pending method.

“Many housing and real estate companies have prohibited the unsupervised charging of electric bicycle batteries indoors specifically for fire safety reasons,” says Mikko Pajamies, CEO of LatausPolku Oy.

The experiment aims at introducing charging cabinets for electric bicycle batteries at several transport hubs in Espoo and also in many Espoo-based workplaces. The product currently being launched is unique in terms of its technology and has excellent growth prospects world over due to the electrification of transport. The experiment also strengthens local economy as LatausPolku is an Espoo-based company.

Part of the ‘Low-carbon transport in mobility hubs’ project

The experiment is a part of the Six City Strategy (6Aika) ‘Low-carbon transport in mobility hubs’ project funded by the European Regional Development Fund. Transport hubs refer to hubs where various transport services are available.

In addition to the City of Espoo, the project involves Business Tampere, the City of Oulu, Turku University of Applied Sciences and the City of Turku. The City of Espoo aims at being carbon-neutral by 2030.

Read the original publication here.

Virta, one of the fastest growing companies in Europe ranked by the Financial Times*, announces that it has attracted significant funding from major technology investors in Europe and Asia, the globally leading electric vehicle markets. The Virta platform allows industries to expand their business in EV charging with a market proven solution integrating electric mobility as a flexibility element of the sustainable energy system.

Virta raised 30 million euros funding in the round, which will catalyze electrification of mobility in global scale. Today the Virta platform is used in more than 30 countries by nearly a thousand B2B-customers, including several of the largest companies in the world representing a variety of industries. The company’s mission is to accelerate global transition to sustainable mobility by empowering large enterprises to run electric vehicle charging business, serving eventually millions of new EV drivers in their everyday life.

The investment round was completed in April 2021, led by Jolt Capital, a growth equity firm focused on scaling European technology companies and two co-investors,Tesi, Finnish Industry Investment and Vertex Growth. Also, all Virta shareholders participated in the round. The first closing of the round was accomplished in April 2020 with ENEOS, the leading integrated energy company from Japan.

ELECTRIC VEHICLES GO MAINSTREAM COUNTRY BY COUNTRY  

EV sales and related charging technology markets are growing all over the world. In leading market areas most new passenger cars are already electric, and in a number of countries the markets are reaching a significant market share exceeding 20 percent.

Virta offers a unique solution to launch, scale and operate commercial EV charging services for different industries such as energy, oil and real estate – as a primary business or as a value-added service. Virta’s patented innovations provide a seamless digital user experience, which different companies can co-brand further to their end customers.

“New technologies can change the world for better only when they are sustainable environmentally, societally and businesswise. Together with new technology-driven investors we catalyze transition to sustainable mobility in scale by empowering large industrial partners’ EV charging business also in new markets” says Virta’s CEO Jussi Palola.

“As a growth capital investor scaling impactful technologies, Jolt Capital is delighted to be supporting Virta’s next phase of growth. This is a fast growing and dynamic market, and given Virta’s impressive traction and innovation to date, we’re confident it will become the leading EV charging platform in both Europe and Asia,” commented Laurent Samama, Partner at Jolt Capital.

SEEKING NEW CONTINENTAL PARTNERS IN ASIA  

The three fastest growing markets for EV sales are Asia, Europe and the US. The charging networks on Virta platform already constitute one of the largest charging ecosystems in Europe, and the company is also working with Vertex Growth to build a network of partners to operate EV charging in Asia.

“We see strong tailwinds in the global EV market amidst push by governments for EV adoption and increasing consumer awareness of environment and sustainability. Virta has built a differentiated digital transaction platform and is well-placed to address the needs of businesses as they establish and grow their EV charging network and user base. Virta is Vertex Growth’s first investment in Europe – we are excited to back the company and to partner them to expand their footprint in Asia” says TAM Hock Chuan, Managing Director of Vertex Growth.

Co-investor Tesi (Finnish Industry Investment Ltd.) invests in companies that play a key role in solving global challenges in a sustainable way. Virta business fits Tesi’s focus of transformative economic growth by enhancing energy efficiency and renewable energy.

“Virta’s unique solution for EV charging and vehicle-to-grid load balancing positions it at the heart of digitalization and electrification of mobility. With our investment we want to boost Virta’s market expansion and help grow its impact on cutting carbon emissions” says Heli Kerminen, Tesi’s Director of sustainable investments.

Electric vehicles are capable to support the energy system with vehicle-to-grid and other demand response technologies providing flexibility to enable ever increasing amount of renewable energy. Virta is one of the leading players in commercializing V2G and energy platform technologies.

Original press release and contact details can be found on Virta’s web page.

Read more about the first closing of the investment round

*Financial Times top 1000 list of fastest growing companies in Europe

PayiQ has released its first branded application for replenishment of transport cards using Faster Payments System in Russia. Now it is possible to top up transport cards in the city of Ryazan using the mobile app “UmKA Smart Card”. 

Following the integration of the Faster Payments System in December 2020, in just 3 weeks PayiQ teamed up with local partners GetFare, ATOL Online and Gazprombank to implement a project to replenish a transport card in a branded mobile application based on the PayiQ TaaS® platform. Now public transport passengers in the city of Ryazan can replenish their account to pay for travel with a transport card, buy monthly passes, check their card balance and top up history, receive notifications and news from the operator all with their smartphones. The application allows topping up multiple transport cards, which is very convenient for a family. 

The Faster Payments System (FPS) was chosen as the only payment mechanism for the application – being the most effective one for the operator. The advantage of this payment method for the passenger is the possibility to choose any bank application installed on the user’s smartphone, as long as the selected bank supports FPS. Money is credited to the operator’s account immediately after the passenger authorizes the transaction. 

“We are always looking for the best and most convenient solution for our passengers. Having our own application for replenishing transport cards with the possibility to scale and add other functions along the way provides our users with a one stop-shop opportunity. In addition to replenishing transport cards and seeing their history of their purchases, passengers can also keep abreast of our news, promotions and notifications. With the development of digital payments, we keep up with the times and provide passengers with a handy tool that can be used literally on the go!”, says Elena Zurnacheva, Executive Director of LLC “Resources of Partners Ryazan”. 

“We are pleased to present our first branded app on the Russian market that will be well recognized by passengers. Previously, we had the experience of replenishing Troika (Moscow) and Podorozhnik (St.Petersburg) transport cards using our own PayiQ Tickets application. However, branding the app for better customer recognition is a more effective strategy. The solution is easy to scale, so further deployment of mobile tickets and digitalization of payment and validation processes in transport will be possible in a short time” concludes Elena Lipchenko, Regional Director of PayiQ in Russia and the CIS. 

Read the original article on PayiQ’s webpage.

Quick actions are needed to limit global warming increasing to 1.5 degree Celsius. Finnish companies are helping the world accelerate towards a new era of sustainable mobility with smart, safe and efficient transport services and solutions.

The new eBook by ITS Finland, Intelligent Transportation Society of Finland, gathers information about the Finnish innovation and development culture, mobility companies and the mobility ecosystem around sustainable transportation as well as presents the possibilities that cities and multiple test beds have to offer for the foreign transportation actors interested in the Nordic markets.

In the eBook you learn

• how Finnish technology know-how enables development of innovative mobility services
• what makes the Finnish business culture so supportive of experimenting
• how the Finnish mobility ecosystems create a one-of-a-kind environment for new businesses
• what kind of test bed opportunities Finland has to offer
• how the Finnish cities support launching and developing new mobility services

Read the eBook here.