Cenex Nederland, the organization dedicated to research and consultancy in electromobility, has announced its new project: Greening European Mobility through Cascade Innovation Initiatives (GEMINI).
This initiative will be funded by the European Union (EU) with a budget exceeding 12 million euros.
GEMINI aims to accelerate progress towards climate neutrality through the adoption of new shared mobility services, active transportation, and micromobility, as well as their integration with public transport in the next generation of Mobility as a Service (MaaS).
Theodora Skordili, Director of Business Development at Cenex, spoke with Mobility Portal Europe and emphasized the importance of exploring these new models.
«We’re not simply talking about transitioning from an internal combustion engine car to an electric one. We need to move away from the concept of car ownership,» Skordili stated.
«Perhaps this is something that car manufacturers may not like to hear,» she added.
She pointed out that reducing the issue to a single technological change won’t have the necessary impact to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.
In this regard, promoting shared mobility and micromobility is essential for making the transition.
Over the course of 42 months, GEMINI will develop and test sustainable business models for New Mobility Services (NMS).
To achieve this, «Mobility Living Labs (MLL)» will be established in eight European cities: Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Ljubljana, Munich, Paris, Porto, and Turin.
Local communities will be involved in the development and adoption of user-centric, sustainable, and financially viable solutions.
Each MLL is expected to demonstrate a reduction in congestion, air pollution, and road risk.
On another note, Cenex’s Director of Business Development commented on the two other factors that the industry must pay attention to.
«It is crucial that electric cars become more affordable and accessible to more people, not just the wealthier population,» she exclaimed.
Various studies, such as the one conducted by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), demonstrate that the higher the annual income per worker, the greater the market share of electrified vehicles.
Furthermore, Skordili emphasized the need for appropriate charging infrastructure.
«Ensuring interoperability is essential so that they can easily charge their vehicles anywhere,» she emphasized.
More About Cenex
Cenex, is a leading global, independent, not for profit research and consultancy organization established by the UK Government and Automotive industry in 2005 to support the transition to low carbon mobility.
Since 2018, the organisation also operates from Amsterdam, as Cenex Nederland, leading the work on mainland Europe with the support from European Commission in relation to transport innovation.
Cenex is a founding member of the Global Sustainable Mobility Partnership with not-for-profit partners in the USA, Europe and Africa.
The organization is a delivery spoke for the Zero Emission Vehicle Transition Council which was established at COP 26.
Over the last 18 years Cenex has been working globally to provide expert advice to national, regional and local governments as well as the private sector to enable them to make operationally, environmentally and financially informed low carbon transport decisions.
Recent clients include the UK Government’s Office of Zero Emission Vehicles, World Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Belgium Postal Service and Vitol.
Cenex Tools
Skordili explained which tools Cenex uses when transitioning to an electric fleet.
One of them is Clear Capture, which collects real-world vehicle driving cycle data. With this data, the organization provides fleet managers with reliable and accurate comparisons of the total cost of ownership, operational performance, and emission savings when switching from one vehicle to another.
Meanwhile, the Revolve Model has been developed with the aim of providing realistic revenue calculations and charging programs for smart charging, V2G, and battery storage proposals.
Finally, Jigsaw is a modeling tool created to explore synergy within a multi-vector energy network.
It can simulate a network by combining different electricity generation and demand modules to provide a technical assessment of the network in terms of energy consumption, generation, demand, losses, carbon emissions, and the total network cost.
