Comments Off on Autonomy Mobility Startup Challenge open for applicants
Sustainable mobility network will reward startups that are bringing new innovations and enabling transformation in the mobility sector
Autonomy Paris is billed as the world’s first trade show for mobility solutions, and the 2023 edition will award 8 winners in the 5th edition of the Autonomy Mobility Startup Challenge (formerly known as Funding the Movement). The aim of the challenge is to recognise and celebrate startups that are bringing new innovations and enabling transformation in the mobility sector. It is open to startups less than 7 years old presenting projects, products, solutions, ideas, or prototypes focusing on any of 7 sub-sectors below.
Applications are open from now until November 15th 2022, and from these, 21 startups will be pre-selected to pitch during Autonomy Paris (3 from each sub-sector). At the event, 8 winners will be chosen by a jury, composed of mobility investors, strategic mobility players, and partners of Autonomy, to receive a prize (1 from each sub-sector, and 1 overall winner from the Public).
7 CATEGORIES 1- Best Innovation in Smart Mobility Cities Re-engineering cities for the shift from motorist to mobilist: Expansion of public transport, e-charging, connectivity and new mobility infrastructure.
2- Best Innovation in Mass Transit Backbone of Smart Cities Mobility complementing active and shared mobility to offer a realistic alternative to car ownership
3- Best Innovation in Active Mobility Moving by human power with mechanical assistance in cities built for walking and cycling
4- Best Innovation in EV Fleets Switching to electric vehicles, sustainably managing the charging of the fleet, optimising driving through route planning and telematics, thereby reducing road traffic.
5- Best Innovation in Shared Mobility Transportation services that offer a range of vehicle types either concurrently or one after another.
6- Best Innovation in Urban logistics Supply chain management that plans, transports, and tracks goods in the least energy intensive manner.
7- Best Innovation in Autonomous Vehicles Driverless trains, trams, buses, shuttles and cars to reduce traffic and transport costs
Comments Off on Next week: The first European micromobility meeting for PLEV users by non-profit organizations and user groups
This exciting event will take place on the last weekend of August, from Friday 26 August 2022 at 16:00 to Sunday 28 August 2022 at 16:00, in Brussels (Belgium), at the Tour and Taxis site, Avenue du Port 86 C, 1000 Brussels.
The new meeting offers a place for discussions on micromobility, its assets, challenges, and developments for the future. The event is free to attend and open to all those interested.
This event is the initiative of legal non-profit associations and user groups active on social networks and working for better European (micro-) mobility.
Comments Off on Biking in Style: VanMoof takes over the streets of Paris during Fashion Week
All eyes were on Dutch e-bike brand and LEVA-EU member VanMoof, who brought a new, eye-catching mobility trend to this year’s Men’s Paris Fashion Week
During Men’s Paris Fashion Week, VanMoof rallied an international crew to showcase the ease of city living on an e-bike during one of the busiest and most visible times of the year for the industry. The transformative potential of the e-bike took center stage during VanMoof’s appearance at Paris Fashion Week. Proposing that riding electric offers city dwellers the chance to reclaim their space, the city e-bike pioneers encouraged people to use their bikes as a tool to unlock the endless potential of a modern-day city.
All eyes on VanMoof
Paris Fashion Week has traditionally been a place where editors, stylists, tastemakers, and creatives from around the world come together for seven days to determine the direction of the fashion world. Those who flock to the yearly event have traditionally used cars to drive around the congested city in stuffy 30-degree heat, stuck in endless traffic jams and frustrated at the thought of being late to the next show.
But this year showed that trend to be a thing of the past. This June for the first time, VanMoof supplied over 50 e-bikes to give visitors from all over the world the opportunity to travel around the streets of Paris without breaking a sweat.
VanMoof’s current Parisian riders include designer Stephane Ashpool, Simon Jacquemus, and Sarah Andleman, each of whom are regularly sighted riding VanMoof e-bikes in the city. This season they were joined by international musicians, editors, and creatives including the likes of Skinny Macho, Aminé, Diplo, David Fischer from HighSnobiety, Dazed street-style photographers and many more.
A bike-positive future for Paris
The e-bike brand’s noticeable presence across shows, events, and parties in Paris comes at a crucial time, as attitudes towards biking in the city are undergoing a change. The city municipality is actively encouraging biking, having introduced multiple incentives to make choosing an e-bike more accessible – an act that makes it clear that city legislators worldwide are recognizing the fundamental need to accelerate efforts to both facilitate and encourage biking in urban areas. As part of the city’s Bike Plan, 180,000 additional bike parking spots will be added to the current total of 60,000 – more than tripling the city’s bike racks. And between now and 2026, Parisian riders will gain 180 km of long-awaited and permanent bike lanes.
Read the full press release and see the custom VanMoof e-bikes here.
Comments Off on Keep it simple – the new Pendix eDrive IN
At the last IAA mobility, LEVA-EU member Pendix, market leader for retrofit drives in the bicycle market, presented a revolutionary drive that is to be used mainly in the B2B sector for cargo bikes. This gives Pendix an additional pillar for the retrofit drive, because the Pendix eDrive IN creates new possibilities for bicycle construction, but is installed directly by the OEMs. There are already numerous interested parties and pre-orders, although the drive has not yet been delivered. Christian Hennig was in charge of the development. We spoke to him about the drive.
The Pendix eDrive IN is available as an innovative serial hybrid variant and in combination with a chain drive, i.e. a mechanical drive train. How did the idea come about?
The market for cargo bikes is growing and growing, the bikes are also becoming more and more popular in the professional sector. We have therefore thought about how we can meet the requirements for an electric drive specifically for this application. Both privately and commercially used bikes should focus on the necessary performance in order to be able to move heavy loads safely and comfortably. Of course, reliability also plays an important role, especially if a cargo bike is to be used as a replacement for a car.
The new drive system caused quite a stir at the IAA in Munich. Why?
The serial hybrid system in particular is better suited for cargo bikes by one decisive characteristic. By using a pedal generator, all mechanical wear parts of the conventional drive train such as chains, chainrings, or sprockets are eliminated. This increases reliability and significantly reduces maintenance costs. In addition, the entire space between the wheels can be used.
How does the Pendix serial hybrid version work?
The system basically consists of a pedal generator, one or more drive motors, and a battery. The pedal generator is located on the bottom bracket, which converts the mechanical pedaling movement of the rider into electrical energy and then transmits this directly to the drive motors in the rear wheels. The generator can generate torque to give the rider a natural pedaling feel, very similar to that of a conventional bike. In addition to the driver’s performance, additional energy is supplied to the drive motors from a battery in order to ensure the necessary performance for moving a cargo bike safely and comfortably.
Where do you see potential uses for the new drive?
I see possible uses in cargo bikes where it is important to use the available space in the best possible way. In newer vehicle concepts, in particular, one often sees a very elaborately designed drive train with up to four chains connected in series in order to mechanically transmit the power from the driver to the rear wheels. This is exactly where there is a great advantage since the installation space can be used. In addition, many wearing parts of the mechanical power transmission are eliminated, which often cause unwanted downtimes of the bicycle, especially with intensively used cargo bikes.
There are already other manufacturers who also offer a serial hybrid drive. Are there any significant differences in the functions? What are the advantages of your product?
In principle, the functionality and range of functions of the various systems are quite similar. Our previous Pendix eDrive system was always developed according to the principle of “keep it simple”, and we are continuing this with this product. Generator and drive motors are based on the same engine concept and have been optimized in terms of function. Here, too, we offer a system in which the components come from a single source and are perfectly matched to each other. Functions such as gear shifting or reversing can be solved by software in the future. Of course, our proven Pendix.bike PRO app will also be used with this product in order to be able to provide the rider with useful information, customization of the riding profile and firmware updates over-the-air, and at the same time to support the service partner with diagnosis.
At the end of the day, is the vehicle actually still a pedelec?
This question can be answered with a clear yes. After years of back and forth, the European Commission decided at the beginning of 2022 that bicycles with a serial-hybrid drive system are on an equal footing with conventional pedelecs with a mechanical drive train. In order to maintain technology neutrality, it doesn’t matter whether the bike is equipped with a mechanical chain or not – as long as the drive only provides support and the rider also pedals. For us, our new drive was the next step in bicycle evolution right from the development stage. That’s why we’re happy to now also have support from Brussels.
The ten minute city is a key research theme for the Knowlege Institute for Mobility Policy (KiM) this year.
A ‘ten-minute city’ refers to the spatial planning concept in which daily services and amenities can be reached from any home within a ten-minute walk or bike ride. While the concept of mixing functions in urban areas is well-established, there has been additional interest in the theory after a fifteen-minute variant was recently opted for in Paris. KiM aims to further expand the understanding of this concept in 2022, exploring the concept from a mobility perspective.
One factor to consider is that a large part of new residential construction is centralized in urban areas, promoting the use of public transportation and bicycles and impeding that of cars. When taking into account the growing popularity of e-bikes, the 10-minute city concept transforms once again as commuters boast an expanded travel distance – with this in mind there are sure to be extensive findings as KiM develops this research theme through 2022.
The Mobility Incubator Program has recently been launched in the Latvian capital, Riga. Organized by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, the scheme aims to further develop innovative mobility prototypes in real-time. If successful following this initial stage the prototypes will act to raise the living standard of city residents and serve as an attractive prospect for potential investors, being implemented on a wider scale.
The teams and their prototypes:
The projects were developed over a period of 10 weeks following the 48-hour mobility hackathon in April. The six pilot projects are as follows:
The Mikropoint team – A new mobility point in Zemitana Square, combining a shed for electric scooters and bicycles, a mini bicycle workshop, and bench. Aims to increase the mobility network for environmentally friendly vehicles.
The getUgo team – Remote control of autonomous vehicles, machines and other devices with a teleoperation software and hardware platform.
The E-Stop team – Offers a solution for storing and charging e-scooters within the Alfa shopping centre.
The electrify team – Promotion of electromobility by offering electric minibuses for passenger transport (still under development).
The “Velorūme” team – Offers bicycle storage the size of a single parking spot.
The Simplecharge – Encouraging the use of street lighting poles to charge electric vehicles.
Dutch Insurance company Univé concludes that e-bikes effectively help to improve the mobility of seniors. Their conclusion is based on CBS data (Dutch organization for statistics) about cycling behavior between 2010 and 2017.
For the group of 65 years and older, the statistics show that a total of 13.4% have been cycling faster, whereas for the group up to 50 years, the data barely shows any increase of speed. What’s more, the group of people above 78 years have been riding on average 33% more kilometres.
According to Univé, growth in recorded speed and distance is based on the ever-growing popularity of e-bikes amongst seniors. However, as a result risks on injuries are increasing accordingly.
In 2019, a total of 420,000 e-bikes have been sold in the Netherlands based on data from RAI and BOVAG. Parallel with the growing e-bike sales, Univé note an increase in the sales of bicycle insurances in 2020. 90% of the group of 65 years and older insure their e-bike, while this is 50% for the group between 30 and 65 years and only a third for the group younger than 30.
Etienne de Cooker, director of Univé Schade, acknowledges the benefits of e-bikes. “E-bikes are increasingly easy to use. That allows elderly people to remain independent for their mobility for a longer time and are therefore less reliant on friends and family. Increased speed and less resistance keeps their world big. Moreover, they keep moving. All aspects combined lead to an increased wellbeing and vitality for this age group.”
According to de Cooker, the downside of increased speed and more kilometers is the number of traffic injuries onvolving e-bikes. “Often, these are accidents not involving anyone else. This shows that risks related to higher speed are sometimes underestimated and that potentially risky traffic situations are sometimes 0overlooked.”
2018 traffic safety data by ‘VeiligheidNL’ endorse concerns about traffic safety related to e-bike usage amongst seniors. In the last ten years, cycling accidents requiring A&E intervention have increases by 30% , 40% of these victims in 2018 were 55 years and older. As for the e-bike accidents, 85% of the victims were +55 years.
According to De Cooker, rather than the e-bike itself being dangerous, risks are more related to the experience of the rider.
Great news, production of Ellio’s started this week. It is therefore expected that early adopters of Ellio soon receive an update about their vehicle. News came that Ellio shall be organizing webinars about the use of speed pedelecs in daily life. Also, find a new blogpost by speed pedelec enthusiast Axel at Ellio’s website.
LEVA-EU member Ellio started production of their speed pedelec this week! In these extraordinary circumstances, production partner Bewel began the production of Ellio’s. Years of preparing and developing are now finally coming together. Ellio’s first customers will get an update on when their vehicle will be prepared for them as soon as possible!
Ellio is also announcing the start of Ellio webinars. For each webinar time an expert will be invited to talk about the use of speed pedelecs in daily life. Alongside their product, Ellio wants to provide information that will help to shape future mobility. Joep Kempen, CEO of bicycle leasing company ‘’Cyclis’’, shall be guest number one! Find out more about the webinar @Ellio.
Speed pedelec enthusiast Axel wrote a new blogpost on Ellio’s website. He covers two types of rides and explains that the speed pedelec has multiple user purposes. Besides commuting… read more @Ellio.
