CARNET and Volkswagen Group Innovation Collaborate to Transform European Mobility for a Sustainable Future
Since CARNET was founded, one of its main focuses has been to help European cities accelerate the adoption of innovative and sustainable mobility solutions in cooperation with diverse ecosystem stakeholders and alongside its founding partners. In its desire to keep working towards more sustainable transport, CARNET and Volkswagen Group Innovation will expand their activities, this occasion as partners in the MOBILITIES for EU initiative, which kicks off this week in Madrid.
This 5-year European Mission project aims to demonstrate innovative urban mobility solutions that can accelerate the transformation of the urban transportation sector, embracing electrification, automation, and connectivity as central themes to reach cities’ transformation towards climate neutrality.
The European Green Deal aims to make Europe climate-neutral by 2050. Cities account for a major share of emissions and therefore have great leverage in achieving the ambitious European goal. Transportation is a key aspect to tackle, being the second-largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and accounting for over 30% of total energy use. Their journey towards climate neutrality can obtain benefits such as reduced air and noise pollution, improved health and well-being, and reduced urban environmental footprints.
In this context, CARNET is taking on a dual role as leader of the project evaluation and accompanying Volkswagen Group Innovation in the technological implementations. In the framework of Work Package 2 (WP2) and in collaboration with Volkswagen Group Innovation, CARNET will be actively involved in a pilot in Dresden, where two autonomous electric charging robots will be tested. These robots consist of manoeuvrable autonomous vehicles and 25 kWh batteries, aiming for dynamic, prioritized charging in diverse conditions. The technology reduces the need for charging points, minimizes construction and land use, and ensures repeatable, reliable charging.
As second main role, CARNET has taken the responsibility to lead Work Package 3 (WP3), which focuses on the evaluation framework, KPI definition and monitoring, data collection, and KPI calculation. During the process, CARNET will define the evaluation framework and key performance indicators (KPIs) for assessing urban mobility and logistics solutions, with KPIs covering CO2 emissions balance, energy efficiency, social acceptance, and co-benefits like security, safety, traffic congestion, health, and environmental impact. To define the KPIs, CARNET will align MOBILITIES for EU with already existing European initiatives such as, NetZeroCities, Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories, Sustainable Urban Mobility Indicators (SUMI), CIVITAS ‘Process and Impact Evaluation Framework’, or MOVE2CCAM, allowing for synergies within the ecosystem.
During the kick-off activities, a workshop will be organized and conducted by CARNET aiming to define more accurately the KPIs. This activity will consist of two interactive sessions to better understand which KPIs cities currently work with and their capabilities in collecting information. This is crucial for the viability of the latterly defined KPIs within the MOBILITIES for EU project.
The project is set to run over the next five years during which the technologies will be deployed and monitored by a project consortium that includes 29 institutions from nine European countries and covering the diverse perspectives from academia, industry, and the public sector. MOBILITIES for EU is funded under the framework of Horizon Europe – the European Commission’s research and innovation funding programme, in collaboration with the two European partnerships CCAM and 2ZERO.
