Electrification and Smart Mobility

Electrification

On a global scale, the share of electric vehicles is estimated to reach 10% by the end of 2022, and the share is increasing quickly. Among vehicle manufacturing industries, consumer automotive is driving electrification, but also commercial on-road is rushing fast. For instance, the registrations of electric trucks of at least 16 tons increased 193% from 2020 to 2021 in Europe (IHS Markit).

Off-road electric vehicles and heavy machinery are about to conquer mining, construction, agriculture, forestry, and material handling. Also, boats, ships, and airplanes are being electrified.

The environmental and sustainability aspect is the strongest factor towards electrification but not the only one. For instance, in underground mining, the toxic exhausts from diesel engines would remain in the mine if there wasn’t efficient ventilation in place. Ventilation is among the biggest costs. If the equipment is electric, the need for ventilation would be significantly reduced, albeit very toxic fumes are a risk in the event of battery fires.

In many cases, getting rid of combustion engines also improves the user experience. Compared to combustion engines, electric vehicles are more attractive due to less noise and zero exhausts. Going electric is a bit cooler than a somewhat dirty machine powered by old-fashioned fossils.

In agriculture, having an emission-free and silent vehicle brings plenty of benefits. With electric farm tractors, farmers can significantly reduce their carbon footprint and the risks of leaking oil to the ground or the plants. The farm’s products will be much cleaner from pollutants. The estimated annual growth of the global electric tractors market is about 11% from 2020 to 2026.

In material handling, the electrification started with forklifts already a long time ago. However, the traditional lead-acid batteries are being changed to lithium-ion. The upfront price of lead acid is much lower, but that is its only benefit. In comparison, lithium-ion batteries require much less maintenance, degrade much slower, charge much faster, have a much higher energy density, and don’t expose the environment to harmful substances.

At Etteplan, we stand out with a wide variety of experts helping our customers with their electrification journey. Our global organization provides the combined competence of pure battery experts, regulations and product safety specialists, embedded electronics and software developers, etc. We even have a group focusing on thermal management and provide battery testing services.

Our services within electrification:

• Development of BMS, control & monitoring systems & apps
• Battery design, electronics, software and testing
• Regulatory & safety compliance consultancy
• Power electronics design (inverters, convertors) HW & SW
• Thermal management (system design, simulation and testing)
• Engineering services for electric powered machines
• System design for autonomous drive/operations

Mobility services

No doubt, mobility (especially in cities) needs to become smarter to become sustainable. Cities need to combine multiple modes of transport, including private cars, public transport, robo-taxis, robo-shuttles, micro mobility, cycling, and walking into integrated transport systems in order to fight congestion and pollution and hence increase quality of life.

Mobility services are undergoing a huge transition and intelligent traffic solutions are headed towards safer and smoother traffic with fewer emissions. 5G networks, IoT and vehicles as a data platform enable the building of new business models, services and autonomous electric vehicles. The need to own a vehicle is experiencing a transformation and ownership is increasingly giving way to needs-based transportation services.