Enabling the Future – introduction by Guus Arts, DAF Trucks, coordinator

Does it move the needle? That is the main question that was asked during our project’s first Advisory Board meeting held in May last year. With this in mind the ECOCHAMPS project team has been working on proposals to standardise hybrid electric components for heavy duty vehicles. Our efforts have resulted in a set of requirements that have been applied to actual components that are being integrated in three different heavy duty vehicles. Read more…

Will our efforts have an impact? Well, with 70% of our population living in urban areas in 2050 and a continuously increasing demand for road transport, any vehicle measure that improves air quality or reduces CO₂ emissions should be considered. Developing cost effective heavy duty hybrid and electric vehicles are definitely one of them to achieve future goals, therefore the standardisation of the building blocks required for these vehicles is a first logical step to take.

This is how the ECOCHAMPS project is contributing, and you can be involved by proving feedback to our proposals or by participating to our ECOCHAMPS Midterm Conference in Aachen on October 24^th. Your valuable input will help us to take the right conclusions. Enjoy reading our second newsletter!