ESCALATE enjoyed a successful Transport Research Arena 2024, which took place from 15-18 April at the Royal Dublin Society in Dublin, Ireland. ESCALATE had a booth at the ALICE (Alliance for Logistics Innovation through Collaboration in Europe) stand, which allowed project members to showcase ESCALATE and its pilot projects to the over 4,000 in attendance and engage in fruitful exchanges with a wide variety of stakeholders, such as OEMs and academia.
Professor Zissis Samaras, as part of one of the technical sessions on environmental sustainability, presented ESCALATE’s work on TCO and LCA under the title “Integrating TCO and Sustainability Requirements: ESCALATE Pro-Active Design and Manufacturing Approach for Enhanced Electric Fleets”. This 15 minute presentation allowed for a general introduction to ESCALATE and a deep dive into some of the technical work being done by our partners.
In a first joint effort, the zero-emission freight projects of the AEVETO cluster were present at the ALICE stand at TRA, facilitating ESCALATE’s engagement with the cluster’s “sister” projects. Additionally, breaks provided valuable moments to connect with colleagues from the AEVETO cluster, allowing us to explore synergies, discuss potential events, and identify future communication opportunities.
The Strategic Session “Zero-emission Mobility, Health, and the Environment: Benefits and Future Challenges”, organised by Professor Zissis Samaras, offered an opportunity to explore the positive health impact of zero-emission mobility, as it can abet the negative effects of air and noise pollution caused by transport emissions. The session underscores the need for further research on the topic and the importance of projects such as ESCALATE in contributing to zero-emission road transport.
Members of ESCALATE also contributed with two posters, which were presented during dedicated poster sessions on one of the stages. The poster produced by DIN and the University of Surrey “Towards Harmonization: Overview of the Standardization Landscape for Electric Freight Transport” was presented by Dr Ahu Ece Hartavi Karci of the University of Surrey, while the poster “Unleashing the Potential: Analyzing Modularity Aspects for a 40-Ton Fuel-cell Powered Long Haul Truck” was presented by Dr Mohammad Ghazali, also of the University of Surrey.
