Overview
In the context of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the EU committed to reduce greenhouse gases between 20% and 30% by 2020, taking as reference 1990 level, and all sectors of the economy should contribute to this goal. Within the transport sector, the EU has adopted a number of measures to reduce the impact of road and air transport, including the limitation of pollutant emissions, traffic management measures, fiscal measures and the promotion of rail and fluvial transport as well as intermodality.
As in the rest of the EU, the Atlantic Area (AA) is affected by typical transport sector problems such as the difficulties of intermodal connections, coordination of services provided by different operators or local accessibility to airports.
The main objective of BATTERIE project is to contribute to establish affordable and sustainable intermodal transport, to ensure greater functionality and more efficiency of existing transportation infrastructure in the AA. The work plan of the project includes effectiveness analysis of interconnection between all intermodal networks and their commercial sustainability, introducing smart technologies facilitators for transition among transports and better connectivity between road, rail, air and sea, and mapping available alternative fuel sources to contribute to the reduction of CO2 emissions.
The achievement of the project's goals is reflected in the following result:
- Report on the effectiveness of intermodal networks in AA.
- Identification of several intelligent technologies available and their expected impact.
- Delineation of the different phases of development of alternative fuels, their environmental impact and safety constraints.
- Interactive map which contains alternative fuels supply points in AA.
- Web tool to plan trips and access to intermodal connections throughout the AA.
At regional level, the promotion and implementation of action plans aim to develop intermodality and interoperability of existing transport networks, based on the concept of smart technologies and alternative fuels, the project will contribute significantly to improve accessibility and sustainability of AA transport and to reduce carbon emissions.
Funding
Results
BATTERIE is about smart technologies and alternative fuels. During the project there were multiple studies done on these subjects. By combining a smart technology (journey planning tool) with the subject of alternative fuels (electric vehicles) a very interesting combination is made for a tool to make life of an EV-driver easier. There are certain reasons for the general public for not buying an electric vehicle (EV). The shorter range of an EV is the most important one. How far can I go, where can I charge my car, how long will this journey take and how do I deal with travelling longer (international) distances.
To tackle these issues, the BATTERIE consortium designed a journey planner tool for EV’s, with South West College in the lead. The design is not only limited to plan a EV journey but it also has the opportunity to plan your trip by travelling with public transport. The tool includes a carbon and cost saving calculator to compare this trip with a conventional car with an internal combustion engine. It is also very fast and designed to be user friendly. You can easily drag and drop pins on the map, see what kind of charging points (fast/rapid) are along the way and choose from multiple routes. A EV driver starts with entering the total km’s he or she is happy to drive on a fully charged battery and the state of charge. The range is also including the calculations with regards to elevation, since this has a huge impact on the range. The tool is now available for Ireland, UK, France, Spain and Portugal. Please keep in mind that the planner tool is not finished yet, and there is some work to do before all charging opportunities are mapped. It however is according to many EV-drivers an important tool to make longer EV journeys a lot easier.