iMobility Challenge Ecodriving Competition

At the iMobility Challenge event in Valkenburg airport, one of the activities that participants could test drive for themselves was an Ecodriving competition organised by ENERFY (www.enerfy.eu) in which 236 people took part. The ENERFY system uses an on-board device connected to the vehicle’s OBD (On Board Diagnostics) that calculates your energy efficient driving score and sends it to your smartphone.

Sjoerd Cuperus was the most energy efficient driver or ‘Ecodriver’, and won the competition with an impressive score. Here is a short interview with Sjoerd about the iMobility Challenge and his thoughts on Ecodriving and intelligent mobility:

- Tell us a bit about you:

My name is Sjoerd Cuperus; I am 53 years old, I am married and live together with my wife and 3 children in Sneek, a beautiful city in the province of Friesland (the Netherlands).

- How did you find out about the iMobility Challenge at Valkenburg? And what were your impressions of the day?

I found out about the event at work, I am currently working at Unigarant, an insurance company and a subsidiary of the ANWB (the Dutch automobile club). This day was a very special experience for me and the event had great demos about the role of telematics in mobility. I learnt that vehicle technology is moving rapidly. For my work it also raises interesting questions as the industry is already creating autonomous vehicles, which we will have to think how to insure in the future.

- Which technologies did you see in Valkenburg that you thought were the most impressive and promising?

The demonstration where a truck with a semi-trailer driving at 80 km/hour came to a stop within 80 meters because its sensors automatically recognised an object and slowed the vehicle down accordingly.

- About the Ecodriving competition: do you think that this type of vehicle connectivity application (whereby you receive feedback or a score on your energy driving style) and the experience at Valkenburg will help you become a better Ecodriver and save a lot of fuel?

I am convinced that raw materials are becoming more and more scarce and therefore we have to be careful about fuel economy. If we work together, we can make a difference. So let’s start to be economical in our driving style.

- Did you think you would have had a chance to win the prize of most energy efficient driver out of 236 drivers?

I was, together with my colleague, Jack Bosman one of the first drivers. I had hoped to win but it came as a surprise to me that I was the winner out of 235 other drivers. During the first meters, the air conditioning was still running and I know it has a great impact on fuel consumption, so I turned it off.

 - Finally: to you what does the term “intelligent mobility” mean?

To me intelligent mobility is about combining the role of people and the role of technology to save fuel.