iMobility Challenge: what's coming next...
The first part of 2014 was marked by our exhibition event for policy-makers and professionals held in Brussels on 18th March.There, top tier automotive suppliers gathered to showcase latest innovations in the field of safety, energy-efficiency, and vehicle connectivity applications to all Brussels based stakeholders (watch our event recap movie).
In parallel we have conducted work to understand the level of awareness and demand for iMobility technologies among consumers in Europe. Responses collected through our large-scale survey in five countries (Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, The Netherlands and Spain) suggest there is a real need to further deploy iMobility technologies. The share of respondents who declared ever using such systems is as low as 5% (for emergency braking) and only as high as 19% (for eco-driving assistance and start-stop assistance). This confirms that the majority of motorists have yet to benefit from innovations that have been on the market for some time now.
But perhaps most exciting, preparations are underway for events that are coming next. iMobility Challenge will tour Luxembourg (14 May), Helsinki (16 May), and Barcelona (fall). In Luxembourg we will use the premises of a driver training center where young drivers undergo second phase training. There members of the public will have a chance to test-drive cars equipped with latest safety and energy efficiency equipment, but also try out electric cars. In Helsinki we will host a public demonstration day on the opening day of the European ITS congress. Among the various demonstrations a celebrity motorsport driver will launch an ecodriving contest, where all participants will have a chance to compare their ecodriving skills against those of a professional racer. In Barcelona, we will conclude the campaign with an event calling on both public and professional attendance. There the focus will be on offering a large-scale exhibition and vehicle demonstrations of technologies available today and tomorrow, in four areas: advanced driver assistance systems, electric mobility, car-connectivity, and autonomous driving.
With the motto 'Intelligent vehicles. Efficient mobility' we continue the challenge to convince the public, as well as decision-makers, to adopt intelligent vehicle systems in their day-to-day mobility and bring intelligent vehicles to our streets!
Gabriel Simcic
iMobility Challenge project coordinator
FIA Region I
