The volume of the commercial freight sector is expected to increase towards 2050, especially in the medium to heavy truck modes (N2 and N3 type). However, in parallel to that, the recent European climate goals bring challenges for the transport sector. Given the fact that the typical vehicle development cycles can be of 5-7 years, an immediate collective and collaborative action from the research organizations, business strategists, technology companies and OEMs is necessary. The result of this would be to attain high-TRL concepts that are ready to roll out in the European and global market, where there is more room for a gradual adoption at the consumer side. In any case, given the fact that there are substantial technological and business steps are being taken in the zero-emission transport field, the next 30 years towards 2050 potentially requires more dramatic changes than the last 30 years (i.e., since 1990). NextETRUCK aims to address different optimization challenges regarding tomorrow’s urban and suburban logistics for medium duty vehicles into systems-approach that is reliable, strongly integrated, affordable, and flexible enough to re-applied to different applications via dedicated tools/methods. The overarching objective of the NextETRUCK project is to play a pioneering role in the decarbonization of the vehicle fleets, via demonstrating next generation e-mobility concepts consisting of holistic, innovative, affordable, competitive and synergetic zero emission vehicles and ecosystems for tomorrow’s medium freight haulage, while aiming significant leap of knowledge at component, vehicle, fleet, infrastructure and ecosystem levels, via innovations at e-powertrain components and architectures, smart charging infrastructure and management, improved thermal design of the cabin, fleet management systems with IoT and digital tools.

In the long haul transport sector, the reduction of real driving emissions and fuel consumption is the main societal challenge. The LONGRUN project will contribute to lower the impacts by developing different engines, drivelines and demonstrator vehicles with 10% energy saving (TtW) and related CO2, 30% lower emission exhaust (NOx, CO and others), and 50% Peak Thermal Efficiency. A second achievement will be the multiscale simulation framework to support the design and development of efficient powertrains, including hybrids for both trucks and coaches. With the proposed initiatives a leading position in hybrid powertrain technology and Internal Combustion Engine operating on renewable fuels in Europe will be guaranteed. A single solution is not enough to achieve these targets. The LONGRUN project brings together leading OEMs of trucks and coaches and their suppliers and research partners, to develop a set of innovations and applications, and to publish major roadmaps for technology and fuels in time for the revision of the CO2 emission standards for heavy duty vehicles in 2022 to support decision making with most recent and validated results and to make recommendations for future policies. The OEMs will develop 8 demonstrators (3 engines, 1 hybrid drivelines, 2 coaches and 3 trucks); within them technical sub-systems and components will be demonstrated, including electro-hybrid drives, optimised ICEs and aftertreatment systems for alternative and renewable fuels, electric motors, smart auxiliaries, on-board energy recuperation and storage devices and power electronics. This includes concepts for connected and digitalised fleet management, predictive maintenance and operation in relation to electrification where appropriate to maximise the emissions reduction potential. The 30 partners will accelerate the transition from fossil-based fuels to alternative and renewable fuels and to a strong reduction of fossil-based CO2 and air pollutant emissions in Europe

The overall aim of ELIPTIC is to develop new use concepts and business cases to optimise existing electric infrastructure and rolling stock, saving both money and energy. ELIPTIC will advocate electric public transport sector at the political level and help develop political support for the electrification of public transport across Europe. ELIPTIC looks at three thematic pillars: • Safe integration of ebuses into existing electric PT infrastructure through (re)charging ebuses “en route”, upgrading trolleybus networks with battery buses or trolleyhybrids and automatic wiring/de-wiring technology • upgrading and/or regenerating electric public transport systems (flywheel, reversible substations) • Multi-purpose use of electric public transport infrastructure: safe (re)charging of non-public transport vehicles (pedelecs, electric cars/ taxis, utility trucks) With a strong focus on end users, ELIPTIC will analyse 23 use cases within the three thematic pillars. The project will support uptake and exploitation of results by developing guidelines and tools for implementation schemes for upgrading and/or regenerating electric public transport systems. Option generator and decision-making support tools, strategies and policy recommendations will be created to foster Europe-wide take up and rollout of various development schemes. Partners and other cities will benefit from ELIPTIC's stakeholder and user forum approach. ELIPTIC addresses the challenge of “transforming the use of conventionally fuelled vehicles in urban areas” by focusing on increasing the capacity of electric public transport, reducing the need for individual travel in urban areas and by expanding electric intermodal options (e.g. linking e-cars charging to tram infrastructure) for long-distance commuters. The project will strengthen the role of electric public transport, leading to both a significant reduction in fossil fuel consumption and to an improvement in air quality through reduced local emissions.

The ASSURED Project proposal addresses the topic GV-08-2017, “Electrified urban commercial vehicles integration with fast charging infrastructure” of the Green Vehicle work programme. A 39-member consortium from 12 different EU Member States will conduct the work. The overall objectives of ASSURED are: - Analysing the needs of the cities, operators and end-users to derive the requirements and specifications for the next generation of electrically chargeable heavy-duty (HD) vehicles (i.e. buses), medium-duty (MD) trucks and light duty vehicles for operation within an urban environment; - Improving the total cost of ownership (TCO) through better understanding of the impact of fast charging profiles on battery lifetime, sizing, safety, grid reliability and energy- efficiency of the charger-vehicle combination; - Development of next generation modular high-power charging solutions for electrified HD and MD vehicles; - Development of innovative charging management strategies to improve the TCO, the environmental impact, operational cost and the impact on the grid stability from the fleet upscaling point of view; - Demonstration of 6 electrically chargeable HD vehicles (public transport buses), 3 MD trucks (2 refuse collections & 1 delivery truck) and 1 light duty vehicle with automatic fast charging; - Development of interoperable and scalable high power charging solutions among different key European charging solution providers; - Demonstration of energy and cost efficient wireless charging solutions up to 100 kW for an electric light duty vehicle (VAN); - Evaluating the cost, energy efficiency, impact on the grid of the different use cases, noise and environmental impact of the ASSURED solutions; - To actively support the take‐up of business cases and exploitation of project results across Europe of the use cases by partner cities (Barcelona, Osnabruck, Goteborg, Brussels, Jaworzno, Munich, Eindhoven, Bayonne, Madrid) and end users.

The objective of the EBSF_2 project is to validate different innovative solutions that combine efficiency of the bus system with more attractiveness. Such solutions are meant to represent the most innovative in the areas indicated by the Call: the project will proceed to their final validation before their introduction in the market, avoiding pure simulations or large use of prototypes. Following the System Approach, and with the participation of representatives of all key stakeholders categories, these activities will be introduced by the identification of innovation requirements (that will drive the impact assessment), the update of the Bus System Definition (as defined in EBSF). In addition to the impact analysis of the single solutions, the effect of combining key introduction will be evaluated. The “European Bus System of the Future" Roadmap will be updated with areas for further research and priorities linked to the project topics.