The most prominent mobility challenges the automotive industry is facing

“First of all, it is important to realize that the automotive and the mobility sector are coming together more and more, as you can also see in the Automotive Week from 16-19 April 2023. The automotive sector no longer is “just” engineering and producing vehicles, but it is about the vehicle within the mobility system as part of the transition towards a safe, sustainable and smart mobility system. This transition is also the focus in the automotive week: connected, automated and zero emission coming together. The automation part is more coming to a realistic level. Level 5 automation always and everywhere is not realistic for the coming years, but the digitalisation will have a huge impact in the future. In the Automotive Week we address this Tuesday 17 April with the theme: “Mobility in the Digital Society”.

The way towards zero emission on the other hand is going much faster than many would have expected a few years ago. The main problem will not be in the vehicles, but in the charging infrastructure and grid capacity and balancing. These subjects are addressed on the program on Wednesday 19^th April: Mobility in a Zero Emission Future. Finally we need the right skills for realizing the transition in the automotive sector. The future automotive sector requires other skills and talents compared to some decades ago. Accounting for 7% of total EU employment, the auto industry provides direct and indirect jobs to more than 13 million Europeans. For all these people, a big transition is coming up. All this will be part of the discussions during the Automotive Week 2023.”

How do you think the automotive industry will evolve in a digital age like this? And how do keep pace with all these digital developments?

“First a zero-emission future is a fact and something the automotive sector is prepared and very much willing to contribute to. I believe the automotive sector has changed very rapidly to deal with this challenge. Charging infrastructure however still is a real challenge. Directives from the EU to have a minimum number of charging stations in the public space are very helpful, but I still foresee some challenges ahead especially in the built environment in existing neighbourhoods.

Secondly automation, especially to level 5: Let’s go back to reality and start with the quick wins: using the technology to make vehicles safer and more efficient, without aiming at level 5 in the next coming years. ISA to me is a good example. And let’s focus at the most interesting use cases, such as last-mile shuttles or vehicle automation in (semi)-closed environments, such as ports. We still have many deployment barriers to face, one of them of course being cybersecurity. In the Automotive week demos on yard automation will be demonstrated by DAF Trucks and TNO.

Finally we have to deal with the issue of car ownership. It is becoming clear that all households having one or two cars, is not sustainable in the long run. Concepts like car sharing, shared mobility in general, will become more and more available and accepted by car users. This also will change the business models for the automotive sector.

With the advent of the European Green Deal the future of traffic demands lots of smart and sustainable solutions. How does the Dutch automotive industry play a role in this transition towards smart and sustainable solutions?

“We have to maintain the good private/public cooperation in the Netherlands. Industry, public authorities, universities, the research sector are all working together. The Netherlands is a leading country when it is about new technologies. Starting with the Telescope in 1608, and later with inventions like WiFi, Bluetooth and with the most complex machines on earth produced by ASML. Our pioneering role is needed in the global transitions of the automotive and mobility industry: we will create the technologies to keep the Dutch sector strong, agile and future proof and help solving global challenges!

We should however be more active again acting as “Testbed the Netherlands”. Concrete pilots and demos are needed between R&D and large-scale deployment. The Netherlands had the reputation to be front-runner and pioneer. I am afraid we could lose this position, we are missing the “learning by doing “spirit a bit in recent years. Also for this reason, “ seeing is believing, The Automotive Week is not just a congress, but we have many live demos running during the event; And maybe most important is to invest in education & research, in the next generation professionals. Education programmes at all levels reflecting and understanding the trends in the mobility and automotive sector.  We have to provide the next generation with the right skills to make the future safe, smart and sustainable.”

“Given the ‘war on talent’, the current labour market situation and the link to “EU Year of Skills”, we decided it would be useful  to have in this year’s edition a Talent Fair as a start of the Automotive Week 2023 on Sunday 16 April. It will be a real Meet and Match between companies and organisations looking for talent, mainly students and young professionals. Professional talent scouts will be present. But also a very interesting side-programme is scheduled with workshops, many demos of industry but also of student teams from all over the Netherlands. Nice to mention is the KIVI-award Ceremony for the best Student Team. This Sunday is all about the next generation automotive and mobility professionals. Those are the ones shaping their own smart, safe and sustainable future!”