Transport Economist
Company cars in Belgium are used as a way to save on wage taxes by the companies, because they are taxed differently to the wages. A company car has become a part of a standard salary package, and it has been like that for years. Politicians who want to change that are facing voter backlash, so nothing changes.
A recent article from Forbes about the situation in Belgium reminds this the issue.
In 2018 CharIN started work on the new megawatt charging system and recently come out with a new standard that is capable to deliver over 1MW of power to heavy duty electric vehicles like trucks, buses, ships, agricultural and industrial machines. The standard uses a new connector that is capable of handling the high current, but the same ISO 15118 communications protocol that the currently popular CCS protocol uses. This video gives an insight:
More information can be found here: https://www.charin.global/technology/mcs/
I stumbled on a video that might be of interest for railway aficionados.
It shows the state and struggles of railways in Ukraine these days. And underlines the importance of a functioning transport system for the country.
Lately I hear a lot of whining that fuel prices are skyrocketing, while the largest majority of cars sold still use petrol or diesel.
I think it is time to stop whining and start thinking and acting. FOD Economie have made a nice image to spark thinking.
I have been driving an electric car for the last 7 years and can confirm that it is really much cheaper. By the way, I have managed to reduce the electicity cost for running my car by 75% (compared to what is shown) by installing solar panels on the roof of my house.
Image translation: Cost of driving a car 100km by fuel type, estimation for Q2 2022.
A colleague and I were interviewed by Kanaal Z, a business news channel in Belgium, about our research on catenary trucks.
You can view the video here: https://kanaalz.knack.be/nieuws/zijn-vrachtwagens-met-bovenleiding-de-oplossing/video-normal-1847753.html
I was interviewed by ATV for a piece on catenary electric trucks.
You can watch the piece here: https://atv.be/nieuws/rijden-vrachtwagens-binnenkort-zoals-trams-elke-euro-verdien-je-8-keer-terug-135929
Lately electric car fires have been on the news a lot. I think the coverage is biased: if we look at statistics from insurance providers in the US, electric cars burn 61 times less often than regular gas cars.
…on our study of catenary electric road system for Flanders has been published.
You can read it here:
https://trends.knack.be/economie/magazine/een-tramlijn-voor-vrachtwagens/article-normal-1838117.html
Ziegler, the same company that is experimenting with large cargo bikes here in Brussels, has announced that it is planning to bring self-driving vans of Udelv to Brussels.
The driverless vans will be electric and monitored remotely. Like it is shown in the photo, the van is split into compartments. And each compartment has a hatch, which can be opened by the customer with a QR code.
The tests are said to start in a closed area at Zieglers Welkenraedt site later this year. But for a wider deployment new legislation in Belgium on the federal level will be required.
If this works in Brussels, it is a path for cleaner and cheaper deliveries. It would be exciting to see those vans on the streets.
Today I participated in a discussion organised by the Ministry of Transport on the development of electric charging infrastructure for trucks.
I presented a short summary of the solutions for the electrification of heavy goods vehicles, talking not only about stationary charging, but also about power supply in motion.
You can watch the video here: