Theme Tour 'Smart Vehicles' at LogiVille looks ahead to smart and ecological transportation of goods

On April 29, 2024, Log!Ville in Niel was the place to be for entrepreneurs and logistics professionals. After all, that day was the exclusive avant-premiere of the Theme Tour 'Smart Vehicles'. The participants were introduced to inspiring cases of smart and sustainable goods transport. A number of experts also spoke about this theme. 

Have you already participated in a logistics innovation tour within Log!Ville? Definitely do, because during these unique tours, Innovation Ambassadors from the Niel Innovation Center guide you through the logistics future in our region, focusing on groundbreaking technologies in the areas of sustainability, connectivity, digitalization and circularity.

From April 29 to June 27, 2024, you can visit Log!Ville for the new Theme Tour "Smart Vehicles. What innovations will radically transform road transport in the coming years? How can smart transport be a solution to an acute shortage of drivers? And with which concrete projects are Flemish and foreign market players doing their bit? You will hear it during the Theme Tour.

Green light for digital innovation

Autonomous driving, safety and measurement sensors, telematics hardware, battery-electric silent deliveries, apps for economical driving ... Anno 2024 is hard at work on ways to future-proof trucks and vans. The event at Log!Ville started with several compact keynote presentations. Sven Vlassenroot, Domain Lead Connected Cooperative & Automated Mobility (CCAM) at imec, outlined how digital innovation is becoming a success factor for road transporters and their consultants. Drawing on the many challenges in the sector - from volatile fuel prices over disrupted supply chains to stricter (sustainability) legislation - he presented some inspiring projects. For example, Waste-to-Wheels is betting on converting urban waste to hydrogen, and the German E-Highway project is turning classic trucks into electrically powered trolleybuses. Finally, the CCAM (Connected Cooperative and Autonomous Mobility) project is creating a setting for freight vehicles to communicate and work together. 

Toward autonomous urban logistics

Domien Stubbe and Sven Geysels, both project leaders at VIL, explained how autonomous vehicles are currently being tested in urban logistics, and how sustainable freight transport is gaining momentum.

During the summer of 2022, the city of Mechelen experimented with a self-driving shuttle on public roads in the Mechelen-North industrial zone. Under the project name ULaaDS (Urban Logistics as an on-Demand Service), researchers combined passenger and parcel transport.
This European project in cooperation with bpost and Easymile, among others, fits into Mechelen's mission to make all deliveries zero-emission by 2030. The Flemish Minister of Mobility and Public Works wants to roll out additional test projects in Flanders to facilitate this innovative form of transport.

The advance of sustainable freight transport is unstoppable. Driven by the Paris Climate Accord (2015) and the European Green Deal, CO₂-emissions from heavy transport in the EU by 45% by 2030, and by 90% by 2040. These targets open the door to battery-electric (freight) vehicles, from regional transport to "last mile delivery" in urban environments. With innovative projects such as solar panels on trailers or battery optimization - with energy density increasing by 80% over the past decade - the prospects are promising. 

In cooperation with the VUB, VIL developed the TCO tool Logibat that provides insight into the Total Cost of Ownership of a battery-electric truck compared to a diesel vehicle. 

Inspiring group tour

Following the keynotes, the partners of this Theme Tour had the opportunity to briefly demonstrate their sustainable project. A tour of the Log!Ville building highlighted some clever projects, such as DAF Trucks' Efficiency Champion XG, DHL's very latest e-cargobike and electric delivery truck, Goodyear's automated tire monitoring and analysis, and NEXTdriver's driving behavior coach app.