Last month, a conference was held in Brussels on the future of the powered two-wheeler and the global challenges ahead. organizer was ACEM, the federation of the European motorcycle industry. The subject of the discussion was Vision 2030+, a strategy drawn up by the manufacturers for the future of mobility from 2030, naturally focused on motorcycles. And some interesting things came out of that…
To begin with, the contrast between politics, represented by European Commission deputy Claire Depré and MEP Ismail Ertug, on the one hand, and industry, represented by ACEM and representatives of Honda, BMW, Yamaha and Piaggio, on the other.
Policy makers remain firmly convinced of electricity as the only and absolute solution, with ‘zero emissions’ as the driving force. The motorcycle industry, on the other hand, insists on setting a target in emissions standards, pinning that standard to a date and rigorously sticking to that date, while keeping open the solution that manufacturers can come up with.
Incoherent Policies
The need for an unambiguous and clear policy was mentioned several times by all the producers present. One of the main concerns for manufacturers is that there seems to be no uniformity in the standards chosen, that they also apparently change every two years and that at the local level they are also taking flight on their own. This causes enormous problems for both users and producers.
Opening
Each of the producers present clearly indicated that for them the solution consists of different technological aspects, and that they are also each working on these different facets. For example, where electricity in an urban environment is cited as a feasible solution, it does not seem to be the solution for motorcycle use outside the urban sphere for the time being.
According to Eric de Seynes, CEO of Yamaha Europe, hydrogen and synthetic fuels still need to be considered as a possible part of the total solution; but an opening has to be reserved for this from a political angle. According to De Seynes, what may work in the automotive sector cannot be transferred one-to-one to motorcycles: for example, you cannot just put a few hundred kilograms of batteries in a motorcycle, because it works completely differently from a car – there is to start with, a lot less ‘storage space’.
Nice personal transport: a basic right
He was joined by Michele Colaninno, CEO of Immsi, the group that Piaggio manages. Although Piaggio has reached an agreement with KTM, Honda and Yamaha to develop interchangeable batteries that can be used in each of those brands, according to Colaninno, electricity is not the absolute solution; Piaggio is also still looking at the possibilities of hydrogen and e-fuels. In addition, Colaninno subtly pointed out that mobility is more than transporting people from A to B; can it still be fun? Eric de Seynes picked up on that: can personal transport be preserved as a basic right in the future, because according to him that does not seem to be an issue for policymakers.
Employment is a hot topic
The political interlocutors continued to insist on lower emissions (including possible zero tolerance) and seemed unresponsive to the industry’s demand for uniform regulations to be drawn up and enforced. It was only when producers raised the potential catastrophic impact on employment in all surrounding sectors that there seemed to be some degree of nervousness among European delegates. Their response was that ’employment must of course also be taken care of in the future of mobility’.
Once again Michele Colaninno stated with a firm understatement that tomorrow his company could invest many billions in one technology, only to have to close the whole thing the next day; either because the politicians are once again changing the policy, or because that one technology would not turn out to be the right long-term solution. The manufacturers therefore keep repeating that it is important not to put all eggs in one basket.
League
It was Dr. Markus Schramm, CEO of BMW, who proposed to allow competition between the manufacturers. In other words: let the brands free in their search for solutions, let their engineers think and experiment freely. In this way, other or improved solutions may emerge, rather than focusing on electricity as the only solution.
Collaboration
In conclusion, the European delegates were asked to set up a collaboration between European policymakers, so that regulations and standards can be drawn up in consultation with each other that everyone can agree with. ACEM Director General Antonio Perlot also mentioned that a solution must also be found for the millions of vehicles that are currently driving around in Europe, but also in 2030 or 2050. Getting the emissions of those vehicles down is a challenge, and that solution lies in the switch to/application of e-fuels rather than electricity, Perlot concluded.
To be continued, no doubt…
Text Pieter Ryckaert Photography ACEM
The full article will appear in the 2022 January issue of Motorcyclist
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