#2 Future Mobility News & Views

Welcome to the second edition of Future Mobility News & Views, a bi-weekly newsletter rounding up the latest news and developments that have caught my attention from across the EV and Future Mobility industry. I’ll also share a few snippets of what has been happening here at Hyperion Executive Search as we move closer to drawing a close on Q1.

It has been another hectic yet productive couple of weeks. Sadly, whilst I was unable to make the trip across the pond to the EV Charging Summit & Expo which kicks off in Las Vegas today, I did manage to book my trains and hotel for the upcoming Solar & Storage Live Event taking place at the ExCel, London on 29-30th April where I’ll be sharing my experiences as an electric vehicle driver of ~3 years and busting some common misconceptions about EV’s. London or Vegas? I know where I’d rather be! If you’ll be in London too, drop me a message and let’s catch up.

Aside of that, my team and I have been busy doing what we do best – finding exceptional talent for innovative cleantech companies. This past two weeks we’ve successfully closed a series of searches in both UK and Europe with EV Charging OEM’s, Operators and Net Zero enablers. And to add to that, a personal highlight which comes hot on the heels of International Women’s Day 2024 was the successful completion of three searches resulting in not one, not two but three female hires for my clients. Creating diverse workforces isn’t just virtue signalling for us, it is meaningful action and whilst diversity isn’t just about gender, it’s always nice to support more female powerhouses to thrive in our sector and address the imbalance. Not least, creating and building more diverse teams for our clients is hugely beneficial for their productivity and subsequent growth.

And it’s not just our clients we are hiring for. As my colleague David Beeston mentioned in his newsletter (you can subscribe here: https://www.dhirubhai.net/newsletters/energy-storage-news-views-7164232655192997890/) we are also hiring across the team at Hyperion Executive Search. We're looking for experienced 360 consultants who will have the opportunity to take ownership of one of our key sub-sectors either in Energy Storage & Grid or working with myself within our EV & Future Mobility practice. Drop myself or David a message for more information.

So, moving on – What has been happening across the EV and Future Mobility landscape this past fortnight?

Electrification of Trucks & Buses

Well, when looking at the mobility transition away from fossil fuels, the news lately has been dominated by trucks and buses! Where do we start. Firstly, it seems more and more companies are upping their game when it comes to electrifying or should I say decarbonising their fleet. I read that global logistics firm DFDS ordered 100 electric HGV’s from Volvo to almost double its EV fleet whilst Stockholm's public transport company SL announced it will launch three tenders for a total of 380 new electric buses. We then had Renault and XPO Logistics signing a purchase agreement for 165 fully electric lorries whilst Hyundai and Iveco put pen to paper to expand their partnership to cooperate on electric heavy-duty trucks for European markets.

And with all these commercial vehicles, trucks and buses shifting away from ICE, it was great to read about Charging Operator, Milence announcing its first truck charging park in France whilst Bp Pulse went and acquired one of Europe’s largest truck stops to execute on its ambitious plans to help Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) electrify at a location within touching distance of the Eurotunnel, where some 3.5 million HGV’s cross the channel annually.

Hydrogenation of Transport

We then had developments on the Hydrogen front with project ‘HyTruck’ in North-East Germany - a project which combines the expertise of partners from Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Sweden and Finland to establish a transnational network of hydrogen refuelling stations for heavy goods vehicles. The project will serve the Trans-European Transport Network that runs from Rostock via Berlin-Brandenburg, Poznan in Poland, Kaunas in Lithuania and Vidzeme in Latvia to Helsinki in Finland. Impressive but I’m still sceptical on Hydrogen especially considering my city council wasted obscene amounts of money on hydrogen buses which are currently sat out of action at a depot in Liverpool somewhere. What are your thoughts on the hydrogenation of transport? Shall we continue pumping money into it or is investing in electric vehicles, better walking, cycling, public transport infrastructure the better route?

EV Charging Infrastructure

On the EV Charging Infrastructure front, it was fantastic to see the UK Government extending its ￡350 EV Charging Grant to those without off-street parking which will be a huge boost for drivers - particularly those relying on cross pavement charging solutions. It was also great to see Chris Pateman-Jones, CEO of Connected Kerb announced as the new Chair of ChargeUK - the voice of the UK’s EV charging industry. Chris takes over the reins from one of the finest leaders of our industry in Ian Johnston, CEO of Osprey Charging and whilst there are big shoes to fill, I couldn’t think of anyone better placed. Furthermore, with Chris at the helm of ChargeUK, Gill Nowell, who we placed into her most recent role as Principal at AFRY announced her return to the Board of Directors at EVA England – the voice of UK EV drivers. This means we now have two passionate and dedicated industry veterans who will no doubt be a driving force in accelerating the EV transition as we navigate a new phase of electric car uptake, beyond the early adopters and into the mainstream. Great news for the sector.

Financial difficulties rock the sector

Elsewhere, in the not so good news, I read MaaS Global had filed for bankruptcy emphasising the challenges mobility startups are faced with in the search for a viable business model amid the economically challenging and highly competitive landscape that far too often results in mass layoffs. Such a shame.

And it is challenging times for both EV OEM Fisker and remanufacturer and electrifier of passenger, commercial and industrial vehicles, Lunaz Group too who seem to have run into financial difficulty despite some hope for continued investment. Here’s hoping market conditions pick up so Lunaz can resume their programme and Fisker can continue to deliver EV’s to market. For as long as I can remember they seem to have battled with their financial stability so let’s hope they’re thrown another lifeline.

Speaking of lifelines, let’s take a look at my top three deals across the sector…

Deals

Micromobility

Voi raised €22.9M: We know the micromobility space is rather volatile but it was really pleasing to read last week that micromobility operator Voi has raised €22.95M in an oversubscribed round and has gained plenty of traction in new cities. I’m a big fan of micromobility so this is welcome news. The news follows a strong 2023 for Voi who have also won several tenders in various European cities such as London, Vienna, Oslo, Milan, and Marseille.

Shared Mobility

Felyx announces merger with Barcelona’s Cooltra: Amid escalating financial woes, Amsterdam-based felyx, a shared e-moped solutions company, has merged with the Spanish company Cooltra to continue to offer more sustainable two-wheeled mobility to tourists, residents and corporates.

Necture, Austria based provider of AI-supported services for fleet management in the shared electric mobility sector closes its Series A round to continue its mission to support businesses to unlock the full potential of their fleets through its SaaS platform and Charging- as-a-service proposition.

Insights

Here are some of the latest insights from myself and the team from the past couple of weeks...

Why aren’t VCs funding tech to help us adapt to climate change? I love it when a plan comes together! ?(anyone else remember watching the A-Team!!) ?Some time ago I wondered why we in the cleantech ecosystem were afraid to talk about Adaption. Did it mean ?accepting defeat in the mission to...?Read more

Reliability is the key to EV adoption.? As an EV driver of almost three years now, I've barely had to rely on the public charging network given I'm one of the fortunate drivers doing almost all of my charging at home whilst I sleep.?On the few occasions I have needed to charge in...?Read more.?

The beauty of working with cleantech disruptors like About:Energy.? One of the things I love about being an executive search leader in the Cleantech / ClimateTech space is the opportunity to work with truly groundbreaking companies who are inventing incredible new solutions to some of the world's biggest problems....?Read more.?

Can Falling Battery Prices Boost European EV Adoption? There's been a lot of spotlight on European EV adoption in recent months, particularly here in the UK, with high costs often being cited as a key barrier for the everyday driver to switch - particularly those with large families or high-mileage...?Read more

Are MBA's worth it? I came across an interesting article via Sifted which discusses why some investors will only back founders with MBAs and it got me thinking, is an MBA the golden ticket to success?As someone with a Master's degree and a belief ‘every day is a...?Read more

Well, that's it for this edition - I hope you enjoyed reading.

Before I close out, I would like to take a moment to remember and pay tribute to industry pioneer Tim Evans, Founder and CEO of 3ti Energy Hubs who sadly passed away last week. Tim was a true visionary of our sector who led and guided 3ti to emerge as a genuine leader in the renewable energy, battery storage and EV charging sectors. My thoughts are with Tim's family, friends and colleagues during this incredibly sad time. His legacy will live on for sure. Rest in peace.