BATTERIE Project wins EU Atlantic Area Award
BATTERIE was an EU Atlantic Area project established in January 2012. Its purpose was to improve the cooperation and links between various transport services, within the Atlantic Area region and to promote the application of smart technologies and usage of alternative fuels. The project ran for three years in cooperation with eleven full partners and two associate partners of the Atlantic Area Region, i.e. the UK, Ireland, Scotland, France, Spain and Portugal. The main objective of BATTERIE was to establish the impact of applied smart technologies (e.g. e-Journey Planning) and alternative fuels and to design scenarios and models of changes to policy, behaviour and transnational strategies, to help optimise transnational trips for passengers. Other activities included; screening and modelling the availability, future development, costs and environmental impact of using smart technologies and alternative fuels and establishing pilot networks and demonstration of best practice in this sector.
The Journey Planning Tool
The most significant output was the Web Based Journey Planning Tool. The Journey Planning Tool is the first in the world to be made available to be public, allowing them to plan a journey in an electric vehicle. Journey planning tools exist all over the world now, for people to plan a journey using a car, bus, plane, train and on foot. Until now, electric car owners who wanted to plan their journey would have had to do it manually, either using maps or in ‘real time’ using ‘SatNav’. This takes time, may not be accurate, and does not provide any real-time link with charge points which may not be functioning correctly. The BATTERIE web based Journey Planning Tool is linked to public transport and allows intermodality planning. It allows the driver of an electric vehicle to plan a journey in a matter of seconds. It is also hoped that this will help to alieviate some of the feelings of ‘range anxiety’ which potential buyers have cited as a reason for not purchasing an electric vehicle. It can be seen at www.egomap.eu.
