For Siemens, this is a special kind of home game: with the motto #MoveToTransform, the company is exhibiting at IAA Mobility 2021, taking place for the first time in Munich, the capital of Bavaria and Siemens' hometown. As a focused technology company, Siemens presents a holistic approach to today's and future mobility. The focus is on how the real and digital worlds are combined in technical products and digital solutions to make industry, infrastructure, and transportation smarter, more efficient, and more sustainable.
"The transition to e-mobility is already in full swing - with our know-how, we help the automotive industry accelerate this transformation even further. Our common goal is to put electric cars on the roads faster, more efficiently, and more sustainably. Only with state-of-the-art automation and digitalization solutions can we achieve this goal. Siemens offers a unique portfolio in this regard. I look forward to seeing many electric vehicles at IAA Mobility that also carry a fair share of Siemens DNA," said Cedrik Neike, member of the Managing Board of Siemens AG and CEO of Digital Industries.
Electric vehicles are charged worldwide using various Siemens charging solutions adapted to needs. However, high-performance smart grids are also essential for safe, economical, and ecological operation. In this regard, Siemens contributes decades of experience and global expertise. With its diverse solutions for electromobility, the company is a strong partner for original equipment manufacturers, electricity suppliers, fleet operators, companies, cities, and end customers.
"Electromobility is one of the most important pillars of post-pandemic green recovery. We work with customers, partners, and governments to ensure the necessary charging infrastructure exists to accelerate its success," said Matthias Rebellius, member of the Managing Board of Siemens AG and CEO of Smart Infrastructure. "With our comprehensive portfolio, which includes hardware and software, we enable charging to be seamlessly integrated into existing infrastructure. Our portfolio is complemented by our digital solutions that support energy efficiency and decarbonization."
Achieving a sustainable mobility mix is particularly important for Siemens, as emphasized by Karl Blaim, CEO of Siemens Mobility: "Urbanization causes traffic volume to continue growing, and at the same time, we aim to significantly reduce CO2 emissions. For this reason, intelligent connectivity of transportation means is important. Road and rail are seamlessly interconnected, and rail, as the most sustainable means of transport, will form the backbone of future mobility. With the help of digital technologies, Siemens Mobility increases rail capacity, efficiency, and comfort, intelligent Mobility-as-a-Service solutions perfectly connect rail services with other means of transport, and hydrogen and battery-powered trains complete carbon-neutral rail transport where overhead electric lines are not viable."
Simulation startup Simulytic opens new business domains
Driven by disruptive technologies, the mobility sector is changing at a faster pace than ever. Contributing to this trend, the Munich-based technology company presents Simulytic, a newly established Siemens venture, at IAA Mobility. The internal startup, led by Andrea Kollmorgen, focuses on accelerating the large-scale implementation of autonomous mobility. Simulytic aims to use simulation to create insight into the impact and safety of autonomous driving. Specifically, the goal is to ensure that transparency is a permanent part of the risk profiles of autonomous vehicles everywhere. Simulytic already applies Siemens' expertise in simulating complex and automated systems and using artificial intelligence in safety-critical applications. Its mastery of technologies used in autonomous vehicles enables the enterprise to make competitive, comprehensive, and independent assessments of incident probabilities, traffic flow changes and congestion patterns, effects of weather and road conditions, and many other localized factors. Based on this expertise, Simulytic creates added value for clients, such as insurance companies, helping them understand the risk potential generated by increasingly automated road traffic and thus develop appropriate products, set correct prices, and create efficient business strategies for a future with autonomous vehicles.
Automation facilitates charging access
Siemens develops answers to the numerous questions raised by the increasing automation of the mobility industry. For example, who will connect the charger to the socket when an autonomous car has found an available space by itself? Alongside its comprehensive product portfolio for charging infrastructure, Siemens also presents the latest innovations for charging all types of electric vehicles. Among these innovations is the Siemens autonomous charging system, which enables fully automated charging of electric vehicles, from sports cars to heavy-duty trucks. The prototype presented for the first time at IAA Mobility has a charging capacity of up to 300 kW and will be scaled up to over 1 MW in a later development stage. With this high capacity, electric trucks can be charged during the driver's mandatory break. However, the necessary charging cables are too heavy for people to connect themselves. To master this challenge as well, a robot designed by Siemens can handle the difficult task of charging heavy-load vehicles. To test the Siemens autonomous charging system under real conditions and finalize its development, Siemens collaborates with Einride AB, a leading developer of autonomous and electric transport systems. In this test, an autonomous truck was, for the first time, powered by an autonomous fast-charging system. Other applications for the new charging system can be conceived: the Siemens autonomous charging system can also manage the charging process for people with physical limitations.
Siemens promotes inclusive infrastructure development
The vision of autonomous and electric driving has great potential to enable more inclusive mobility. However, currently, there are almost no requirements or standards - such as specifications in tenders for charging infrastructure expansion - that help people with reduced mobility operate and charge electric vehicles. Verein Sozialhelden e.V. (a public service association) and Siemens collaborate in this regard and meet for a workshop at IAA. As part of its campaign, Siemens also collaborates with prominent activist Raul Krauthausen, who has worked for years with Verein Sozialhelden e.V. to promote barrier-free mobility. Questions to be discussed in the workshop include: How can electric car charging stations be designed to be barrier-free? How can sockets be accessed? And how can blind people, who will one day travel in self-driving electric vehicles, pay for charging current?
"I dream of mobility that offers equal accessibility for people everywhere," said Raul Krauthausen. "Smart cities, smart infrastructure, smart public transport for everyone, including those with disabilities, must become the norm."
Siemens' collaboration with the founder of Verein Sozialhelden e.V. is an essential part of the #MoveToTransform campaign advocating for future-oriented mobility transformation. Siemens has also engaged eight Mobility Movers, who work with great commitment on mobility transformation in various initiatives, projects, and professional activities. Among the eight people are Alex Bangula, who shares his e-mobility experiences on his YouTube channel; automotive industry manager Dr. Nari Kahle, who engages in social innovations in mobility; Giovane Élber, former football player and brand ambassador of FC Bayern Munich football club; and Anita Mathieu, who develops intelligent traffic control solutions. The company's key message is that everyone can contribute to achieving sustainable and future-oriented mobility.
The company has placed 3D images of the eight Mobility Mover ambassadors on the charging infrastructure installed for Blue Lane Road. Activated through a QR code, Mobility Movers tell visitors on their mobile devices about their personal commitment to future mobility and show them face-to-face that change is possible. Located in front of Siemens' headquarters at Wittelsbacherplatz, this interactive offering is an interactive way to get people more involved in future-oriented mobility. Because Siemens collaborates here with Pavegen company to establish a direct connection between people and energy. Assisted by Siemens software, visitors can convert the energy of a single step into two to five joules. When IAA Mobility concludes, the energy accumulated by all registered visitors will be converted into a monetary donation for the benefit of Verein Sozialhelden e.V.
Siemens is the official charging infrastructure partner for Blue Lane Road at IAA Mobility 2021
IAA Mobility offers visitors a perspective on the future of electromobility. The speed of sector transformation will be strongly influenced by the development of necessary charging infrastructure. Blue Lane Road - a 12-kilometer transfer and testing route connecting the exhibition grounds to the fair's open exhibition spaces in downtown Munich - will offer visitors a tangible sense of mobility. Sixteen electric buses and approximately 250 electric cars from 20 different manufacturers will be powered with electricity on this route daily. As the official charging infrastructure partner for Blue Lane Road, Siemens has installed 68 charging stations with a total capacity of 3.6 MW at Blue Lane Road's starting point.
Digital enterprise for the automotive industry
Siemens offers a comprehensive portfolio of solutions consisting of industrial software, automation, and services tailored to the specific requirements of the automotive industry. This portfolio combines the real and digital worlds. The solutions provide manufacturers with the flexibility and efficiency needed to sustainably respond to increasingly diverse customer needs and growing demand for electronic automobiles. In particular, creating digital twins in the automotive industry offers tangible benefits: it can significantly reduce the number of prototypes needed during automobile development. Additionally, using production data increases quality by identifying and eliminating potential quality problems at an early stage.
Everything about the latest Siemens technologies at the fair and in IAA Studio
Siemens presents charging infrastructure, charging management systems, and visionary concepts for the future of charging. Fair visitors can attend presentations and participate in discussions about mobility transformation at the Siemens IAA Studio at Wittelsbacherplatz. All presentations can be followed on the company's website: www.siemens.com/iaa.