For the sixth year in a row, electric mobility specialist Hubject brought together the most important players from the mobility, energy, and technology sectors at its own intercharge network conference (icnc) in early June 2018.

This year, more than 1,000 international participants from corporations, start-ups, science, politics, associations, and the media made their way to Berlin, which as a city itself is a showcase for digitalized mobility. The event’s slogan was “Two Days to Reinvent the Way We Move,” and against this backdrop, experts from three continents discussed the future of mobility. From electric mobility to autonomous driving, the connected car, and intelligent energy management systems – the conference’s range of topics grew significantly this year, reflecting the market’s tremendous growth.

“The technology will only be fully accepted when a car can drive autonomously in cities like Paris.”

– Lior Sethon, Mobileye, an Intel Company

Lior Sethon of Mobileye, an Intel Company and the market leader for autonomous driving, gave the opening keynote. Lior spoke about the rapid development of autonomous vehicles and the associated opportunities and risks. In his view, autonomous vehicles do not necessarily need a constant mobile internet connection, as many say is a requirement. Instead, the cars can operate independently and based on hyper-accurate maps.

Dr. Hang Yin of the State Grid Corporation of China – the world’s largest energy supplier – offered an in-depth look at his country, which is leading the world in the field of electric mobility. State Grid and other players are hard at work on expanding China’s charging infrastructure, and aim to achieve charging station coverage of 88 percent by 2020.

“By 2020, charging stations will cover 88% of the market in China.”

– Dr. Hang Yin, State Grid Corporation of China

Zhuomin Zhu, the CEO of Shanghai PowerShare which is a leading designer of charging solutions for the Electric Vehicle market, told the whole China charging market and defined the eMobility charging service platform for the future in China.

“Innovative charging solutions for your eMobility with PowerShare.”

– Mr. Zhu, Shanghai PowerShare

In the event’s final talk, Jan Aengenvoort from Next Kraftwerke, Andrei Rotaru from EnergiMine, and Val Miftakhov from eMotorWerks shed some light on what the world of energy would be like in the future, with aspects like trading green energy via blockchain, efficient grid utilization thanks to virtual power plants, and smart charging. Functional approaches already exist for many of these. However, it quickly became clear that there is more to a true transformation than just technology – without a progressive regulatory framework and profitable business models, the energy revolution isn’t going to work out.

Summary

The intercharge network conference (icnc) 2018 was a great success, and not just in terms of the numbers. With over 1,000 participants, it is the world’s largest conference on eMobility. The event once again resulted in numerous thought-provoking ideas and inspirations for the market. The term “Digital Mobility” has not yet fully been brought to life, however. The industry is traveling down an exciting path. The next progress report will be available no later than at the icnc 2019 in Berlin.