On February 19, iCET president Dr. Feng An was invited to the workshop on “Prospects for Global Truck Electrification and Autonomy and New Delivery Models” at the Columbia University in New York, USA.
Attendees of this invitation-only workshop are experts on these topics and include representatives from think tanks, academia, government, manufacturers, companies, consultants and NGOs, including U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, NYC, the Columbia University, the University of California, Davis, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, BCG, BP, Daimler, Ford, Shell, Toyota etc.
The workshop held a deep and wide discussion on trends of global truck electrification and automation, as well as focused on scenarios of how these trends will have profound influence on global energy demand. Specifically, a series of lectures were given to discuss the pace and timing of electrification and automation, the use of alternative fuels (e.g., hydrogen, LNG) for heavy duty trucks and the potential for new freight delivery models. Topics covered different types of trucks, including medium duty/urban delivery trucks, heavy duty/long-haul trucks and buses, and included a deep dive on China. iCET president Dr. Feng An gave a speech under the topic of “Focus on China: Electrification of Trucks and Buses”, sharing his ideas on EV penetration and policy drivers.