"We are a business platform that will bring together 6,000 professionals in B2B meetings"

After its premiere in 2023, the eMobility Expo World Congress aims to consolidate itself as a key event in mobility and sustainable transport, extending its congress and exhibition offer to new areas such as hydrogen, as the director of the event, Jesús Haro, explains.

AutoRevista.-  After last year's premiere, what are the main objectives of the second edition of eMobility Expo World Congress to consolidate the event as a benchmark in integral mobility?

Jesús Haro.-  Sustainable mobility is generating a new GDP. We are designing and creating a new economy from many industries that we have to bring together. We are talking about the automotive sectors, new decarbonisation energies. We are talking about the connected and autonomous car, smart cities, new opportunities for which we have created this business platform, which we say we want to be the new Davos of sustainable mobility. To create all this new reality we also need the public administration and companies with all the relevant leading consumer manufacturers that will be present at this second eMobility Expo World Congress. From city councils to fleet managers, we are going to reach all kinds of professionals who want to know where a multi-sector industry is heading from a perspective that, in the case of mobility, ranges from electric vehicles to different forms of energy.

In short, at this time of great change, we want to contribute to Spain taking advantage of and promoting the huge amount of talent that exists to lead the new technological and sustainable transition. We are this business platform that will allow both private industry and public administration to come together and generate B2B business by welcoming 6,000 professionals who come to buy solutions for electric and connected cars, drones, energy such as BP, Iberdrola, Cepsa or Repsol. Also the Public Administrations to tell us where they are investing, how they are using the Next Generation Funds, the situation of PERTE II of the electric and connected vehicle... an ecosystem of change and investment, in which we all have to agree and work together. The Spanish market is very dynamic and very talented, and this is something that sets us apart in terms of our ability to adapt to times of change.

AR.- What is the specific weight of the automotive and mobility industry, both in terms of participants in the Congress and in terms of the public in which there are decision-makers from these sectors? Have there been any interactions with sectoral associations such as ANFAC or SERNAUTO or clusters such as AVIA?

J.H.- With AVIA, we have a special agreement because it is a leading association in the Valencian Community. We also have a close relationship with F3 (Future fast Forward) of the Volkswagen Group, with CLEPA, the European association of automotive suppliers, The eMobility Expo World Congress is made for them as a driving force in the industry and they see us as a partner. We are going to have the best sustainable mobility congress in Europe and the best hydrogen congress in Europe. We mobilise this agenda by adding these associations and companies that help us so much to have these 6,000 professionals present at B2B meetings with valuable recommendations.

The eMobility Expo World Congress is made for companies and industry associations that see us as a partner

AR.- What added value will the incorporation of the Hydrogen Congress bring?

J,H.- Hydrogen technology, an easily accessible material, is a reality in everything to do with the decarbonisation of industry. With its transport and storage requirements, it does not generate greenhouse gases, with a very definite focus on green hydrogen, generated by renewable energies. In its projection to different industries, we are going to present BP's very interesting project with the tile industry in Valencia to decarbonise with proximity solutions. In terms of vehicle propulsion energy, Toyota believes that this will be its energy model in the medium term and for the future, facing, like other players, the challenge of storage capacity, the compression of which will evolve a lot in the coming years. 

AR.- Although in the previous edition an event was organised for batteries with the involvement of the Valencian Battery Alliance and Eurobat, how will the evolution of this component be approached from a specific point of view in the 2024 edition?

J.H.- We continue to collaborate with Eurobat and the Alianza Valenciana de Baterías (AVB), which has a leading testing centre in Europe. The AVB and the Energy Technology Institute (ITE) have great know-how in the Valencian Community and this is one of the reasons why the rMobility Expo World Congress is held in Valencia. In addition to Ford, which is a global giant, in Valencia there are new generations of companies that have developed innovative projects and have managed to scale globally. It is a hub of sustainability and an ecosystem of innovation in transport in its different modalities, with an opportunity to do something from Valencia for the world, taking into account its forthcoming status as European Green Capital, as well as the Volkswagen Group's battery gigafactory project through PowerCo. 

Valencia is a hub of sustainability and an ecosystem of innovation in transport in its different modalities

AR.- The Congress continues to pay specific attention to start-ups.

J.H.- We are encountering an amazing start-up network. We are working with La Salle University, which helps us to select the startups that participate in the event.  We have startups specialising in hydrogen, communication systems, aerialisation, drones, which in four or five years will ramp up to become consolidated companies. We believe that there is a lot of talent in all start-ups, founded by engineers, with a high degree of training and advancing very successfully.

AR.- What impact do you expect from the eMobility Innovation Awards?

J,H.- We have a specific Steering Committee that analyses each of the applications we receive and once they have been analysed, they are passed on to a jury that will determine the best sustainable innovation projects in six categories, including one for hydrogen. In 2023, there were excellent examples such as Zeleros' Hyperloop hyperloop project. It is a process that is very careful because the companies that apply are of great value and for us as well as for the startups it is a differential moment of recognition for projects that are on the right track and recognised by experts in the industry.

Lea esta entrevista en castellano

Interview published in AutoRevista 2.387