The Propulsion Québec team took part in several flagship industry events this fall. It accompanied cluster members there while taking the opportunity to raise awareness of the Quebec ecosystem among the global players in electric and smart transportation.
The Propulsion Québec team took part in several flagship industry events this fall. It accompanied cluster members there while taking the opportunity to raise awareness of the Quebec ecosystem among the global players in electric and smart transportation.
This participation resulted in beneficial meetings for the cluster and the participating companies. Tangible positive results have already begun to be recorded.
First stop, Copenhagen in Denmark for a must-attend annual event: ITS World Congress 2018. The world's largest gathering of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) was an excellent networking opportunity for Propulsion Québec and the Quebec companies present, notably with major European and North American players in the industry.
Holding this year's edition in Copenhagen, a city recognized as a pioneer in active mobility, gave rise to rich discussions on the importance of integrating ITS in a sustainable development context and of building technologies that will allow people to access a wide variety of mobility services, which must be efficient, affordable and environmentally friendly.
The Copenhagen event format allowed participants to hold privileged B2B meetings and interviews with numerous companies and organizations in the ITS world. Several participants thus left with new business relationships or excellent leads for further discussions.
Finally, the networking event offered by Jakarto and organized by Propulsion Québec, in the presence of Canada's ambassador to Denmark, Emi Furuya, was a resounding success.
The next major global ITS meeting will take place in Singapore from October 21 to 25, 2019 (26th ITS World Congress – Singapore 2019.
Second stop: Asia, where we joined the Export Québec team and a delegation of Quebec companies for a two-week mission in China and Japan.
The first part of this mission took place in China and was characterized by an impressive number of meetings with leading (C-Level) actors, including the executives of the major automotive groups BAIC BJEV, the electric vehicle subsidiary of BAIC Group (Beijing Automotive Group) and SAIC Motor (Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation).
In addition, Propulsion Québec had the opportunity to present the ecosystem to the leaders of key organizations in the development of electric and smart transportation in China, such as the China Automotive Technology and Reseach Center Co.,Ltd (CATARC) and the National New Energy Vehicle Technology Innovation Center (NEVC). Meetings with start-up tech companies also took place in Beijing and Shanghai, notably.
The Chinese portion of the mission also included a visit to the country's testing center, the National Intelligent Connected Vehicle Pilot Zone in Shanghai. An incredible complex, the size of a real city!
In sum, all the visits and privileged meetings enabled the delegation to very well grasp the extraordinary and gigantic scope of the Chinese market. A growing number of Chinese own electric vehicles, which explains why the market is developing so rapidly. Furthermore, the Chinese have already achieved convincing results regarding the impact that transportation electrification has on improving the climate in this part of the world. One last interesting fact to note: electric vehicles produced by Chinese manufacturers already have impressive range capabilities compared to others.
Third stop: the Japan , where the delegation met several large manufacturers and companies of the country: Calsonic Kansei, Mitsubishi Motors, Nissan Motor Corporation, Toyota. Propulsion Québec established very good contacts there that can serve the cluster members. Additionally, interestingly, Japanese companies showed a lot of interest in the advancement of technologies related to batteries and electrification more broadly.
This mission in Asia allowed us to make several observations :
- All of the companies operating in the industry are essentially at the same level of development. Everyone is engaged in a race that will solve the most complex problems we face, but regardless of whether one is in China, Japan or Quebec, R&D must continue and is at the heart of our ability to stand out in the future.
- While the Chinese and the Japanese have state-of-the-art facilities to carry out tests in a controlled environment, it should be noted that very few autonomous vehicle tests seem to be conducted on public roads in these two countries. Both in China and in Japan, companies experience great difficulties testing their products on open roads;
- There is unanimity on the choice of electric. Everyone uses the CASE concept and all agree that tomorrow's mobility will not only be electric, but also shared.
Any direct results already?
As we had barely returned from Asia, the leaders of BJEV and the National New Energy Vehicle Technology Innovation Center (NEVC) recognized the extraordinary potential of Quebec and its companies and researchers and they flew to Montreal to present their open innovation project with the aim of attracting participating companies, individuals, and researchers
This is therefore a concrete result of the mission organized by Export Québec of MESI in close collaboration with the Investissement Québec team. A great success we can all be proud of
Fourth and final stop : the Waterloo region in Ontario!
As part of the AutoTech Symposium event, held on October 10, Propulsion Québec led a delegation of Quebec companies to Stratford and Waterloo, in a region of Ontario now recognized as a hub for research and experiments in intelligent mobility. Lasting two days, this mission included a visit to the Test track of Stratford, which was very impressive, as well as visits to local technology companies.
The evening Quebec Smart Transportation Cocktail presented by Leddartech allowed members of the delegation to network and meet the main players in the region.
As we had hoped, this mission offered excellent opportunities for connections between Quebec and Ontario, both for companies and for research organizations and institutions. In addition, the strong presence of Quebec companies as exhibitors at AutoTech Symposium (50%) offered very good visibility for the members of Propulsion Québec.
