Tantalum recognised as leading connected vehicle innovator by UK Government and is awarded £1m grant by Innovate UK and the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles.
Tantalum Corporation, together with Imperial College London, perfect work to develop real-time NOx emissions estimation capability giving local authorities the ability to implement dynamic road charging based on actual vehicle emissions in a smarter, cheaper and fairer way.
“It is our belief that companies, local authorities and citizens all want to help clean up the air we breathe” says Ozgur Tohumcu, Tantalum’s CEO. “Through Tantalum’s solution and unique patents, we are within reach of this goal. Imagine your vehicle giving you routes that avoid sensitive areas such as schools while rewarding you financially for driving in a manner that saves fuel and reduces emissions. Your vehicle then automatically pays specific emissions charges based on where, when and how you drive. We are working with Imperial College and cities around the world to make this vision a reality. We are delighted to have been awarded the Innovate UK grant, as it confirms Tantalum’s place as the leading connected vehicle innovator and reinforces Tantalum’s vision to put our automotive and data science expertise towards improving everyone’s quality of life. We look forward to making this a reality.”
The £1m grant was awarded to Tantalum by Innovate UK, the UK Government’s innovation agency, to develop real-time NOx emissions estimation capability. The ability to correlate real-time emissions data with location, driver behaviour and time information will create new opportunities for city planners and individuals alike to reduce their vehicle’s environmental impact.
Tantalum already has real-time CO2 emissions estimation capabilities, protected by a suite of patents.
NOx emissions lead to NO2, a poisonous gas that irritates the lungs and affects children’s lung development. Towns and cities across the UK have dangerous levels of NO2 significantly over legally allowed limits, with streets in London breaking annual limits within a week. Air pollution is a global problem with increasing urbanisation and congestion pushing it to the top of the agenda for major cities around the world.
The UK Government is soon to publish its new action plan to improve air quality with an expected increased number of Clean Air Zones around the country. Once developed Tantalum’s Air.Car services will be able to help deliver the emissions reductions required in a smarter, cheaper and fairer way than some of the blunter instruments proposed.
World-leading engineering university Imperial College London will assist in developing and verifying Tantalum’s ability to accurately estimate NOx emissions. Once completed, Tantalum’s system will help to reduce CO2 and NOx emissions, saving drivers fuel and maintenance costs while hugely reducing the environmental impact of their vehicles. Tantalum’s real-time CO2 emissions product has already helped customers save an average of 15% in fuel costs through better driving and this could also reduce NOx emissions by up to 50%.
Tantalum’s solution can be connected to any vehicle’s on-board computer. Combining the emissions data streams with the vehicle’s location and driver behaviour will inform drivers and public authorities of the real environmental impact of individual vehicles. The solution will deliver the ability to enforce a genuinely dynamic road charging scheme based on actual vehicle emissions: fairer and cheaper than the blunt instruments currently being proposed, which rely on blanket camera coverage and do not motivate better driving.
A major part of Tantalum’s Air.Car project is a 1,000 vehicle trial starting in autumn, to test and fine tune the solution. Tantalum is recruiting businesses from the public and commercial sectors as part of this trial, which will run within London and other UK cities where Clean Air Zones are to be established.
The Tantalum Air.Car project will also produce rich data sets, which will be able to improve emission factors to better inform government on the interplay between congestion, vehicle types and air pollution, helping them to plan cleaner, smarter and healthier cities.
Dr Marc Stettler from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Imperial College London said: “We are very excited to be involved in the Air.Car project, as it illustrates how Imperial’s research expertise and world-class facilities can deliver practical and real-world solutions to the environmental problems facing our rapidly growing cities.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
Tantalum and Imperial College won a grant from Innovate UK’s Connected and Autonomous Vehicle competition (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/funding-competition-connected-and-autonomous-vehicles-2) to support their £2 million collaborative project to deliver real-time NOx emissions estimation capability from an OBD (On Board Diagnostic – the vehicle’s computer) connected device.
Once perfected, Tantalum’s CO2/NOx product will be able to give managers and consumers detailed understanding of the environmental impact, the tools to minimise it, while reducing fuel, maintenance and insurance costs. Better driving style will also improve road safety.
The Air.Car project is expected to start in June 2017.
The 1,000 vehicle trial is part of the funded project and will be free for participants.