Word from Richard

Hello again and welcome to the Weekly Wrap.

One of the core reasons organisations buy our connected vehicle data is to help establish the most effective locations for placing new EV charging posts, but it’s not just new cars that look likely to benefit from these. A number of start-ups have recently started to provide electric conversions for classics such as Beetles, Minis, and Mustangs, and a story on BBC this week showed that it isn’t just the bottom end of the market that’s being catered for. In fact, a company based at Silverstone is now providing the service for classic Bentleys and Roll-Royce. With the increasing proliferation of ultra-low emissions zones and potential bans for older cars, it’s great to think some of these legendary vehicles will be able to continue long into the future powered by electric.

Of course, it isn’t just passenger cars that are undergoing an electric revolution. Two stories caught my eye this week regarding electrified commercial vehicles. The first is Cornwall-based start-up Watt Electric Vehicle Company looking to start sales of their commercial vehicles in 2023. This is another great sign of confidence in the British motor industry in this new era of mobility and follows in the footsteps of Vauxhall’s plans to build electric vans in the UK too.

There was also news this week of another start-up, Arrival, partnering with Microsoft to co-develop a cloud-based data platform that would enable telemetry, vehicle, and data management in future electric vehicle fleets. The article goes on to mention that there is currently “no standardized method of organizing or managing the data from said fleets”, which is funny because that’s exactly what we are currently doing with data from our OEM partners.

The topic of how connected vehicle data will be key to ensuring the future of EVs is something that we hope to be presenting at the SXSW event in 2022, but in order to achieve that first we need enough votes to secure the nomination. The voting process for topics to be presented at the annual event in Austin, Texas, is now open until August 26th so if you’d like to see Wejo take one of the panel presentation slots that’s up for grabs, please take a moment to vote for us at the link in the section below.

And finally, I’d like to drop a small reminder about our webinar with Waycare which will take place on Tuesday, August 17th. We’ll be talking about ‘How 20 U.S. geographies are now able to better detect, predict and respond to traffic incidents’ with an in-depth look at how connected vehicle data, combined with existing traffic data, can help make roads safer, even in rural locations. The team will also show a case study focused on the Bay Area to demonstrate the insights such data can provide. Be sure to sign up at the link below.

Thanks again for joining and enjoy your weekend.

Richard

The Company Keeping Luxury Classics Alive with EV Conversions

Often known as ‘iron fists in silk gloves’, classic luxury cars from Bentley and Rolls-Royce already have a reputation for silent luxury with effortless power, but as emissions regulations threaten the existence vintage examples, a company in Silverstone is equipping them for an electric future that will keep them on our roads for decades more to come. Check out the video here.

UK-based Watt Electric Vehicle Company Looking to Hit the Road in 2023

As the entire motoring industry, from passenger cars to commercial vehicles, looks to go electric, news from Cornwall in Southwest England suggests that EV start-up Watt Electric Vehicle Company will launch their range of fully electric commercial vehicles in 2023. Read more about their plans in Autocar’s story here.

Arrival to Collaborate with Microsoft on Connected Fleet Data

Headquartered in Colorado and London, EV start-up Arrival has announced plans to work with Microsoft to develop a platform for connected fleet data that will support their commercial vehicle operations. The company has recently started to test autonomous vans and has already collaborated with giants such as UPS and Uber. Read all about their plans here.

Voting Open as Wejo Looks to Present at SXSW in 2022

With electrified vehicles now becoming increasingly popular across the world, the issue of developing the infrastructure to support the boom is one that governments are urgently looking to tackle. Wejo’s connected vehicle data can be used to help guide the departments of transport on the best location for charging posts and we’re looking to show the world how by presenting a panel discussion titled: ‘The Future of EVs Hinges on Three Letters: CVD’ at the SXSW summit in 2022. Voting is now open to select the presentations you want to see there, so please click on the link here and cast your vote for Wejo.

Wejo Webinar with Waycare on August 17th

Wejo will host a webinar with Waycare on August 17th discussing ‘How 20 U.S. geographies are now able to better detect, predict and respond to traffic incidents’. To secure your place and see real life examples of how our connected vehicle data supports various US DoTs, sign up at the link here.