Sustainable Transport Webinar 19 October

Summary and Recording of the Event

What can the Australian transportation sector learn from Sweden in order to move towards a greener sustainable future?

As one of the largest contributors of CO2 emissions within the transportation sector in Australia, the electrification of commercial vehicle fleets, including trucks and buses, provides an excellent opportunity for Australia to reduce its environmental impact. Due to its rapid uptake of electric bus and truck technology, Sweden provides an excellent reference point from which the Australian transportation sector can learn, in order to move towards net zero emissions.  

  • What are the key trends in Sweden?
  • What are the emerging trends and opportunities in Australia?
  • What are the barriers to the adoption of electric trucks and buses?
  • What technologies are available today and in the future?

In this Swedish Australian Chamber of Commerce webinar moderated by Nathan Gore-Brown, Sustainable Transport Consultant at Movement and the following panellists shared their insights and referred to where electric truck and bus technology has been successfully implemented in Sweden and Australia.

  • Stefan Widlund, City Mobility Director, Volvo Buses, Gothenburg Sweden
  • Sean Stove, Transport Segment Lead, ABB Australia
  • Paul Illmer, Vice President Emerging Technology Business Development, Volvo Group Australia

Read more about the speakers below.

VIEW THE ONLINE RECORDING HERE

This online event was organised by the SACC Sustainability Committee 

 

About the speakers

Moderator:

Nathan Gore-Brown, Senior Consultant (Electric and commercial vehicles) at Sustainable transport consultancy MOV3MENT. Nathan started his career as an Auto Electrician and went on to study engineering in the UK. He has a rich history of senior roles in the international automotive industry including Jaguar Land Rover, Aston Martin, Mazda, and Caterpillar. In his last role before joining MOV3MENT he was the Tesla Brisbane store manager. Today, Nathan supports governments, vehicle fleets and organisations to navigate the challenges in the transition away from fossil fuels and to electrified transport.

 

Panellists:

Stefan Widlund, City Mobility Director, Volvo Buses. Based at Volvo Buses’ Headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden. Since 2017 Stefan is supporting regions and cities to transform to electric bus traffic. This includes route analysis, charging strategy, stakeholder engagement, project planning, zone management and all aspects from an operator’s perspective in the transition to electric bus traffic including sustainability. Prior to joining Volvo Buses, Stefan spent 23 years working at Ericsson, whereof 6 years based in Asia. Stefan has a Master of Science – Industrial Engineering from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden

 

Sean Stove, Transport Segment Lead, ABB Australia. Sean Stove is ABB Australia’s head of transportation and rail segments, having been involved in the rail sector since 2003. Joining ABB in 1997, Sean has held numerous senior roles in sales, operations and business development across Asia Pacific and Europe. In this role he is responsible for leading ABB’s offering to the rail and transportation industry, from innovative solutions for rolling stock propulsion to energy efficient solutions for power infrastructure to software optimisation for asset health and management. After completing his Electrical Certificate from Christchurch Polytechnic, Sean became a graduate of the University of Queensland’s Mt Eliza MBA Program, and completed the Senior Leadership Development program at the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland.

 

Paul Illmer, Vice President, Vehicle Sales Strategy & Support (VSSS) at Volvo Group Australia. Paul started his career in the heavy transport industry in 1997 as parts manager at a Northern Victoria truck dealership. He continued in various heavy vehicle retail roles until 2003 where he moved to Brisbane to work for Volvo Group Australia. In 2003 Illmer was appointed Mack Trucks Australia Product Manager where he managed the commercial launches for Eu4 emissions, Eu5 emissions, MP10 engine and mDrive transmission. In 2012, Illmer began his Volvo Trucks brand career where he managed the launch of the new FH model range and was appointed Vice President – Sales Strategy & Support in 2014. In this role he led a team of 25 people responsible for Volvo, Mack and UD Trucks in the areas of Product Management, Truck Sales Process IT, Driver Training, Sales Order Planning & Business Intelligence. He was also the market interface for Autonomous Vehicles and Electro-mobility. Today Illmer is responsible for Emerging Technology at Volvo Group Australia and holds the position of Vice President with responsibility for electric, hydrogen and automated truck commercialisation. He is a member of the Truck Industry Council, Australian Industry Group, Electric Vehicle Council, Australian Logistics Council, Australian Trucking Association and Volvo Group Australia Dealer Council.

*Source: Australian Federal Government, Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government.

Keep your eyes on the SACC socials Linkedin and Facebook for further updates as announcements are made about future events, and check out the Recent Events and Webinars page on the SACC website for summaries and recordings of our recent presentations. Please contact us for questions and further information: sacc@swedishchamber.com.au.