Kozminski Techblog

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It goes without saying that car brands are now strongly committed to electric driving. At the time of writing, this is labeled as the number one way of driving in the future. That said, the competition with hydrogen-powered vehicles is just around the corner. However, at the time of writing, the latter technology is still too much in its infancy to enable mass production. Of course, this does not apply to electric vehicles. The American car brand Tesla has set the tone in this area and now it is up to the other (European) car brands to continue this trend. One of the car brands that is now investing heavily in electric is Fiat. This includes her Fiat Panda.

Alternative to expensive electric vehicles
Despite the fact that the average purchase price of electric cars has decreased somewhat in recent years, it must be said that the costs are still quite high. In the meantime, many car manufacturers have tried to lower the prices of electric cars, but have actually not or only barely succeeded in doing so. This is actually Fiat’s absolute number one goal. It wants to ensure that its electric Fiat Panda, which should appear on the market in 2023, becomes the world’s first truly affordable electric car. The parent company Stellantis has already announced that it will do everything in its power to achieve this. The electric model of the Fiat Panda will be presented in the spring of 2022. In any case, the aim is to ensure that the introductory price will be lower compared to the current Fiat 500.

Based on concept model from 2019?
At the time of writing, it seems that the majority of the Panda-e or the so-called-Panda will be based on the concept model that was already presented to the world in the year 2019. In concrete terms, this concerned the so-called Fiat Centoventi. Stellantis has expressed the strong ambition to market its electric Panda as economically as possible. The main question, however, is how exactly to achieve this. This should be achieved, among other things, by offering the electric Panda only in one version. The customer would therefore only be able to choose between 4 different bumpers, rims and colors. Whether people will eventually continue to hold on to this limited freedom of choice is of course still very much the question, but it could certainly be possible. In any case, considerable savings could be achieved in this way.

Very limited infotainment system
In practice, the so-called infotainment system is known to have a significant impact on the purchase price of a vehicle. This appears to apply in particular to electric cars. It is therefore not surprising that Stellantis also pays special attention to this system. For example, there is a suspicion that it will not be present or will be present only to a very limited extent. Of course there would be a screen in the vehicle, but its functions will be severely limited in practice. That’s all nice and nice, of course, but doesn’t that take away the heart of an electric vehicle? Yes and no.

The choice to implement a very limited infotainment system gives Fiat the opportunity to sharpen the introductory price of its electric Fiat Panda. A dock would be provided to compensate for the resulting lack of functionality. This customizable dock would be fitted next to the steering wheel and would work in conjunction with the smartphone or tablet the driver of the car has. In this way, a wide range of possibilities can be realized without automatically pushing up the price.

Do you have an à la carte system with batteries?
At the time of writing, it seems that users of the electric Fiat Panda will have to settle for a fairly limited freedom of choice. That said, there would be a special à la carte system for batteries. As standard, the e-Panda would be equipped with a limited battery with a driving range of barely 100 kilometers. This, of course, again with the main reason to reduce the purchase price of the vehicle.

If you want a longer driving range, you can choose to rent or buy another battery. In this way, the personal requirements or expectations that owners of an electric Fiat Panda have at their disposal can be met to some extent. At least this is certainly the case with regard to the driving range.

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The NS will start a trial this summer with the rental of electric public transport bicycles. These public transport e-bikes will be tested for a year. Renting such an electric bicycle costs 10 euros per day.

NS will make 30 public transport ebikes available at four stations during the trial. The company wants to use this to investigate whether the public transport ebike is popular and whether the electric bicycles can be ‘a valuable addition’ to the normal public transport bicycles.

“With the OV-ebike, we want to make it even more attractive and easier for travelers who have to travel a little further from the station to take a bicycle for the last part of their journey,” says Marise Bezema, responsible for the OV-fiets at NS.

Range more than 100 kilometers
The range of the e-bike in the eco mode is 110 kilometers, the NS informs Bright. In the normal position, 70 kilometers of electrical assistance is possible on a full battery and in the highest position, the range is 50 kilometers.

10 euros per day
Renting an e-bike costs 10 euros per 24 hours. With a normal OV-fiets, the daily rate is 4.15 euros. The NS will inform you shortly at which stations the electric bicycles will be parked.

The company presented the trial with public transport ebikes to consumer organisations, ProRail and municipalities. According to the NS, the reactions to the plan are ‘positive’.

GPS tracker due to risk of theft
Theft of the e-bikes is a risk and that is why they are equipped with a GPS tracker. In the event of loss or theft, the bicycle can be found with this.

The NS wants to use the GPS information for research during the trial. This allows information about, for example, the travel distances, the location of the bicycle and the speed to be mapped. In order to preserve the privacy of consumers, the personal data and location data are stored separately. As a result, the supplier knows where the e-bike in question is, but not who is on the bike. The NS knows who is on the e-bike, but not where it is.

Previous attempt unsuccessful
It is not the first time that NS will rent out electric public transport bicycles. Between 2011 and 2014, e-bikes were already offered at a small number of stations for 7.50 euros per day, but that project proved unsuccessful. The same applied to the range of electric public transport scooters, which the NS also stopped at the end of 2014.

NS currently rents out a total of almost 22 thousand public transport bicycles at 300 locations. A personal OV chip card is required for renting.

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Within the car world, it is not uncommon for different (big) names to enter into a collaboration agreement with each other. This time it is the turn of the Volkswagen subsidiary Cariad, which has announced that it will build a platform for autonomous driving together with Bosch. The platform will already be used with certainty by all brands that are part of the Volkswagen Group. At the time of writing, both companies have the objective of deploying the first functions for autonomous driving in 2023.

Standardized software platform
Cariad and Bosch will jointly build a so-called standardized software platform. Initially, the platform will therefore be used by all makes and models belonging to the Volkswagen group. However, it doesn’t stop there. This is because the system can also be offered under license to other car manufacturers. The technology should enable two different forms of autonomous driving. This then concerns:

Level 2 autonomous driving;
Level 3 autonomous driving;
For Level 2 autonomous driving, the driver can only remove his or her hand from the steering wheel for a limited time. Level 3 autonomous driving also includes the option of autonomous driving on the motorway. In principle, in this situation it would then be possible for the driver to keep his or her hands off the steering wheel all the time.

First implementation in 2023
The aim of Bosch and Cariad is to have the first implementation of the new platform in the year 2023. However, it remains to be seen whether Level 3 autonomous driving will also be involved or not. In addition, the partnership that they have announced is also investigating the possibilities of going one step further. One would also like to introduce Level 4 autonomous driving on the market. Quite a bit has been said and written about this in the past. In principle, Level 4 is very similar to Level 3 autonomous driving. The only difference lies in the location where the autonomous driving takes place. For Level 3, this is the motorway, while for Level 4 it is a built-up area.

No plans yet for Level 5 autonomous driving
For all the different car brands currently involved in autonomous driving, the plans relate to Level 4 as much as possible. This creates the false expectation that this is the final level for this form of autonomous driving. However, that is not correct. In practice, all car brands will eventually work towards Level 5 autonomous driving.

In practice, this form of autonomous driving is often referred to as the so-called “mind-off” level. However, it is not yet known exactly how this will look in practice. In principle, it is the case with these cars that a driver can take over the wheel whenever he or she wishes, but there is no longer any obligation to do so. Several companies have subsequently announced that the presence of pedals and a steering wheel would no longer be a requirement. However, this encounters a lot of resistance from the various governments.

So far, there has been no specific legislation for this form of autonomous driving in the Netherlands and other European countries. By definition, this doesn’t mean it’s prohibited, but it’s actually not allowed either. If an accident were to occur with a Level 5 autonomous vehicle, for example, it would not be clear who exactly would be responsible for it. It is partly for this reason that the majority of companies today still stay far away from this level of autonomous driving.

Also other partnerships
The partnership between Cariad and Bosch is certainly not unique to the automotive world. Earlier it became known that many other big names have also entered into a collaboration for the implementation of new platforms for autonomous driving. This includes the partnership between Mercedes-Benz and Volvo together with the American company Luminar. These companies have joined forces to develop a platform that should enable autonomous driving up to Level 3. For the time being, there are no plans within this partnership to also make the higher levels possible. However, it goes without saying that this could certainly change in the (near) future.
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Since the start of the corona crisis in 2020, the use of VPNs has increased enormously. Whether it concerns large-scale home working, online meetings, music or music streaming.
But why are more and more people using a VPN? And why do you need a VPN in 2022?

You may not have heard of VPNs, not to mention how VPNs work. In this article, we’ll talk about what a VPN is, how it works, and why you need a VPN in 2022.

What is a VPN?
VPN stands for Virtual Private Network. With a VPN, the IP address is adjusted by connecting to a server in another country. As a result, you can browse the web anonymously, access content that is not available in your home country, or keep your IP address secret. Using a VPN connection makes surfing the internet a lot easier and safer. A VPN acts as an intermediary between your smartphone, tablet or laptop and the server.

What can you do with a VPN?
VPNs have various properties that contribute to a secure and anonymous internet. By using a VPN, you can surf the web more securely. This is achieved, among other things, by the fact that VPNs disguise their actual location. And that way you don’t leave any traces on the web. You can surf the web completely anonymously by connecting to a secure VPN like ExpressVPN. The ExpressVPN What is a VPN page clearly explains what a VPN is and what it can do for you. But why would you want that? For example, a VPN makes data unavailable because the company cannot collect it. Your data is worth a lot of money, which is why companies like to collect your data. You can prevent this with a VPN.

Why a VPN in 2022?
This year we are more digital than ever. Never before have so many transactions been done online, never before have there been so many online meetings as now. In addition, there is also a continuous threat of cyber attacks and online terror. That is one of the reasons why it is very important that you protect your online privacy. This is possible with a VPN.

Stream content from all over the world
VPNs also work to your advantage when viewing various content. For example, some content may not be available in the Netherlands. You can solve this with a VPN. The VPN changes the IP address and in this way also displays the content available in such countries.

Encrypt your network
With more people working from home and more digital traffic, there is also more crime on the web. Hackers and malware are becoming more and more active, so it is important that you protect yourself against them. Something that works more than excellently with the help of a VPN. With a VPN it is possible to encrypt your internet connection. Something that comes in handy when you have to work on a guest network. The more secure your connection is, the better it is for you.

Logging into public Wi-Fi networks carries some risks and in addition, not all websites are free to visit in certain countries. The connection can be very slow at times and you unintentionally share more information than you would like.

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Maersk started as a family business at the beginning of the last century, operating as a shipping company for specific products and on-demand transportation. Over the years, it has diversified many times, expanded in many different industries (such as energy and food), until it finally took shape and became what it is today: the market leader in shipping and transportation, holding 19% of the shares. Total market share. Maersk’s main business focus is container transportation. In addition, Maersk operates four companies: a container manufacturer, an APM division, a freight forwarding company, and a maritime industry security supplier. In 2014, Maersk realized the complexity of the current transportation process and began to cooperate with IBM to investigate the process related to paperwork. They see that many processes in the transportation industry are people-oriented, and information is only provided to the parties in direct contact. Another problem is the amount of paperwork for transportation, which takes a lot of time. There is another option for transferring data, which is via EDI (Electronic Data Interchange). Both methods of transmitting data are linear structures, which means that the information available at the source is not available at the destination. 

When IBM and Maersk started looking for solutions for the transportation industry, they evaluated blockchain technology. This technology provides “tracking and tracing options” for all stakeholders. IBM has proposed a permissioned blockchain where people can know who they are doing business with, rather than anonymously. In 2017, Maersk and IBM announced their Global Trade Digitalization (GTD) platform. GTD will be a neutral platform that can be used by all stakeholders in the ecosystem. 

External situation 

Accelerating Technological Progress 

Technology nowadays is accelerating very rapidly. One of the most significant innovations in technology is cryptocurrency. This new form of online payment is being secured by blockchain technology. Blockchain technology can also be used in the containership industry to secure logistic companies against fraud. Nowadays the container industry is relying heavily on physical documents, paper, and stamps. The container industry is not a little behind, but a lot. Making a switch in their operation by using blockchain technology will not only have the container industry allow to keep up but will allow them to be upfront.  

The Green Revolution 

The attention our earth is gaining is also increasing rapidly. We as humans must be more sustainable with our resources and discover new methods to leave a smaller footprint on our environment. If we continue without any adjustments to our methods of doing business, we will keep polluting our planet. The containership industry also leaves a footprint on our environment. Sometimes goods that are traveling around the earth are spending more time in ports than on the ocean. This is simply wasting energy, location, and time and by developing new innovative methods to move goods around the globe we can reduce this waste. 

More Pressure on Ports 

Ships in the logistics chain are increasing in size. Some ships carry more than 20.000 containers. This increase in cargo is putting more pressure on ports. Especially the smaller ports have a hard time dealing with the large capacity and cargo. These problems within the logistics chain create delays, demurrage, and decreased customer satisfaction. 

The Influence of Emerging Markets 

Emerging markets are also giving the container industry increased pressure. Since the global economy is increasing, more cargo must travel the globe. New significant players in the world market stage are coming up and the container industry must be able to keep on this increasing demand. 

Ocean Freight Rate Increase 

In August 2019 the rate to ship a 40’ container from Asia to the West Coast of the USA was $1326 in 2020 the was became $3224 and rose to $18,425 in 2021. There are multiple reasons why this rate has increased so aggressively. 

Port shutdowns (due to Covid-19) 

People purchasing stuff instead of services 

The fallout from the Ever Given in the Suez Canal 

Passenger flight cancellations 

Containers not getting where they need to be