ATZ|MTZ and Arthur D. Little (ADL) are presenting the Sustainability Award in Automotive for the third time in 2023. The prizes were presented at the ATZlive Congress on Drives and Energy Systems of Tomorrow in Berlin.
Award ceremony in Berlin: The winners of the Sustainability Awards in Automotive 2023 from ATZ | MTZ and Arthur D. Little.
Laurin Schmid | ATZlive
Numerous projects from vehicle manufacturers, suppliers and service providers in the fields of passenger cars, commercial vehicles and micro- and urban mobility were submitted by the end of January and presented to the six-member jury. This year, the jury consisted of Stefanie Wolff (Now GmbH), Peter Bering (Engineers4Future), Dr. Marcus Bollig (VDA), Prof. Peter Urban (ika, RWTH Aachen), Prof. Peter Gutzmer (ATZ|MTZ) and Dr. Philipp Seidel (ADL). "The projects submitted show the many ways in which sustainability can be promoted," emphasizes Stefanie Burgmaier, Managing Director of Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden, "the aspect of resource conservation was at the forefront of many of the submissions."
In the category Technology: Materials and Circularity, Autoneum Management AG was honored because the flooring system it submitted is made from only one material on one side and recycled polyester on the other. "As a result, the product is lighter, easier to recycle and already comes from the recycling process, which reduces both material and energy consumption," stated juror Gutzmer. The category Technology: Supply Chain was won by Volkswagen AG, Kunststofftechnik Werk Wolfsburg, "because, on the one hand, they avoid waste in production and, on the other hand, they have integrated a concept to directly recycle waste that nevertheless occurs during plastic injection molding and to keep it in the manufacturing process," as juror Urban notes.
Edag Engineering GmbH was honored in the category Technology: Full Vehicle because emissions are avoided through a modular vehicle concept in which both individual chassis components and electronics are interchangeable. According to the jury, "This increases the service life of the vehicle in the event of wear and tear or change of use." The category Start-up was won by Mobility for Africa Ltd. with a concept that enables mobility for rural regions, especially small farmers, in Africa and provides them with environmentally and cost-friendly mobility for transporting goods and people. These are tricycles with electric motors whose batteries are charged with solar energy - in other words, renewable energy. "This makes decentralized energy supply possible even for remote areas. It also enables a high increase in productivity for local entrepreneurs with great effect," says juror Wolff.
Quantron AG came out on top in the category Mobility Concepts: Business Models. It was honored for a comprehensive range of services for the decarbonization of both battery-electric and hydrogen-powered commercial vehicles. "Quantron offers or rather supplies conversion kits, complete vehicles, leasing and financing models as well as the necessary infrastructure from a single source," acknowledged juror Seidel. Numbat GmbH won the category Mobility Concepts: Infrastructure with a fast-charging infrastructure for e-vehicles with integrated battery storage. Juror Bollig: "This enables higher charging power independent of connection as well as the use of recycled batteries." AVL List GmbH was honored in the category Mobility Concepts: Services for the Battery Passport. "This is a novel method for measuring CO2 emissions during battery production," emphasized juror Bering.
The Sustainability Award in Automotive recognizes outstanding examples of sustainable solutions in the areas of environmental and climate protection as well as society and governance in the automotive and mobility industry. Entries are selected and awarded by an independent jury based on the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs address the key global challenges in the areas of ecology, society and governance.
