Stories From The 2023 New Mobility Congress — Day 2

Here we are to continue the stories from the 2023 New Mobility Congress. We had four great stories on the first day, and day two proved to be even more eventful. Without further ado, let me introduce my first guests.

Instead of one representative from Finland, I was honored to host three great guys — Ville Eskelinen from Hevtec Oy, Johannes Hyrynen from VTT, and Mika Kauppila from Valmet Automotive. We talked about batteries, of course, the future of e-mobility in Europe and beyond, but also about a less sexy topic — non-road vehicles, where Finland is playing a pioneering role in efforts to electrify the beast. Plus, we went a little political at the end ahead of the parliamentary elections in Poland.

Right after that, I was joined by Patrik Krizansky, president of the Slovak Electric Vehicle Association and vice president of AVERE. We also had a surprise guest from GreenWay, Aaron Fishbone, to make the chat even merrier. As much as we are good neighbors in Europe and allies in many ways, Poland and Slovakia also compete in many areas, including battery production. We talked about the common goals and fair competition in Europe, and of course about electric vehicles.

Next on the show was a wonderful woman, Maureen Shuell, from Electric Mobility Canada. I had questions about women in the EV world, as it looks like the sector has been successfully developed by amazing female leaders, including Christina Bu from Norway, Monica Araya from Costa Rica, Kasia Sobótka and Agata Rzędowska from Poland, and many, many others. I had my objections to making this a topic of a panel during the congress. What a great chat it was. Enjoy it.

My last guest was not on my original list for the day, but when I spotted Jakub Wiech from Energetyka24, I didn’t hesitate a second to invite him into our wonderful Opel Blitz. Jakub is one of the most outspoken advocates for a nuclear power station(s), a real nuclear warrior. I used this opportunity to ask him what real chances we stand to have the nuclear dream come true after decades of wasting time and money and what technologies Jakub believes in. We didn’t argue much. I’m for nuclear myself, too.