THEMATIC SESSION – 10 MAY

During the Thematic Session held on 10 May, Koninklijke Nederlandse Toeristenbond (ANWB — The Netherlands), Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club (ADAC — Germany), Touring Club Suisse (TCS ­— Switzerland) and Automobile Club d’Italia (ACI ­— Italy) presented their Clubs’ latest strategies and projects on energy, health, drones and driving assistant systems.

ANWB CEO Marga de Jager discussed the new ANWB strategy which focuses on three objectives: growing the membership base, maximising societal impact, and doubling their current turnover. As one of the key priorities at ANWB is reducing CO2 footprint and contributing to societal impact, De Jager touched upon the clean energy company that ANWB has recently launched in the Netherlands. ANWB also aims to be more customer-centric by incorporating a customer journey perspective in all of their workstreams.

ADAC Board Member for Tourism and Transport Dieter Nischl explained how to increase membership beyond mobility services highlighting that ADAC is targeting the core of its services, questioning the “why” when developing new products and services, and keeping its focus on providing assistance for members.

TCS unveiled the Drone & Vertical Mobility Academy – a joint FIA and TCS initiative to explore the drone industry and potential for growth among Member Clubs. Head of the Drone & Vertical Mobility Academy Nicolas Brieger highlighted that drones are no longer a story out of a science fiction film but a reality that is incorporated in numerous countries across the world. TCS is offering project blueprints for FIA Member Clubs who are interested in starting or developing a drone project in their country. To further entice members’ interest, TCS is offering to finance and pilot one drone project as part of a start-up challenge.

ACI Infomobility Director General Francesco Mazzone presented Luceverde – a mobility information service which suggests ideal routes to take when driving and provides real-time information on the latest traffic information, local parking spots, weather information and more. ACI Informatica IT Demand Manager Francesco Armaroli introduced ACI Drive, a vocal assistant that provides advice on the best routes to take, music, weather conditions and even information on driving behaviour. With good driving behaviour, users can benefit from discounts on car insurance policies.

REGION I PLENARY ASSEMBLY — 11 MAY

Electric mobility was the highlight of the FIA Region I Plenary Assembly held on 11 May. FIA Member Clubs Norges Automobil-Forbund (NAF ­— Norway) and Koninklijke Nederlandse Toeristenbond (ANWB — The Netherlands) presented their activities and service offering for members who drive electric vehicles.

NAF CEO Stig Skjøstad and NAF Head of eMobility Eivind Skar presented “El Prix” – NAF’s annual Electric Vehicle (EV) tests for objective consumer information.  It is the world’s largest EV test, testing driving range and charging speed of around 30 EVs every year. NAF also highlighted the different challenges consumers are facing when it comes to EVs. Charging payments, driving range, charging speed and queues at charging stations are now new areas of concern for consumers.

ANWB Head of Energy Perry Lievaart presented AWNB Energy – a new company set up by ANWB focusing on clean and affordable energy. ANWB Energy targets not only a mobility transition but also the energy transition. ANWB Energy allows members to charge their electric vehicles during off-peak hours on a renewable energy grid, where members can even get paid for charging when they receive excess energy off the grid.

FIA Region I Membership Director Gabriel Simcic introduced the new Region I Alternative Fuels Observatory, and the survey results of recent activities Clubs have launched for members with electric vehicles. The survey highlights innovation in the areas of information and advice to members, but also the extremely varied range of products and services to help members select, purchase or lease, and charge their EV. However, a gap was underlined in the survey when it comes to data collection by Clubs on the number of members who own or drive an electric vehicle.

GALA DINNER — 11 MAY

The Gala Dinner, held on 11 May, was the occasion to award several FIA Region I Clubs for their innovative projects.

ÖAMTC CEO Oliver Schmerold received the ‘Excellence in Advertising’ Award with the campaign “Assistance Booklet Campaign”. Overall, 5 Clubs submitted campaigns for the 2022 ‘Excellence in Advertising’ Award: all the advertising campaigns can be seen on the Innovation Hub. FIA Region I introduced the ‘Excellence in Advertising’ Award in 2018 to recognise the high level of creativity that Clubs invest in promoting their services.

ANWB won the 2022 Innovation Award with the Smart Energy & Electric Vehicle Charging Platform project. The Innovation Award is a benchmark to promote and reward Clubs for their creative thinking in new projects and endeavours. This year, there were a total of 15 submissions for the Innovation Award. ANWB’s project aims to boost awareness of smart charging of electric vehicles and protect the interests of EV drivers. Through the platform, members pay the actual purchase price of energy, which provides significant benefits to those who charge their vehicles outside of peak hours.

ACI won the ‘Becoming a Mobility Club’ Award 2022 with Luceverde which offers real-time updates on road/traffic/weather conditions, events, and public transport.

The FIA Region I Spring Meeting provided a great opportunity for all Region I Clubs to look back on the year gone by and focus on what lies ahead, in particular regarding sustainable, accessible and innovative mobility.