ARIA: Accelerating Smart Charging for Decarbonised Urban Logistics
- 21 juil.
- 3 min de lecture
In a context where last‑mile deliveries account for up to 40 % of urban transport emissions, the European project ARIA – Advanced chaRging Infrastructure for the decArbonization of urban mobility has given itself twelve months to prove that smarter energy management of electric fleets can truly move the needle. Officially launched on 21 February 2025, ARIA aims to show that combining renewable energy, artificial intelligence and vehicle sharing makes it possible to charge light commercial vehicles without increasing either the carbon bill or peak demand on the grid. The programme perfectly complements the climate strategies of major European cities and supports CLEM’s ambition to offer zero‑emission shared mobility that is accessible to everyone.
A Tight‑Knit European Consortium Under the Banner of EIT Urban Mobility
ARIA is backed by the EIT Urban Mobility and coordinated by FACTUAL. The consortium brings together CLEM’, GoodMoovs, citydev.brussels, the Barcelona City Council and the Gemeente Venlo – a line‑up that spans the entire value chain: shared‑mobility operators, charging‑infrastructure managers, local authorities and data specialists. This diversity ensures a strong innovation capacity and direct access to real‑life testbeds.
FLEXEV: Leveraging AI to Unleash Energy Flexibility for Mobility
At the heart of the project sits FLEXEV, an optimisation platform that merges real‑time data, artificial intelligence and solar‑generation forecasts. The algorithm – compatible with both V1G and V2G – takes into account time‑of‑use tariffs, photovoltaic output, building consumption and battery state of charge. It then calculates the ideal power level and timing for each vehicle, shaving power peaks, maximising solar self‑consumption and delivering tangible savings for the operator.
Three Full‑Scale Living Labs
Brussels (BE) – Optimising urban‑delivery rounds from the citydev.brussels site.
Barcelona (ES) – Powering a food market (Mercat de Provençals) with on‑site solar for CLEM’s light‑commercial fleet.
Venlo (NL) – Demonstrating the solution’s relevance in a peri‑urban setting.
These pilots cover the spectrum from dense city centres to rural fringes, ensuring that the model can be replicated in virtually any European territory.
Promising Mid‑Term Checkpoint
Gathered in early July 2025 in Barcelona for the interim meeting, partners reported “results that are both swift and tangible.” Proof in point: with FLEXEV, CLEM’ managed to recharge an entire fleet using more than 70 % of the rooftop solar energy generated by the market, all while maintaining car‑sharing availability. This proof of concept confirms that zero‑emission logistics rely as much on vehicle sharing as on energy flexibility.
CLEM’s Pivotal Role
Drawing on its expertise in electric car‑sharing and shared charging, CLEM’ contributes:
Its “mobility‑hub” stations that aggregate solar production, battery storage and smart charging points.
Usage data (turnover rate, actual charging needs) to train and refine the FLEXEV algorithm.
Operational know‑how that is essential for moving from prototype to commercial service.
Next Steps
By the project’s end in February 2026, ARIA will focus on:
Analysing impact indicators – energy savings, emission reductions, lower operating costs.
Refining the business model to facilitate adoption by other urban‑logistics and car‑sharing operators.
Disseminating results to European cities seeking to decarbonise their own fleets.
Why It Matters to CLEM’
By taking part in ARIA, CLEM’ validates on a European scale an approach that combines shared mobility and energy flexibility – the two pillars of our mission. Lessons learned from the three pilots will feed directly into our platform and pave the way for new deployments of smart solar hubs wherever the energy transition is gaining momentum.
At CLEM’, we are convinced that clean mobility requires both optimised energy and shared vehicles. ARIA allows us to prove it on the ground.
See you in early 2026 for the final results – and to discover the next generation of CLEM’ stations that are even more frugal, flexible and solar‑powered!