July 7-8, 2020 Virtual conference: Work, commute and travel during… and beyond COVID-19

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Introduction

We are going through an unprecedented crisis created by the COVID-19 virus that may change our world in a profound way with deep-rooted effects on our health, our social life, our economy and our infrastructure.

Electric Mobility Canada, with more than 200 members that range from utilities to vehicle OEMs, from electric infrastructure providers to fleet managers, from cities to universities, can offer broad and diversified points of view on its impact on the way we work, commute and travel during AND after the COVID-19 crisis. How will things change… if they do change? How can electromobility be a part of the economic recovery?

Conference agenda

Agenda in PDF

Schedule (Eastern Daylight Time)	Tuesday July 7 – Current Situation Day 1
9:00am to 10:10am	1) Introduction : COVID-19 has affected our lives, our businesses
10:10am to 10:30am	Break
10:30am to 11:30am	2) Work: From our work place to working from home… for some of us.
11:30am to 11:45pm	‘Mindfulness Powercharger’ Session Sponsored by Alectra Utilities
11:30am to 1:00pm	Lunch Break
1:00pm to 2:00pm	3) COVID and Commute: How our commutes are evolving in whole new ways
2:00pm to 2:30pm	Break
2:30pm to 3:30pm	4) Travel: From planes to trains to EVs, how COVID-19 has affected the way we travel

Schedule (Eastern Daylight Time)	Wednesday July 8 – Economic Recovery Day 2
9:00am to 10:10am	5) Recovery through Infrastructure: A new paradigm for EV infrastructure?
10:10am to 10:30am	Break
10:30am to 11:30am	6) Recovery through e-transit: From fixed transit to micro transit, what are the leading jurisdictions doing for recovery?
11:30am to 11:45pm	‘Mindfulness Powercharger’ Session Sponsored by Alectra Utilities
11:30am to 1:00pm	Lunch Break
1:00pm to 2:15pm	7) Recovery through an EV industry strategy: From electric cars to electric buses and trucks, opportunities to build and grow the EV supply chain and manufacturing in Canada
2:15pm to 2:45pm	Break
2:45pm to 3:45pm	8) Recovery and environment: Opportunities and challenges of a recovery respectful of our environment

Tuesday July 7: Current Situation

1) Introduction: COVID-19 in our lives

This first panel will set the stage for our conference. We will open the discussion on what has been the impact of COVID-19 on our daily lives, including our personal lives, our businesses and the way we commute… or not.

Keynote Speaker: Hon. Seamus O’Regan, Minister of Natural Resources, Canada

Moderator: Daniel Breton, President and CEO, Electric Mobility Canada (EMC)

Panellists:

• Dave Reage, Director, Halifax Transit and Vice Chair, Technical Services, Canadian Urban Transit Association Board of Directors

• Louis Tremblay, President, FLO

• John Weigelt, Chief Technology Officer, Microsoft Canada

2) Work : From going to work to working from home… for some of us.

This second panel will focus on the impact that COVID-19 has had on work. From daily commuting to telecommuting, we are already seeing changes in the lives of many workers… in multiple ways. The reality is different for vehicle manufacturing than for service organizations. How will these changes in the way we now work and will work affect the transition towards electromobility for individuals, companies, government, fleet managers? How we work has an impact on where we live. Will this mean the end of urban densification, the rebirth of rural regions?

Moderator: Maxime Charron, President, Leading Ahead Energy

Panellists:

• Chris King, SVP eMobility, Siemens Industry Inc.
• Annie Gilleo, Manager, Policy and Market Development, Greenlots
• Gleb Nikiforov, CEO, AutoChargers.ca

3) Commute : How it may evolve

As we will gradually get back to work, how will we commute… when we do commute? How will we take the train, bus, subways and other forms of collective transportation?  Will the growth of active mobility last? How do the Canadian population’s demographics impact how we get around? How will this impact the use of carsharing and carpooling? How will this crisis impact the adoption of electric vehicles? How will Canadians re-integrate transit in their commutes? How will this impact e-bus adoption? vehicles? What are the implications for the future of commute, on traffic, on air pollution?

Moderator: Travis Allan, Vice President of Public Affairs and General Counsel, FLO (Chair, Government Relations Committee, EMC)

Panellists:

• Mohsen Nazem, Director, Research, Data Analytics and Transport Modeling, Exo

• Neetika Sathe, Vice President, Green Energy and Technology Centre, Alectra Inc.

• Namir Anani, President and CEO, Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC)

4) Travel : from planes to EVs

In the short term, people will travel less by plane for their vacations or work. What will that mean for traveling if we use more electric vehicles? What needs to be done to accommodate people who want to travel long distances with electric vehicles via highways as well as secondary roads? What does this mean for the installation of charging infrastructure?

Moderator: Dan Guatto, Chief Operating Officer, Vice President, Engineering and Operations, Burlington Hydro (Chair, Electric Mobility Canada)

Panellists:

• Suzanne Goldberg, Canadian Public Policy Director, ChargePoint

• Simon-Pierre Rioux, President, Association des Véhicules Électriques du Québec (Quebec Electric Vehicle Association)

• Ben Sharpe, Senior Researcher and Canada Lead, The International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT)

Wednesday July 8: Economic Recovery

5) Economic Recovery through Infrastructure: A new paradigm?

As we see changes in behavior due to COVID-19 in the way we work, commute and travel, what could be the impact on the infrastructures of tomorrow? Will we still need to invest in new roads, subways, trains and/or new communications and charging infrastructure? Will the downtown areas as well as the suburbs have to be reinvented for the new reality? Could this represent new opportunities for rural areas? What does this mean for e-mobility adoption and for charging infrastructure?

Keynote Speaker: Hon. Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport, Canada

Moderator: Neetika Sathe, Vice President, Green Energy and Technology Centre, Alectra Inc.

Panellists:

• France Lampron, Director, Transportation Electrification, Hydro-Québec

• Ryan Fisher, Senior Associate, Advanced Transport, BloombergNEF

• Thierry Spiess, Ph.D, Policy Advisor, Fuel Diversification Division, NRCan

6) Economic recovery through e-transit: From fixed transit to micro transit

Will the commute to work become more focused on micro mobility as we want more flexibility… and safety? How will the surge of micro transit solutions such as e-scooters, e-bikes, electric micro cars, etc., change the urban and suburban commute? How can transit authorities integrate these solutions? How can fixed e-transit and micro transit be a part of the recovery?

Moderator: Sanjeev Pushkarna, Manager, Customer Solutions, NS Power (Treasurer, EMC)

Panellists:

• Ted Dowling, Vice President, BYD Canada

• Pam Cooley, Executive Director, The Car Sharing Association (CSA)

• Kevin Desmond, CEO, TransLink

• Oliver Ouboter, COO, Microlino AG (Switzerland)

7) Recovery through EVs: From electric cars to electric trucks, opportunities to build and grow the EV supply chain and manufacturing in Canada

As we move towards more and more electric vehicles on Canadian roads, how can this new reality help the economic recovery of Canada in the medium to long term? Does Canada need an EV industrial strategy from cars, to buses to trucks to infrastructure, to R & D, etc as we want to create jobs in the green mobility sector? If so, how can the different actors of the industry help the Canadian government in setting up such a strategy?

Keynotes Speaker: Ali Ehsassi, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, Canada

Moderator: Daniel Breton, President and CEO, Electric Mobility Canada (EMC)

Panellists:

• Jerry Dias, President, Unifor

• Kirk Burcar, VP Engineering Services, Newflyer

• Marc Bédard, President & Founder,The Lion Electric Co

• Karim Zaghib, Strategic Advisor to the Investissement Québec Management Committee and Adjunct Professor, McGill University

• Sylvain Castonguay, Head Commercial eVehicle Integration Strategy, Dana

8) Economic Recovery and Environment: Opportunities and challenges

We have seen the positive impact of COVID-19 on air pollution. How will these new realities impact our environment from a mobility, air pollution and GHG emissions point of view ? How can we meet our climate goals… while supporting a green economic recovery? What positive role will electromobility play in the short, medium and long term?

Keynote Speaker: Hon. Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Canada

Moderator: Jeff Turner, Senior Research Lead, Dunsky Energy Consulting

Panellists:

• Sonia Eyaan, Vice President, Alliance for Sustainable Living (France)

• Joanna Kyriazis, Senior Policy Advisor, Clean Energy Canada

• Ian Klesmer, Director of Strategy and Grants, The Atmospheric Fund (TAF)

Closing Remarks and Next Steps: Daniel Breton, President and CEO, Electric Mobility Canada (EMC)

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