A New Paradigm in Electric mobility

U2K International LTD is working to implement a new paradigm and capsize the E-Mobility pyramid.

The recently created electric automotive industry has typically targeted the top end of the market due to the high cost of Electric Vehicles. This  is now slowly changing:  companies are trying to reach the lower end of the global wealth pyramid.

 

U2K takes this further and strives to invert that pyramid, focusing on professional drivers in emerging countries.

By doing so U2K has identified large Markets or Segments, as well as Users and Emerging Nations where the Total Cost of Use of EVs is cheap and competitive.

With this strategy we aim to accelerate the availability of small, affordable vehicles. This is especially important in early-stage price-sensitive EV markets, such as those in emerging countries. More affordable options are also critical for tapping into demand from mobility services such as independent ride-hailing drivers.

Business Model

Our Core Business is E-Mobility as a Service – E-MaaS – to professional end-users.

We will provide:

    • The recharge facilities
    • The infrastructure software management system
    • Support for a “Pay as You Go” model to enable operators to own the vehicle (wheeled or floating).

The U2K integrated strategy is to build a capillary distributed network of fast charging/swapping stations backed by advanced Renewable Energy Microgrids and Energy Storage Solutions to ease range anxiety.

A state of the art cloud based software and custom tailored apps provide advanced services and guarantee high-margin recurring revenues.

The availability of a suitable vehicle is compulsory to break the chicken and egg loop that prevents the growth of the Electric Three-Wheelers (E3W) market. For this reason, where the large players cannot help with electric solutions, we can also offer a third-party cleaner, safer, lighter Electric Tuk-Tuk with ultrafast rechargeable battery packs, solar PV roof and intelligent regenerative braking.

However, for our business to be profitable it is of paramount importance to choose the right approach. For this reason, U2K focuses on the fleets’ market and the independent professional drivers’ market, such as taxi drivers, hail drivers and logistics’ drivers, as in these segments the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of EVs is the prevalent buying factor. More in particular, in the absence of state-driven incentives, cost is the main obstacle to the expansion and wider implementation of electric mobility solutions.

Technology

By examining the current economic cycle, e-mobility is changing the competitive landscape, moving from value chains to ecosystems, according to the Law of Disruption.

The Infrastructure however needs to grow in line with growing EV demand. Eventually different players with different ecosystems will emerge, in the form of:

      • Tech-centric
      • OEM
      • Investor-orchestrated
      • Open-platform

 

The U2K paradigm embraces an E-Mobility integrated ecosystem with several different technologies to orchestrate.

 

Electromechanical Technology

The transition to an electric powertrain for two and three wheelers has yet to be implemented extensively, it doesn’t simply mean to swap out the combustion engine and glue in an electric motor.

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Electrochemical Technology

With so many different Li-Ion electro-chemistries available (NMC, NCM, LFP, LTO etc.) and other promising non-Lithium electro-chemistries upcoming (Metal-Air, fuel cells, Ultracap etc.) it is not always apparent which option will work best nor is it viable to adopt a one size fits all approach: the Law of Disruption still applies.

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Electronic Technology

Power and Control Electronics is essential to obtain the highest safety and performance from a complex electro-chemical/mechanical system, therefore choosing the right approach is crucial.

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Infrastructure

Autonomous driving, Connected vehicles, the Electrification of the powertrain and Shared mobility (also commonly grouped as the ACES trends) are mutually reinforcing developments in the automotive sector. Combined, they are disrupting the automotive value chain and affecting all its stakeholders.

Connected vehicles are poised to become potent information platforms that not only provide better experiences for drivers but also open new avenues for businesses to create value within an integrated ecosystem.

In all cases, the ecosystem will be supported by a complex underlying technical infrastructure. This infrastructure is at the core of the U2K offering.

Electric vehicles (EVs) charging facilities and renewable energy systems can be directly associated within microgrid to achieve coordination and complementary, and reduce the negative impact on the grid.

Battery swapping can provide a new fully charged battery, which does not require depleting the energy of the old battery. Range anxiety is eased, and to some extent infinite mileage is obtained. Because battery swapping only requires a few minutes, waiting anxiety is significantly eased. Furthermore, the application of a mobile battery swapping service, based on battery swapping vans, equipped with several fully charged batteries and delivering batteries in predefined locations or on demand. When the number of battery swapping vans gets big enough, a battery can be sent to EV users anytime and anywhere. EV users can choose to stop to wait for a battery swapping van or keep driving until the battery swapping van catches up with them. This will appear as if EV users travel with an energy replenishment device, which will finally eliminate waiting anxiety and range anxiety.

All the vehicles in the infrastructure are equipped with an integrated positioning system and a communication system, to communicate with the mobility service management system and with the EV users, via wireless communication technology. With these information from the communication systems, the scheduling of service requests are received, and several information are provided, such as position and directions to battery storage locations or swapping vans, The service management system allows a centralized or semi distributed control over the whole network.

 

About Us

U2K, pronounced [ju-tu-keɪ], is a company comprising economists, technologists, engineers and designers coordinated by a strong management team with 200+ years of vast combined experience with complementary high level skills gained in international managerial and entrepreneurial careers within top multinational environments.

Our Experience