The proposed project “Coherent Support for Mobility.E Strategy” (COSMOS) aims at supporting the ECSEL Lighthouse Initiative Mobility.E in its endeavour to accelerate the deployment of clean and automated road mobility solutions and the realisation of the associated socio-economic benefits. For this purpose, the COSMOS project will assist the Lighthouse Initiative Advisory Service (LIASE) in the continuous identification and prioritisation of research topics and the subsequent translation into an action plan to support roadmap implementation. It will map the Mobility.E ecosystem by comparing the Strategic Research Agendas of ECSEL and of the European Technology Platforms AENEAS, EPoSS and ARTEMIS-IA involved therein with those of stakeholders further down the value chain, such as ERTRAC, EUCAR, CLEPA, and EATA regarding complementarity and coherence, and it will analyse the implementation of these roadmaps into funded projects. This approach shall enable the identification of white spots and gaps and it will reveal the potentials for bridging these with a dedicated implementation plan. This content-related work will be enabled by a set of effective network support measures in terms of stakeholder engagement and collaboration, events and workshops as well as dissemination building an extensive Stakeholder Circle. One of the visible activities supported by COSMOS will be continuation and further development of the ECA 2030 networking events series. The contractual and associated partners of COSMOS are representing the Mobility.E lighthouse projects, the LIASE and the governing board of ECSEL, the editorial team of the “Transport and Smart Mobility” chapter of the ECSEL Joint SRA and further relevant stakeholders. By working together in a coherent manner in processes for strategy development and network support they form a strong backbone of the community to be built for the Mobility.E Lighthouse of ECSEL.

Future urban mobility is envisioned with electrified vehicles (xEV) with driving assistance systems (such as autonomous vehicles, AV) coexisting with other road users like pedestrians and cyclists, resulting in smart and sustainable cities with less air and noise pollution. However, one of the most significant problems with xEV in urban areas is the lack of noise. The noise reduction of vehicles has been very welcomed by society but with the inherent risk of losing its detectability, with particular attention to vulnerable road users. Several studies reported that xEVs are more likely to have more accidents with cyclists and run over pedestrians (especially the most vulnerable ones like blind people). External noise is one of the perils facing the quietness of xEV, but the interior noise should also be addressed. The internal acoustic and vibration environment would help reduce monotony and increase awareness of drivers using automated driving modes (with still required human feedback), and contribute to the passengers' welfare. In xEV running at low speeds (urban areas), most internal and external noises are produced by the electric and electronic elements in the powertrain. The electrified powertrain offers the opportunity to create specific sounds following certain requirements and endorsing associations for increasing safety in road users, awareness of drivers, and comfort appreciation. The GAP_NOISE project aims to define a set of actions to fill the gap between the current knowledge and technology in xEV and human psychoacoustics, combining the engineering fields of electric motors, modelling methods, control strategies, in addition to the recognized interaction between perceived sound quality and vibration. Thus, establishing an ideal theoretical and practical arena for developing a technologically strong community of scientists, engineers and social stakeholders capable of boosting the acoustic integration of autonomous vehicles in future urban areas.

Since 2008, the rail freight market has not yet recovered from the global recession and profit margins in the railway sector have been falling throughout Europe. Moreover, competition was able to increase their capacity due to innovations. Within the last 15 years, inland vessels have increased their transport capacity by 158%, truck transportation by up to 50% while rail freight transportation only by 3% thanks to increasing the length of trains to 740 metres. SHIFT²RAIL IP5 addresses this issue by fostering a vision for future rail freight operation offering increased quality and efficiency while simultaneously improving the overall cost structure. The target is to shift the road freight volumes for distances beyond 300 km to other modes in the range of 30% and 50% by the years 2030 and 2050 respectively. In this context, the FFL4E project (Future Freight Locomotive for Europe) aims at developing key technologies for future energy efficient freight locomotives, allowing highest operational flexibility and providing attractive and competitive rail freight services to the final customer. Focus is set on: • Extreme flexibility for operation in non-electrified and in electrified lines, allowing private and public operators to offer broaden rail freight services according to demand without the need of changing the locomotive. • Remote control for distributed power, thus, allowing the increase of the train length up to 1500 m and consequently improving the cost efficiency of rail transport. • Recuperation of braking energy as much as possible, store it onboard and reuse it whenever required, for traction purposes, for peak shaving or to supply auxiliaries and others. • Last mile propulsion capabilities, sourcing the energy from a powerful on-board Li-Ion battery • Reduction of wear and noise of freight operations by means of developing track-friendly, low-noise running gear for the future freight locomotive.