Between 11 and 12 June, the consortium partners of the AHEAD project gathered in Funchal, the capital of Madeira, for the project’s 3rd General Assembly. The meeting marked an important milestone, as AHEAD has now reached its second year, halfway through its lifetime. Over the past 24 months, the project has achieved a great deal, and many more exciting milestones lie ahead in the next two years.
The Assembly opened with a speech by Funchal’s Deputy Mayor, Carlos Rodrigues, highlighting the high level of engagement around the event. The city of Funchal is strongly committed to a greener, more electrified future, and AHEAD is playing an important role in supporting that transition. Together with local stakeholders, the project has already supported the installation of EV chargers in the city centre, helping to expand the availability of public charging infrastructure.
During the meetings, the partners exchanged updates on the progress of each work package, presenting recent achievements and outlining the next planned activities. AHEAD continues to move forward rapidly in its mission to develop a tool that can support the planning of charging station deployment by taking into account charging demand and the existing grid infrastructure. Funchal is one of several testing sites used by the project, alongside locations in other parts of Portugal, as well as Italy, Denmark, and Slovenia. The diversity of demonstration sites will allow for a better understanding of EV, HDV, and vessel usage patterns, current technical and regulatory constraints, and public acceptance of electrified transportation.
Beyond the meetings and discussions on the project’s next steps, the partners also enjoyed the good weather and took part in a guided tour of Funchal, led by Augusto Vieira from Funchal City Hall. The tour passed through several key transport infrastructures in the city, giving the partners a clearer view of the work being carried out by the local authorities to improve traffic flow and encourage residents to shift towards cleaner and more efficient transport modes. The city’s mobility plan combines smarter traffic management systems with urban planning that better integrates different transport options. The tour concluded at the charging stations installed with the support of the AHEAD project in the city centre.
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