Nopef funding helped Consat Telematics study the feasibility of entering the Brazilian market. It now has six employees in the country and is helping public transport systems run more efficiently and sustainably.
Brazil has close to 20 cities with at least a million inhabitants, making it one of the largest public transportation markets in the world. It still has a million diesel-powered buses, but that is changing. Brazilian cities are rapidly electrifying their transport system, which has caught the attention of the Swedish company Consat Telematics.
“We focus on electromobility, applications for electric buses and infrastructure that make bus operations more efficient and sustainable,” explains Esbjörn Lif, Consat Telematics’ Market Unit Director for Brazil.
Consat Telematics, which is part of the Consat group, has been offering traffic and fleet management services to public transportation for 30 years. It collects data on vehicles, such as speed, location, passengers, battery charges and history. This information can be used by passengers to better plan their commutes and drivers to better understand their vehicles. It is also valuable for the transportation companies and authorities that use it to optimise routes and operations to increase efficiency. The solution works for many forms of public transport, such as buses, trains, trams and ferries.
Consat Telematics has been active in Scandinavia and other places, but Brazil was a completely new territory.
“Brazil is a complicated market: very sensitive to price and functionality. It isn’t like the other places we’ve operated in,” Lif explains. “An old colleague mentioned Nopef, so we decided to contact them about a feasibility study.”
The feasibility study would help them study the market, test ideas and strategies, and conduct an analysis of whether Consat could bring environmental and economic value to Brazilian companies and passengers. Consat applied for Nopef funding in April 2021 and was approved just a month later, in May 2021. The project was completed in April 2023.
“Consat’s project was well aligned with Nopef’s mandate to support Nordic environmental solutions to grow on international markets. From an environmental perspective, the scalability of its solution was very interesting. Consat delivers an enabling technology to deliver positive environmental impacts,” explains Joakim Svahn, Investment Officer at Nefco, which administers Nopef (the Nordic Project Fund).
Advanced logistics can help buses plan the most efficient routes, reducing unnecessary driving and idling. Photo: Consat Telematics
Electromobility can bring major benefits to public transportation. A diesel bus might emit 1,150 grams of CO2 per kilometre, but a bus powered by renewable energy would have almost no carbon footprint. Brazil has great sources of renewable energy to charge batteries, mainly hydroelectric, solar and wind, as well as feedstock for alternative fuels like biodiesel.
For example, Curitiba, Brazil, introduced a line of biofuel-powered buses optimised by an intelligent transport system. Advanced logistics can help buses plan the most efficient routes, reducing unnecessary driving and idling. A study of the results estimates that the system has reduced smoke and pollutants by 50% and lowered fuel consumption by 35%.
An advanced and well-functioning system encourages more people to use public transport, increasing the benefits further. A study on commuters in Brazil discovered the main reasons for switching to public transport included improved infrastructure (cited by 46% of respondents), greater reliability (15%) and real-time service information (9%) – all benefits provided by Consat Telematics’ system.
“The feasibility study showed us that entering the Brazilian market was a good idea,” Lif says. “We made a decision very quickly. Within a few months we opened for business and were making sales. This is not an easy market to enter, but we’ve been successful.”
Consat Brasil Ltda opened in São Paulo and its first client was the bus company Eletra. That initial agreement was quickly followed by more.
“Currently, our solution is in buses in São Paulo and about ten more towns, including Brasilia. We are waiting for orders for about 500 more e-buses this year,” says Lif. “In São Paulo the train companies need to report passenger numbers to the authorities, so we have installed sensors over the doors to count their passengers. They can use this information to optimise routes and timetables, saving energy and lowering emissions.”
Consat Brasil employs about six people in sales, administration, support and project management roles. R&D takes place in Sweden.
“Brazil takes climate change seriously and is investing in more sustainable solutions,” says Lif. “The government is planning to fund 2,500 new electric buses this year, and we think we are well positioned to be part of that. We are also looking to expanding our offering, such as with smart charging stations. Geographically, we are interested in Chile next. It is also investing heavily in electric vehicles.
“Working with Nopef has been fruitful. They were a big help in the beginning. We needed to understand the market before we made a risky decision, which the feasibility study helped us do.”
Text: David J. Cord
Consat Telematics
1986
Sweden
Brazil
Transportation
Digitalisation, AI and data
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