Momentum Expands Global Presence and Increases Focus on Passenger Cars
- Former Jaguar Land Rover Senior John Holland appointed to lead these activities for Momentum Dynamics Corporation as new Commercial Director, Europe, and Middle East
With a rapidly expanding portfolio of successful automatic, wireless high-power EV charging projects across the U.S.A., Momentum Dynamics Corporation is now taking a big global step into Europe, the Middle East and beyond.
Momentum’s focus to date has been on charging electric bus and truck operations. However, in response to accelerating global customer demand for automatic wireless charging of private passenger cars, particularly in luxury segments and high utilization taxi operations, Momentum is expanding its global footprint and product offerings. There is also pressure mounting to deploy automatic wireless charging for the developing autonomous vehicle industry, where hands-free charging is considered essential.
To accelerate these growth opportunities in Europe and the Middle East, and to bring a wealth of passenger car and autonomous vehicle experience, Momentum has announced the appointment of John Holland, formerly of Jaguar Land Rover, to the new position of Commercial Director, Europe and Middle East.
Bob Kacergis, Momentum’s Chief Commercial Officer, said:The Momentum team is excited and proud to have John represent us in all things East of the Atlantic. John has a proven history of delivering on a large portfolio of complex projects with multiple partners. For such an experienced senior automotive professional to join Momentum from Jaguar Land Rover is a profound achievement for our company. John has vision and boundless energy combined with a genuine belief in our technology, so we expect remarkable things to happen – in fact, they already have. John’s unique background of automotive engineering and having successfully overseen a wireless integration will play into our broader roll-out in the passenger vehicle marketplace.
John has over 24 years’ experience in the automotive industry and is a proven commercial partnership lead, strategic business development professional and has produced an impressive catalogue of successful program delivery during his career to date.
Immediately prior to joining Momentum, John led the Jaguar Land Rover partnership with Waymo, Google’s autonomous driving company. A world first for the all-electric Jaguar I-Pace; now driving autonomously around U.S. streets. John’s business development team delivered the program which produced the world’s first all-electric Google Street View / Air View (air quality monitoring) vehicle in Dublin. During his time at JLR, John also led the world’s first wireless charging EV taxi fleet program by coordinating with Momentum Dynamics, which is where Momentum discovered him.
At Momentum, John’s mandate is to grow the presence of wireless charging outside of the U.S.A. and lead new passenger car sector partnerships. John also leads the existing focus of high-utilization commercial fleet operations across these new target regions. Momentum’s vision is to fundamentally shift the way EVs are charged, so that charging becomes invisible, automatic, and simply occurs in the background without need for thought.
John, continued:I hold the absolute belief that Momentum Dynamics has the technology which will change the world for the better. Enabling all day operational high-utilisation EVs with frequent “opportunistic” charging reduces the necessity of carrying huge battery packs for range. The rising value of battery materials, as demand so severely outstrips supply, will shift the focus on a more responsible and sustainable use. Significantly lower cost, lighter and more efficient electric vehicles will be able to drive all day long, free of charging concerns. This approach to charging is also gentler on the battery, with maintained high partial states of charge improving battery state of health and longevity.
John Holland is a professional chartered engineer with the IMechE in the U.K., having achieved a 1st class Honours degree in Manufacturing Engineering and Management from Loughborough University in the U.K. He was awarded the Leadership Award by the Chartered Quality Institute in 2017. John was awarded the European Henry Ford Technology Award for Innovation and was twice winner of the annual Global Tata Edge Award. John has worked across many engineering disciplines in his career; however, he considers the challenge of bringing multiple vehicle models into mass production his greatest achievement.
John focused his career on quality improvement, and excellence for several years, leading the JLR corporate 6-Sigma program as Master Black Belt and Lean-Kaizen Sensei. He also became JLR’s first Tata Business Excellence Model (TBEM) assessor going on to achieve the highest first-time applicant score in the Tata Group, and in the following year, the highest year-on-year improvement in the group.
Wireless Charging Keeps Fleets Moving
Wireless charging for electric vehicles allows automatic charging during regular operation. Charging buses in bus stops, taxis in taxi ranks, vans in the loading bay, and ferries at the port enables highly efficient transport operations. There is zero downtime due to charging. The charging is automatic and requires no action or supervision by the driver who is free to continue primary duties such as vehicle loading or attending to passengers. The system works in all weather and is unaffected by rain, ice, or snow.
Automatic wireless charging also enables automated charging of the full range of autonomous vehicles including restricted fleets (logistics yards, vehicle depots, geofenced areas) and open road fleets (delivery, shared mobility, and passenger vehicles).
This article was originally published by Momentum Wireless Power.
