It is a wrap for TRA 2026: Four days of innovation, collaboration and exchange for the 2Zero community
The Transport Research Arena (TRA) 2026, held in Budapest from 18th to 21st May, once again confirmed its role as Europe’s flagship conference for transport research and innovation, bringing together policymakers, industry, academia and research organisations to shape the future of mobility.
Throughout the four days, the 2Zero community was highly engaged across the programme, contributing to key discussions, showcasing research results, participating in project presentations, and fostering networking and knowledge exchanges.
2Zero shared a stand in collaboration with ERTRAC and CCAM, which served as a central hub for dialogue with policymakers, industry leaders and research organisations. The stand welcomed high-level visitors, including Jerry Buttimer, Irish Minister of State for Rural and Community Development, Charities and Transport, representatives from the European Commission, notably DG RTD, and Dr. Claudia Elif Stutz, State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry of Transport (BMV). These exchanges provided valuable opportunities to discuss research priorities, policy alignment and the importance of continued coordination between national initiatives and European research and innovation efforts.
The stand also hosted dedicated activities for the community. Notably, a presentation of the book series “Sustainable Mobility & Energy”, edited by Helmut List (AVL List) and published by Springer Nature, took place on 19th May. The series, which currently includes 13 volumes, covers key topics such as battery technologies for electromobility, automated mobility and CCAM, hydrogen and fuel cells, and software-defined vehicle architectures. The event brought together Georg List and Josef Affenzeller, former Secretary General of EGVIAfor2Zero and coordinator of the series, offering participants the opportunity to engage directly with leading experts in the field.
Beyond the exhibition, the 2Zero community contributed extensively to the conference programme, with strong participation across strategic, technical and special sessions, as well as poster showcases.
A key highlight was session 7: “Made-in-Europe efficient, affordable and attractive Electric Vehicles: innovation priorities towards technology sovereignty and competitiveness of the EU automotive industry”, moderated by Lucie Beaumel (EGVIAfor2Zero). The session featured contributions from leading industry and research representatives, including Jean-Luc di Paola-Galloni (Valeo), Manasa Sridhar (Iveco Group), Eric Armengaud (E-VOLVE Cluster), Alejandro Diaz (CIRCE) and Ian Faye (Bosch). Discussions highlighted key priorities for Europe’s automotive sector, including the need for fair global competition, a financially sustainable transition, and stronger alignment between manufacturing capacity and know-how development through continued EU-funded R&I and cooperation. The session also emphasised the importance of achieving scale and speed in electrification while addressing the “valley of death” to ensure innovations successfully reach the market.
Another important moment was session 9: “Assessing the impacts and discussing the future of the 2Zero and CCAM Partnerships: accelerate the Electrification and Automation of road mobility”, with contributions from Stephan Neugebauer (Chairman of EGVIAfor2Zero – BMW Group) and Benedetta Trignani (EGVIAfor2Zero / CCAM Association). The discussion highlighted how closer coordination between partnerships can accelerate the deployment of innovative solutions and ensure that research results effectively translate into real-world applications.
The 2Zero community also contributed to session 26, “International cooperation: One system, many actors – Coordinating European research, innovation and implementation for global sustainable mobility”. The session highlighted the importance of aligning European and global efforts to tackle shared mobility challenges and scale up sustainable transport solutions. In addition, 2Zero was actively involved in discussions on digitalisation and emerging technologies through special session 8, “Safe and sustainable road transport with digitalisation, AI and Software Defined Vehicles”, where the discussion underlined the role of digitalisation and artificial intelligence in strengthening competitiveness and accelerating the transition to zero-emission mobility.
Across all these sessions, there was a strong and consistent message: achieving zero-emission road transport requires a systemic approach combining electrification, digitalisation, automation and new mobility solutions. Discussions also underlined the importance of maintaining the competitiveness of the European automotive industry, strengthening industrial ecosystems and ensuring that research and innovation continue to support deployment at scale.
The presence of numerous 2Zero-funded projects throughout the conference further reinforced this message. Projects were featured in technical sessions and poster exhibitions, presenting concrete results on topics such as next-generation vehicles, charging infrastructure, circular economy approaches and user-centric mobility solutions. These activities demonstrated the breadth of innovation supported under the partnership while fostering collaboration across the European transport research community.
TRA 2026 confirmed the central role of the 2Zero Partnership in driving forward research and innovation for zero-emission road transport. Through its active participation in sessions, strong presence at the exhibition, and engagement with high-level stakeholders, the partnership continues to contribute to shaping a sustainable, competitive and resilient mobility system in Europe, while building momentum towards the next edition of TRA in Milan from 5th to 8th June 2028.
