Electric Drivetrain Technology For Road, Sea And Air – UK Tech Company BEDEO’s CEO Osman Boyner

BEDEO is a UK technology company bringing sustainable transportation solutions to communities across Europe. For the moment it’s concentrating on developing proprietary electric drivetrain technology for light commercial vehicles (LCVs), but it has ambitions to branch out into the marine and air transport sectors.

It has also just announced its first major acquisition. Auto Futures caught up with Osman Boyner, BEDEO’s Chief Executive and Founder.

“I invested early in the development of lithium batteries, an area I researched at University, and my focus on urban air quality led me to concentrate my time on applying electric drivetrain technology to light commercial vehicles,” says Boyner.

He founded BD Auto in 2009, which was later rebranded as BEDEO.

In 2019, the company entered into a contract with PSA (the Peugeot Citroen Group) to supply and install BEDEO electric drivetrain solutions to a selection of its LCV models, including refrigerated delivery trucks. 

“As companies engage on the path to zero emission mobility, our technology, deep experience and tailor-made approach helps them transition to electric solutions and improve operations while making a material impact on reducing pollution in city centres and accelerating the overall transition to electrification.”

BEDEO’s key differentiator is that it provides end-to-end electrification solutions to its  clients.

“We design, engineer and install our proprietary electric powertrains, including battery packs, in our own plant in Istanbul.

“We are also recognised for our expertise in electric vehicles homologation to EU standards, making our technology easily adoptable for clients, and we have set up a network of service partners across Europe to support the After Sales activity,” he explains.

Since interviewing Boyner, BEDEO has announced that it has acquired Protean Electric from National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS), a subsidiary of Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group

Protean is the company’s first acquisition following the successful capital raise from the sustainability focused investment manager, Ludgate.

“We have known and partnered with Protean Electric for many years and the opportunity to acquire this business represents a material but natural shift and acceleration in BEDEO’s electrification strategy. Protean Electric’s highly differentiated proprietary technology and strong customer relationships have fuelled its well documented success to-date and we
are confident that combining the skills and products of our two operations is going to propel BEDEO further into the EV ecosystem,” says Boyner.

Protean Electric will continue to operate under its leading brand and will be led by its existing management team.

Protean Electric’s CEO, Andrew Whitehead, adds: “We’re immensely excited to join forces with BEDEO and look forward to our combination taking the company to the next level both in terms of scale and product offering. This acquisition ensures we will be well capitalised to meet the burgeoning demand from existing and new customers. The paradigm shift towards electrification in transportation requires our customers to adapt their products to their changing needs and, together, we are ideally placed to accelerate this transition.”

UK-based Protean Electric has developed the ProteanDrive in-wheel motor (IWM) technology, which delivers torque and power directly to the wheels with no shafts or gears, and is both lighter and more efficient than conventional EV powertrains.

Road, Sea And Sky

BEDEO is partnering up with OEMs, as well as blue-chip customers in logistics, e-commerce, online grocery and food retail, and urban waste management.

For example, Stellantis has selected it to exclusively produce electric light commercial vehicles for the Peugeot, Citroen, Opel and Vauxhall brands for the European market.

“The partnership will grow stronger with Stellantis’ ambition to release several thousand of these electric vans per year across Europe, and BEDEO will continue to directly address specialised markets with bespoke needs such as refrigeration,” explains Boyner.

It’s also announced a partnership with the UK grocery delivery service, Ocado Retail.

“BEDEO is assisting Ocado Retail with its transition to sustainable last mile delivery by supplying 100% electric refrigerated vans using our proprietary technology. Ocado first released 15 100% electric vans powered by BEDEO in 2019. Further vehicles going into service during the course of this year will increase BEDEO’s footprint in Ocado’s fleet to 32 electric vans by the end of 2021.”

He adds: “Not only does our technology offer an immediate and direct solution to improving the air quality of our cities, it also allows our customers to make reductions to their last mile delivery costs. The adoption of our technology should therefore accelerate – this is how we will make a meaningful move towards a zero-emission environment.”

BEDEO is in the process of actively expanding its technology to the marine, aviation and stationary markets, Boyner tells us.

“Companies are moving to meet regulatory obligations by switching to electric.”

One of the side-effects of electrification is the reduction of noise in urban environments. The UK’s Noise Abatement Society is dedicated to establishing noise as a statutory nuisance.

“Our passion for making a radial impact on city-wide air pollution and noise is fully alligned with the Noise Abatement Society’s mission of finding solutions to noise pollution. We partnered with the Noise Abatement Society in 2018 to raise awareness of, and find solutions to noise pollution and pollutants. BEDEO powered vehicles help improve air quality levels and are quiet when driving and silent at standstill, reducing noise in cities across Europe.”

Finally, we asked Boyner what will last-mile urban delivery look like by 2030.

“Companies are moving to meet regulatory obligations by switching to electric, which will certainly have an effect on last-mile urban delivery. Ocado, for example, is a member of the British Retail Consortium (BRC) steering committee and has plans to reach a target of Net Zero carbon emissions by 2035. BEDEO’s technology plays a huge role in providing a pathway to the achievement of these types of goals,” he concludes.