Since becoming a Saturn car salesperson at age 17 to pay for university, then joining the General Motors EV1 electric vehicle program in the 90s, Chelsea Sexton has amassed unparalleled expertise in advanced transportation and related technology deployment, including product development, go-to-market strategy, stakeholder engagement, retail processes, public policy, infrastructure, marketing, and communications. 

Chelsea led the initial creation of the Automotive X PRIZE, which awarded $10 million to winning teams and inspired similar prize efforts to catalyze innovative transportation and smart city solutions. As a Senior Advisor to VantagePoint Capital Partners’ cleantech practice, she helped guide the firm’s transportation-related investment priorities, most notably an early stake in Tesla Motors.

Chelsea’s diverse adventures have also involved advising companies, NGOs, and government agencies around the world, including: Audi, Nissan, Tesla, Chevrolet, Electrify America, Google, Best Buy, Edison Electric Institute, Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, California Energy Commission, and many others. She also co-founded Plug In America, the largest consumer-oriented electric drive advocacy group in the US, and remained its Executive Director for several years.

Chelsea is featured in various books, TV shows, and films, including Sony Pictures Classic’s Who Killed the Electric Car? and National Geographic’s Years of Living Dangerously. 

Colin previously managed BNEF’s coverage of the global smart grid industry. He has over 10 years of experience in the clean energy sector and presents regularly at industry events. Colin’s past roles include Director of Sales and Marketing for Neurio, a smart grid technology company, and Business Development Manager for a Canadian biofuel company. Colin holds degrees from the London School of Economics and the Sauder School of Business at UBC. He is based in London, UK.

Vice Mayor Berg has a strong international commitment with a particular emphasis on climate justice. Berg has followed UN climate negotiations closely and her international experience has strengthened her focus on thinking globally, acting locally. She has lived in Tuvalu, Kenya, South Africa and Vietnam. Berg holds a Master’s degree from the Centre for Development and the Environment at the University of Oslo.

Prior to becoming Vice Mayor Lan Marie worked at The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration, the Mela Festival and CICERO (Center for International Climate and Environmental Research). Vice Mayor Berg started her political career in 2014 when she became the first candidate for the Oslo Green Party.

Neumann also worked as CTO and Board Member at Continental Automotive Systems, where he oversaw the acquisition of Siemens-VDO, making Continental the second-largest supplier of automotive electronics in Germany. He was then promoted to CEO in 2008.

Neumann has a passion for new transportation concepts – believing that traditional car makers will not be driving the change. He feels these new concepts will free major urban centers of traffic and pollution. He has a PhD focused in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the Technical University of Dortmund.

Her group pioneered www.movilidadelectrica.org– the first electric mobility platforms in Latin America devoted to the education of consumers about electric vehicles. She also co-founded the Electric Mobility Association in Costa Rica and is Vice President of the Board.  Her blog, “Essentially Electric” is hosted at the business newspaper La República. She writes frequently for international and local media and has given talks in Latin America, Europe and Asia.

HiePRactief is an official and active partner of the S4C Smart e-Mobility Holland- Westcoast Program that promotes knowledge and innovation exchange in the field of smart eMobility between the Westcoast of the US and the Dutch government, universities and industry.

Ellen Hiep is also one of the founders of Adventures 2 a smarter world,  a program that connects kids from different parts of the world with exciting (online) challenges in the field of smart mobility, solar and climate change.

She was born in Hof/Saale in Bavaria, Germany. Prior to joining the automotive industry in 1984, Vollert studied Chemistry and Rubber Technology in Bayreuth and Hannover.

Mr. William Li is a serial entrepreneur. He established Bitauto Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: BITA) in 2000, where he serves as the Chairman of the board of directors. Bitauto is one of the biggest providers of online content and marketing services for China’s automotive industry.

While he was still studying at Peking University, he founded Beijing Antarctic Technology Development Co., Ltd, one of the earliest internet companies in China. Mr. William Li has co-founded and invested in over 40 companies in the internet and automotive industries.

Mr. Li was recognized by Sina Finance, People’s Daily and Wu Xiaobo’s Channel in January 2018 as one of the “2017 Top 10 Economic Personages of China.”

Mr. Li was named GQ Magazine’s “Entrepreneur of the Year” in 2017.

Mr. William Li was recognized by the China Automobile Dealers Association in 2008 as one of the top 10 most influential people and distinguished people in China’s automobile deal industry in the past thirty years.

A disruptor at heart, Julie has been at the forefront of identifying the products and solutions critical to the success of Cummins customers. Prior to leading the Electrification business, Julie was responsible for product planning and product management across the company’s $8-billion Engine Business, the largest of Cummins’ four business segments. This included all new product programs, market-based innovation and new business incubation.

Julie joined Cummins in 2005 as the Global Finance Director for Cummins Generator Solutions in Stamford, England. She then moved to the US where she has held a variety of key commercial roles, which included leading the global off-highway business for Cummins Emission Solutions, serving as the Global Integrated Account Management leader for PACCAR, Cummins’ largest customer, and leading the entire North American Truck team.

A native of the UK, Julie is a qualified accountant and holds bachelors and masters degrees in maths from Oxford University. She is a Court Appointed Special Advocate for Children and resides in Columbus, Indiana with her husband and two daughters.

He has participated in lobbying and introducing numerous energy reforms in Ukraine. He personally championed initiatives supporting e-mobility, renewable energy and those focused on creating an energy efficiency market in Ukraine.

Dr. Oleksii Riabchyn represented Ukraine in Conferences of the Parties to the UNFCCC in Paris, Marrakesh, Bonn and Katowice. He is focused on promoting renewables, sustainable development, green economy and supporting displaced universities that were relocated from Donbas and Crimea.

Lithium Road  illustrates this new gold rush for the modern age. Batteries are the social and industrial game changers of our time. As the need for effective climate protection gets stronger, the development of cleaner energy is gaining momentum. At the same time, a key part of the solution, lithium, and the production of the material, is not without its own hazards and sins.

The photographic project follows the tracks of lithium, from investment and prospecting in the US, to mining in Bolivia, production of batteries and cars in China and to the small oil state Norway leading the way to electrify all of its transportation – cars, buses, planes and boats.

Annie is also the global sponsor of the EV program of ALD Automotive, working as a “green” ambassador in the leading Fleet Management company in Europe. With more than 1.6 million cars managed by ALD in 43 countries, the potential for transformation is huge!

“Finance players are usually on the more conservative side, as financing EVs involves taking residual value risk”, says Annie. But she believes the transition to new ways of consuming mobility – EVs but also car sharing, pay per use and of course autonomous cars – is only a question of time… And it will come faster than we think!

Initially coming from Paris, Annie has spent the last 10 years of her life in the Nordic countries and comes with more than 15 years experience in the finance industry. She has a Master of Political Sciences from Sciences Po and an MBA from Essec Business School and is Chairman of the Board of the French Foreign Trade Council in Norway.

Ztractor’s mission is to rethink current farming practice and introduce AI powered, future agriculture machinery. The startup has partnered with OEMs in the United States and Europe, and the first model will be delivered to customer in California in 2019.

Kvezerali is a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has served as Georgia’s Miniser of Agriculture  (2008 – 2011).

Fraser has worked for Dundee City Council since 2001. In 2011 he was appointed Assistant Manager of the newly formed Corporate Fleet Department.

He has been at the forefront of implementing electric vehicles and infrastructure in Dundee as well as surrounding local authorities.

Pro-active in the council’s drive towards the EV uptake of the city’s taxi industry he has presented at many UK/European conferences where he has articulated his knowledge and expertise in the practicalities of electric vehicle adoption.

Clay also serves as Project Manager for RMI’s latest initiative, Reinventing Fire: China, a partnership with the Chinese government to examine the maximum feasible share of renewables and efficiency technology in the Chinese energy economy through 2050.

The project’s aim is to develop a transparent, adjustable, and enduring model to inform China’s energy future. Clay has worked on energy strategy in more than a dozen countries including Japan.

Prior to joining RMI, Clay worked in viticulture, marketing, and social-business incubation, and was the founder of an import company dedicated to the international distribution of Mexican wine and spirits. As a Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician, he has led expeditions in the Sierra Nevada, Himalaya, and Rocky Mountains.

He holds a BA in Agriculture, Ecology and Philosophy from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and an MBA focused on natural resource management from Bainbridge Graduate Institute in Washington State.

Previously, he worked on climate change issues for over a decade at the International Energy Agency and the World Bank. He holds a Masters degree in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University.

Jeanette Shaw serves as Forth’s Senior Director of Public Relations and directs communications, government affairs, marketing, and membership at Forth. She works to develop transportation electrification and e-mobility legislative and regulatory policies as well as marketing and communication strategies for Forth.

Previously, Jeanette also served as Vice President of Government Relations, Executive Director, and as an Organizational Development Consultant to several high-tech companies and nonprofit organizations, including National Semiconductor, Technology Network (TechNet) and the Oregon Winegrowers Association and the Oregon Wine Board.

Jeanette holds an Executive MBA from Stanford University and a Bachelor of Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Edgeir started his career during his studies as co-founder of the startup Deriga in Trondheim, later sold to Visma, the largest software corporation in the Nordics. Edgeir holds a Master of Science degree in computer science from NTNU.

PHOTO: With his smart phone app, Aksnes wants to make it easier for consumers to control their electricity consumption.

Headhunted to work for Californian electric car maker Tesla, Parveen joined as a Product Specialist in electric vehicles. Her time with the company was by far the most exciting time, as Tesla was in its infancy in the UK; educating and showcasing new innovations for the first time.

Converting people’s perceptions on EVs, electrifying  business fleets, testing autopilot features and introducing new powertrains accelerated Parveen’s passion and her specialism in electromobility went on to her being promoted to work on marketing strategies and sales.

Environmental impacts and sustainable solutions were at the forefront of Parveen’s work during her time with Tesla and it’s what motivated her to co-found Solisco to offer specialist consultancy, thought leadership and clean tech infrastructure to support electromobility within municipalities and private enterprises.

So far, the start-up company has been working closely with the oil and gas industry, OEMs, large retailers and hotel chains. They hope to expand their presence and open up a new office in California later this year.

In 2018, Solisco was awarded Global Clean Energy’s ‘most innovative EV power tech provider – UK’ award and in 2019, the company won two competitions funded by the UK government’s Office for Low Emission Vehicles and Innovate UK.

Recognizing that there are severe environmental challenges that the next generation faces, Parveen is genuinely motivated to bring her visionary ideas and knowledge to contribute towards a sustainable planet.

A key focus for her is the connection between political decisions, the policies that are created to attain these decisions, the implementation of those policies and the eventual outcomes in terms of sustainable energy system transformation.

Thus she highly enjoys following the development of the different technologies and policies that may contribute to profound mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions.

Ydersbond holds a PhD in political science from the University of Oslo. Her doctoral thesis dealt with the development of EU’s climate and energy policy. She has also worked with topics like lobbying, renewable energy and international energy policy.

Since she was a teenager, she has been engaged in protection of the environment and climate, and was an active member of the environmental organization Nature and Youth (Natur og Ungdom).

At BYTON, he serves as Chief Vehicle Engineer, focusing on the core automotive Engineering disciplines of body structures, body equipment, chassis and thermal management, as well as ensuring that the different Engineering disciplines co-operate smoothly to ensure that BYTON’s future products have a consistent Engineering philiosophy.

Before joining BYTON, David was Chief Engineer at Alpine, and Head of Vehicle Engineering at Renault Sport. Through his leadership and team efforts, he successfully developed a truly groundbreaking sports car – the new Alpine A110, that spearheads the rebirth of the Alpine brand, and has even been favorably compared with established segment leaders like the Porsche Cayman.

From 2009 to 2013, David led the engineering team responsible for the Renault ZOE as the key pillar of Renault’s ambitious Zero Emissions program, and currently Europe’s best-selling BEV. He also steered the development of the first generation Nissan Qashqai, a highly profitable model for Nissan, launching the dominant compact SUV segment in Europe.

David was granted the Mundy Award for Engineering by Autocar Awards 2018 for his great achievements.

Since 2007 Electric Vehicles has been a key strategic move for Renault. With 4 cars Renault is the leader of the European EV market. When Feunteun took the responsibility of the program the priority has been to continue growing the sales while improving the profitability.

This has been achieved with doubling profit margin per car between 2015 and 2016 as well as growing the volume by 25%. His second main undertaking is to launch a renewal of the EV product plan as well as a long-term EV strategy.

Feunteun also set up the first set of EV business units for Renault.

He was trained and served for several years as a pilot on a number of aircraft in the Royal Norwegian Air Force, including F16, and has held a wide range of operational and management positions in Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS).

Before Mr. Falk-Petersen came to Avinor, he was CEO of CHC Helikopter Service in Norway. He still maintains his private pilot certificate.

Mr. Benabdallah has almost 25 years experiences in the fleet leasing business where is has played several roles within Arval in sales, operation and international remarketing areas. He has extensive experience in key sales negotiations, teams management, work in international environments, defining strategies – and implementing them. A truly international speaker, Mr. Benabdallah in addition to Norwegian also uses French, English and Spanish at work.