HIOKI and Macnica begin efforts to introduce autonomous driving EV buses with the aim of achieving carbon neutrality

HIOKI (HIOKI ELECTRIC CORPORATION: Ueda City, Nagano Prefecture; Representative Director and President: Takahiro Okazawa), which develops, manufactures, sells and services electrical measuring instruments, and Macnica (Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture; Representative Director and President: Kazumasa Hara), a total Services & Solutions provider in semiconductors, networks, cybersecurity and AI/IoT, are aiming to become carbon neutral and will begin efforts to introduce autonomous driving EV buses. In conjunction with this, they will begin preparations for a demonstration experiment of an autonomous driving EV bus at the HIOKI Head Office Factory (Ueda City, Nagano Prefecture) and on public roads in the surrounding area. The demonstration experiment will be carried out with the cooperation and support of Ueda City, Ueda Electric Railway Co., Ltd., Ueda Bus Co., Ltd. and Chikuma Bus Co., Ltd.

■Carbon neutral initiatives at HIOKI
HIOKI's basic sustainability policy stipulates that we will contribute to the realization of a sustainable society. Based on this basic policy, we have formulated the HIOKI Sustainability Declaration and have set the goal of achieving Scope 1 and Scope 2 carbon neutrality under the GHG Protocol in 2025, and Scope 3 carbon neutrality in 2035. As one measure to achieve this goal, HIOKI will conduct this demonstration experiment with Macnica and contribute to the decarbonization of the company and society.

■ Macnica ’s efforts to support the implementation of autonomous driving in society
Macnica considers responding to global environmental and social issues to be one of the most important management issues, and has established a basic sustainability policy to contribute to the global environment and social and economic development through business. One of our initiatives is to support the revitalization of local communities through smart mobility solutions based on the important issue of ``creating safe, secure, and comfortable living.'' In this demonstration experiment with HIOKI, we will leverage our extensive experience in autonomous driving technology knowledge, consulting, and the operation of demonstration experiments in Japan and overseas related to autonomous driving transportation services to plan, pre-verify, and autonomous driving. We support the commercialization of next-generation mobility services by providing total support from implementation work, operational maintenance, and maximizing the effects of implementation. In addition, HIOKI will operate an autonomous driving vehicle using the autonomous driving EV bus "ARMA" manufactured by France's NAVYA, which is scheduled to be used, and will provide implementation technical support and operation management system necessary for autonomous driving driving. and contribute to the decarbonization of society.

■ Background of HIOKI's demonstration experiment
HIOKI has a strong sense of crisis about the current situation of social implementation in Japan in response to the world trend of rapidly evolving mobility technology. By conducting this demonstration experiment, we decided to conduct the demonstration experiment of the autonomous driving EV bus this time because we want to create an opportunity for not only the Company employees but also everyone in the local community to directly experience next-generation mobility.

■Overview of the demonstration experiment
Assumed route: Public road around the head office factory (scheduled to be officially decided in the future based on discussions with related organizations)
①National Route 143 Machi Koizumi intersection area and HIOKI head office factory (Koizumi Route 2)
(2) Prefectural Route 65 Bypass Nambu Fire Station-mae Intersection and HIOKI Headquarters Factory (Yokoyama Kambata Line)
Used car: NAVYA ARMA
・Level 3 autonomous driving system (driving at level 2 during operation)
・Riding capacity 15 people (8 passengers + 2 crew members during operation)
・Maximum speed 25km (Running at about 18km/h during operation)
・Automatic driving is possible for approximately 9 hours (100km) on a single charge.
・Others: In case of emergency, the passenger will manually intervene
Cooperation and support: Ueda City (comprehensive support)
Ueda Bus Co., Ltd., Chikuma Bus Co., Ltd. (Provision of operating personnel)
Ueda Electric Railway Co., Ltd.

■ Post-demonstration outlook and expected effects
Through this demonstration experiment, HIOKI will encourage HIOKI employees to learn about the latest technologies necessary for the realization of a sustainable society, and lead to the provision of innovative measurement solutions as a frontrunner in the industry.
Furthermore, based on the results of the demonstration experiment, HIOKI will work on comprehensively reducing CO2 emissions through examination and trial of various measures, including autonomous driving EV buses. In addition, we would like to actively contribute to the reduction of CO2 in the city by sharing the knowledge obtained from the demonstration experiment and subsequent operation with other businesses in Ueda City.
Regarding this demonstration experiment, we will continue to proceed in accordance with laws and regulations and after consultation with administrative agencies and local residents.

■ Comments from Ueda City and each company supporting the demonstration experiment (in alphabetical order)
Ueda City
In order to promote smart cities and zero-carbon cities, this project using electric vehicles equipped with autonomous driving technology is a pioneering initiative. I will continue.
Ueda Electric Railway Co., Ltd.
I am deeply moved by the expansion and enhancement of public transportation being handled by a private business operator, as well as the approach to near-future transportation.
We hope that we will continue to deepen our cooperation with existing transportation operators and work together to build better public transportation.
Ueda Bus Co., Ltd.
From the perspective of SDGs, it is essential that a transportation society based on electric vehicles and autonomous driving will come to society in the future, and it is an urgent issue for our company to actively work on it. We would like to participate in Hioki Electric's social experiment and consider early introduction.
Chikuma Bus Co., Ltd.
At our company, autonomous driving has a bus route in Ueda City, we agreed with the idea of introducing an EV bus as a project of Hioki Electric to reduce CO2 and connect it to the use of public transportation. We will support the EV bus introduction project.