Project description
An app for the future motor mechanic
What has more lines of code than Facebook and more micro-controllers than a fighter jet? It’s not a spaceship. Actually, it’s the average new car. This is exciting news, but for auto garages today it is difficult to find motor mechanics who are skilled with the complex electronics under the hood. This challenge is expected to intensify as the number of electric vehicles increases. Therefore, there’s a need for automotive training of a new generation of motor mechanics to meet future needs. In this context, the EU-funded KG Pro 2.0 project will develop a patent-pending hardware module that can connect to any car brand/model, plus a software platform and mobile subscription-based app that connects instructors to technicians anywhere in the world.
Objective
An average new car has more lines of code than Facebook and more micro-controllers than a fighter jet. Finding motor mechanics who understand complex electronics is a problem today. In the UK, for example, 80% of independent garages say they have trouble finding able technicians, and there will be an estimated 25,000 mechanics needed in the USA by 2020.
This problem will intensify as electric vehicles (EVs) are increasingly on the road. Industry estimates predict up to 20 million EVs in circulation by 2020 . There is an urgent need for education and training to update technicians’ skills with EV technology.
Automotive training is still mostly done the same way as decades ago: with a teacher in a training center using brand-specific training simulators.
Our core innovation, the KG System, is a patent-pending hardware module that can connect to any car brand/model, plus a software platform and mobile app that connects instructors to technicians anywhere in the world. The instructor remotely controls the module to activate failure simulations on the cars that the technicians are training with - a breakthrough, highly scalable and practical coaching approach.
KG Pro 2.0 will take our technology to a new level, with fully remote and autonomous training, and automated diagnosis, in line with sector trends and needs.
The EU automotive aftermarket is currently worth €221Bn, with opportunities for new digital, automated and autonomous solutions.
KG Protech is an award-winning startup based in the UK, France and Brazil. Our technology and subscription-based business model have been validated by our trial users: car manufacturers, car dealerships and automotive education centers.
The main objectives of phase 1 are to refine our go-to-market plan, mitigate risks, and to plan and allocate resources for the commercialization of KG 2.0. We project an annual revenue of €31M by 2022, and the addition of 72 full time employees over the same period.
Fields of science
- social scienceseducational sciencesdidactics
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencessoftware
- social sciencessocial geographytransportelectric vehicles
- social scienceseconomics and businessbusiness and managementbusiness models
- social scienceseconomics and businesseconomicsproduction economicsproductivity
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1Coordinator
EC3V 3QQ LONDON
United Kingdom
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.