The Nardò Technical Center (NTC) currently has more than 20 test tracks and facilities on more than 700 hectares (7,000 acres) of land in Puglia, Italy, with about 185 people helping to offer state-of-the-art engineering services at the NTC, including vehicle testing for more than 90 automotive OEMs worldwide.

Antonio Gratis, managing director at NTC, says the new division will focus specifically on developing highly automated driving functions, vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication, and connectivity solutions.

The new office will open in the city of Leece, where a 5G network was recently established. Porsche expects the area to provide a rich talent pool of IT engineers, software architects, developers, and computer science graduates to pull from.

The companies aim to transition all of their services into fully electric programmes by 2030. Mark Potter, Head of Building Services at Ocado Group said:

“Ocado is committed to being the UK’s most sustainable grocer. This starts at our head office where we encourage employees to swap their car for a sustainable alternative. The introduction of the electric bus service with Zeelo allows our employees to benefit from a net zero commuting option

The service, launched on 29th November, transports employees to and from Ocado Group and Ocado Retail’s head office locations in Hatfield, UK, from nearby towns including St Albans and Welwyn Garden City.

By providing an all-electric bus programme, Zeelo and Ocado hope to save 16 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually. Meanwhile they are offering another valuable transportation link to the office for staff who are living in areas that may be underserved by public transport