Electrified L-category Vehicles Integrated into Transport and Electricity Networks

Project Information

ELVITEN

Grant agreement ID: 769926

DOI

10.3030/769926

Project closed

EC signature date 9 August 2017

Start date 1 November 2017

End date 31 October 2020

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Smart, Green And Integrated Transport

Total cost

€ 9 633 126,79

EU contribution

€ 7 840 648,75

Coordinated by

EREVNITIKO PANEPISTIMIAKO INSTITOUTO SYSTIMATON EPIKOINONION KAI YPOLOGISTON
Greece

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - ELVITEN (Electrified L-category Vehicles Integrated into Transport and Electricity Networks)

Reporting period: 2019-05-01 to 2020-10-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Electrified L-category Vehicles (EL-Vs) are a further step towards an even more sustainable urban mobility, still in 2012 only 1.3% of all L-Vs were electric. ELVITEN has acknowledged 3 factors hindering the EL-Vs market penetration. A first factor was the users’ low awareness that was partially due to the limited direct experience with such vehicles. Another factor relates to the consumers’ concerns about the their relatively high cost and the feeling of uncertainty as regards range anxiety. Finally, there was a lack of consistent knowledge needed by planning authorities to prepare an adequate traffic and charge infrastructure for the EL-Vs integration in the transport and electricity networks. To tackle all the above factors, ELVITEN organized long demonstrations of different categories of EL-Vs in 6 EU cities, supported by innovative ICT tools and apps. The strategic objectives were to enhance users’ awareness about EL-Vs and to create a big data bank of real trips and users’ perceptions in order to create appropriate business models for service providers and guidelines for vehicle manufacturers, service providers and planning authorities for the better integration of such vehicles in SUMPs. In parallel, ELVITEN aimed to involve users via wide campaigns and stakeholders via the formation of Regional Support Groups (RSGs) and a network of Follower Cities.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

ELVITEN analysed the mobility demand in Trikala, Berlin, Malaga, Rome, Genoa, Bari, using mobility data and via a wide online citizens’ survey (7,000 responses). The target user clusters and the appropriate usage schemes have been selected. All infrastructural, organisational and legal arrangements in each city and the methodology to run the demonstrations has been determined. The data to be collected and a baseline status has been specified, according to the defined KPIs. The ELVITEN ICT platform has been deployed to instantiate the ICT tools in each city. The tools included an app to book EL-Vs and eHubs, monitor the fleet and register the users, a Digital Coach app towards ecofriendly driving, a Serious Game app and an Incentives Smart Card app via which users could earn virtual points and thus awards. The data collection and the usage of EL-Vs have been monitored via the two custom tools, the ELVITEN Dashboard and the Issue Reporting Tool.
Trikala offered 5 e-3-wheelers (L2e-P) for long-term sharing, 5 e-4-wheelers (L6e) and 18 L1e-A e-bikes for short-term sharing. Berlin offered 10 eScooters for long-term sharing. Malaga offered 40 e-bikes for long-term sharing and 15 eHubs were installed. Bari offered 10 e-bikes for short-term sharing and installed 10 eHubs near the city centre. Rome offered 60 e-bikes for long-term sharing to employees in public bodies and local police and deployed 10 eHubs. Genoa offered 10 e-3-wheelers for long-term sharing to members of their RSG and 8 eScooters and 2 4-wheelers owners. 3 eHubs have been installed near the two biggest train stations. All the 225 vehicles were equipped with trip data loggers, sending pseudonymised trip-related data to the ELVITEN data repository.
Continuous awareness campaigns, with the support of ELVITEN Ambassadors and RSGs, have been organised to ensure users' engangement. Subsequently, a big data bank with detailed data from 41,275 real trips and users’ perceptions via 9,820 questionnaires has been created.
The data have been analysed to study the demand and driving patterns of EL-Vs in each city, the users’ charging behaviours and real driving conditions. EL-Vs proved to be a very good alternative to ICE vehicles and a good complement to public transport regardless of the cities’ differences in size, traffic, topology and climate. The level of acceptance of EL-Vs and ICT services has been analysed per users’ category, age, gender and trip purpose and seems increased among users after using the vehicles compared to before.
A robust methodology has been developed and applied for the mobility, environmental and cost-benefit analysis. Different conclusions have been produced per city depending on the fleet and composition, the number of inhabitants and population density and other regional parameters showing that significant environmental benefits can be achieved from the emission savings due to the usage of EL-Vs. The benefits from the emission savings will be higher in cities with lower air quality and higher urban population density. Comparing the monetized benefits with the costs associated, shows that, shifting to EL-Vs seems to be a justifiable investment. Additionally, 12 replicable business models based on innovative methodologies have been created. All studies have resulted in the preparation of guidelines for vehicle manufacturers, service providers, planning authorities and legislators which will support the development of more advanced vehicle models and services and the integration of EL-Vs in SUMPs. Specific recommendations have been created due to the pandemic experience.All these have been validated by the 80 RSG members and are promoted towards the ELVITEN Follower Cities.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The ELVITEN demonstrations resulted in the creation of a unique big data bank with detailed data from 41,275 trips and 9,820 users’ perceptions. ELVITEN analyses on users’ needs, on the potential EL-Vs market penetration and impacts at a city level, its Business Models and guidelines are unique as they are based on this big data bank and have been validated via consultation with a wide basis of stakeholders from the RSGs.The users’ familiarisation with the EL-Vs due to the long demonstrations have contributed to speed up the EL-Vs market penetration. All users’ acceptance indicators increased after the demonstrations. After the demonstrations 74.5 % of the users would use EL-Vs more frequently than 4 days/week and 20.0% would use at least once/week, whereas only 16.18% were regular users and 45.18% had used EL-Vs rarely before.
ELVITEN concluded that shifting to EL-Vs is an economically justifiable investment. 12 sustainable business models have been developed for sharing, parking and charging EL-Vs services, designed to increase marketability potential and to offer competitive advantages for service providers after a comparative analysis against the main potential competitors.
The ELVITEN guidelines to manufacturers, service providers and Planning Authorities will contribute to speed up the EL-Vs market penetration as the new vehicle models and services will be more in accordance to users’ needs. A key conclusion that will affect the success of EL-Vs as an alternative to ICE vehicles is related to legal regulations that must become harmonised among countries and simplified for L-Vs. Planning Authorities should engage in more activities to raise public awareness on electromobility. The guidelines highlight the need for policy measures to incentivize EL-Vs usage, the importance of enhancing citizens’ interest and the creation of public-private partnerships.
ELVITEN concluded that the impact of EL-Vs on the environmental urban conditions will be strongly positive for all ELVITEN cities as significant benefits can be achieved from the emission and noise savings. Approximately -22% reduction of NOx and -21% of PM2.5 can be achieved if 30% of the ICE vehicles’ activity is replaced by EL-Vs gradually by 2050. Together with the achieved increase of users’ acceptance, this finding will contribute to a better quality of life in the future.

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