Small Electric Vehicles—Benefits and Drawbacks for Sustainable Urban Development

Abstract

Small electric vehicles (SEVs) have the potential to contribute to climate protection, efficient land use, and mitigation of air pollution in cities. Even though, they show many benefits that could enhance urban quality of life, they are not yet widely used. In this paper, benefits as well as drawbacks for these vehicles are discussed by combining literature research and outcomes of a mixed-method approach with expert interviews and an online survey. Resulting from these arguments, a vision for SEVs in urban areas is drawn showing them integrated in a mix of various transport modes. Environmental benefits are derived, for example, from their lower weight and low maximum speed making them a more energy-efficient transport option than heavier cars. Additionally, the small vehicle size lowers land use for SEVs and, e.g., allows for less parking areas needed. However, they also hold constraints that need to be dealt with in different ways. On the one hand, the lower safety compared to passenger cars is an issue that is further worsened by current traffic regulations. On the other hand, costs in terms of purchase prices seem to be an issue for SEVs.

Electric vehicles body frame structure design method: An approach to design electric vehicle body structure based on battery arrangement

“…Micro-EVs are becoming increasingly popular owing to its compactness, cost efficiency, high maneuverability, and meeting the requirements of emission regulations. 21 Hence, this study takes a micro-EV as a study case.…”

“…In order to ensure the endurance mileage, the ternary polymer lithium battery 21 with a large battery energy density is selected as power source. According to trade standard T/ZZB 0391-2018 and China National Standard GB/T 18385-2005, taking volume-produced A00 grade micro-EVs as the prototype, EV’s base parameters are showed in Table A1.…”

What Potential Do Light Electric Vehicles Have to Reduce Car Trips?

“…In contrast to large and heavy electric passenger cars, however, the traction batteries in LEVs could be significantly smaller so that the consumption of critical raw materials is also reduced, thus also reducing production-related greenhouse gas emissions. These small vehicles also take up far less space, a rare commodity especially in growing cities [3]. Mobility is, therefore, becoming more efficient and the use of resources to transport people and goods from A to B is being optimized.…”

“…Compared to passenger cars, LEVs are relatively under-researched; however, there are some studies and publications that address topics such as market potential, safety, or regulations (e.g., [4][5][6][7]). To the best of the authors' knowledge, there is no modeling of the substitution potential of passenger car trips by LEVs that includes associated CO2eq savings.…”

E-Scooter Rider Detection and Classification in Dense Urban Environments

“…Although very similar in physical appearance, e-scooter riders and pedestrians behave very differently in the automotive environment. E-scooter riders can reach speeds of up to 45 kilometers per hour [3] [4] [5] and follow distinctly different movement characteristics than pedestrians. The challenge of accurately detecting and classifying e-scooter riders is exacerbated in urban environments where the frequency and severity of partial occlusion is increased as vulnerable road users (VRUs) navigate between vehicles, buildings, traffic infrastructure, other road users.…”