Electric mobility for sustainable urban transport

Cities around the world are growing and with them the demands on the urban mobility of the future. On the one hand, there is the desire for mobility in very individual forms for billions of people. On the other hand, there is hardly enough space in the cities for even more traffic – which is threatening traffic collapse. Above all these challenges, there is also the question of how urban transport can become more climate-friendly. 

Electric mobility is a response to the various aspects of the urban transport revolution – if it is tailored to the future needs of urban transport.

Cities of the future: More people, more traffic

By 2050, around 70 percent of the world's more than 8 billion people could live in cities. In Europe alone, it is estimated that the proportion of the urban population could be almost 85 percent. In the same period, the number of cars in cities could rise to 3 billion.

Cities therefore play a key role not only as a living space for people. They are also of central importance in the fight against climate change: Despite the comparatively small area that cities occupy on our planet, they are responsible for more than 70 percent of global CO2 emissions. The biggest factor here is urban traffic, with a share of around 30 percent.

More climate-friendly and sustainable transport solutions are therefore a crucial building block on the path to greater sustainability. Electric mobility has great potential for the necessary changes: It provides answers to urgent problems and can make the urban traffic of the future low-emission, faster and more space-saving.

The problem is that no other means of transport takes up as much space as a car – regardless of whether the vehicle is stationary or moving. For the already scarce space in densely populated urban areas, this is already a major challenge: Where to put all the cars?

To make matters worse, it is not only the number of cars in cities that is growing, but also the cars themselves: The French consulting company Inovev has determined that, on average, passenger cars built in Europe are getting bigger and bigger. At first glance, it's only a matter of a few centimeters. In urban traffic, however, the larger dimensions mean serious problems. This is because many vehicles are simply too large and unsuitable for the current dimensions of roads, parking lots and underground garages. 

Electric cars in microformat

The solution: As an alternative, electric light vehicles are increasingly positioning themselves. Micro-mobiles not only have advantages for individual transport, but are also suitable for many mobile services – such as home care or delivery services.

However, the small electric cars require users to rethink. In their design and functionality, they primarily follow pragmatic considerations. But that's what it's all about in the end: the most practical solution to get from A to B.

Too many cars, too much traffic jam

The problem: Apart from the size, the number of cars in cities is a real obstacle to traffic. Too high a car density pushes even the concept of a car-friendly city to its limits. The consequences of the high density of cars in cities have long been observed. 

A look at the Inrix 2022 Global Traffic Scorecard makes this clear once again: In London, regular traffic jams cause delays of 156 hours a year. So Londoners lose almost a whole week in traffic. 

Of course this is a top value in an international comparison, but the problem is omnipresent. Too many cars prevent them from moving quickly, causing even more emissions over even longer periods of time – and making cities less livable.

Shared e-mobility: mobile when needed

The solution: E-mobility will certainly not be able to remedy these grievances on its own. After all, the fundamental problem is the high number of cars in cities. This, in turn, can only be reduced if a sufficiently attractive range of alternatives is available.

One option is car sharing. After all, the concept has a double effect: If fewer people own their own car, the number of vehicles decreases. At the same time, existing cars can be used much more efficiently – in Germany, the average usage time is 43 minutes per day. The rest of the time, the vehicle is just standing around although then it could be used by someone else. An electrically powered car-sharing fleet has the additional advantage of enabling low-emission individual mobility. 

According to a forecast by Frost & Sullivan, the global car-sharing market could grow to around 427,000 vehicles by 2025. In Germany, the positive trend can certainly be seen, where the number of car-sharing vehicles is growing continuously. This also applies to the amount of electric vehicles in German car-sharing fleets – even if around 23 percent still leave room for improvement. 

Sustainable transport: Electric, connected and smart

Technological developments are a cornerstone of the sustainable transport transition. The interplay of electric mobility and digitalization opens up numerous possibilities for more efficient urban traffic. For example, autonomous driving. 

Connected vehicles with car-to-infrastructure (Car2X) communication exchange information about the current traffic situation, possible traffic obstructions and danger spots, thus contributing to a smoother flow of traffic. The US technology company Waymo is already testing such technologies in self-driving taxis in Arizona.

Potential for robo-taxis and shuttles

• Autonomous driving can significantly reduce the prices for our daily mobility compared to private cars. According to calculations by Deloitte, an average cost of 15 cents per kilometer is possible with the robo-shuttle – 25 percent less than with a (conventional) mid-range car. 
  The use of autonomous driving services will not reduce the overall volume of traffic. But significantly fewer vehicles are needed to ensure people's mobility.
• There is also enormous market potential in autonomous driving services, which also makes such concepts interesting for the automotive industry. However, it will be a while before there is a reliable, nationwide offer. Not before 2035, the forecasts say.