To achieve emission reduction targets and to improve local air quality of cities, the uptake of Electric Freight Vehicles (EFV) is essential. Knowledge concerning why companies do adopt EFV is lacking. Research about the diffusion of innovations and the market of EFV shows that frontrunner companies with an innovative or early adopting mindset are adopting (or willing to adopt) EFV. Increase in demand of EFV by such companies can help take a step forward towards mass production of EFV and eventually reduction in purchase cost of EFV. The main objective of this paper is to get insights into the decision-making attributes of frontrunner companies. A qualitative approach was used and 14 interviews were conducted among frontrunner companies delivering goods in the city of Amsterdam. Results show that innovators and early adopters are all motivated by socially or environmentally positive effects of EFV. Strategic motives played a role for all companies who already adopted EFV. All companies wanted to adopt EFV but technical limitations, due specialrequirements for the goods transported, are a reason to not adopt EFV. Getting insights into the preferences of frontrunner companies, the (local) authorities can adjust their policy, schemes and sustainability campaigns to attract more companies adopting EFV. Manufacturing companies can use the insights from this research to adapt their vehicle technology to answer needs of the potential customer for faster adoption rate.
The increased adoption of electric vehicles worldwide is largely caused by the uptake of private electric cars. In parallel other segments such as busses, city logistics and taxis, are increasingly becoming electrified. Amsterdam is an interesting case, as the municipality and the taxi sector have signed a voluntary agreement to realise a full electric taxi fleet by 2025. This paper investigates the results of a survey that was distributed amongst 3000 taxi drivers to examine perceptions and attitudes on the municipal charging incentives as well as taxi ride characteristics.
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In this study we developed models in order to predict the need for public charging points. These models give municipalities an insight into various environmental and consumer related factors that determine the need for public charging points for electric vehicles in the neighbourhood. These factors include, amongst others, the average gross monthly income of households in a certain neighbourhood and the overall number of cars in a certain neighbourhood. On the basis of the models it turns out, among other factors, that neighbourhoods with households with a relatively high average gross monthly income, and a relatively high number of cars, need a relatively large number of public charging points for electric vehicles.
In september 2017 startten de lectoraten LEAN-World Class Performance en Automotive Research van de HAN University of Applied Sciences met het onderzoek ‘Werkplaats op Weg’ (cofinanciering door SIA middels het RAAK-MKB subsidieprogramma). Hierin werd de vraag beantwoord: “Wat betekenen alle technologische ontwikkelingen voor de gewenste inrichting van onze onderhoudsprocessen? Wat betekent dit voor acties die we nu en in de nabije toekomst moeten nemen?” De autowerkplaats van de toekomst zal - door innovaties in autotechnologieën, toenemende zorgen over het milieu en klimaat, en een veranderende toekomstvisie op mobiliteit - verschillen van huidige werkplaatsen. Deze ontwikkelingen leidden tot grote onzekerheid bij MKB-ondernemers, met name over de mogelijke effecten op de onderhoudsvraag van voertuigen. Werkplaats op Weg heeft het kennishiaat hieromtrent opgepakt. Op basis van specifieke casussen, interviews en praktijkonderzoeken zijn zes potentiële bedrijfstypes voor het MKB gedefinieerd. Deze zijn gelinkt aan de eerder beschreven technologische en maatschappelijke ontwikkelingen. De relevantste technologische ontwikkelingen die hierin centraal stonden zijn Connected, Autonomous, Shared en Electric Vehicles (CASE; zie figuur 1). De analyse heeft geleid tot concrete en toegankelijke aanbevelingen en online tools. Hiermee kunnen bedrijven binnen de sector hun eigen strategische keuzes maken met betrekking tot het uitvoeren en organiseren van werkzaamheden in hun werkplaats. Tevens is vastgesteld welke consequenties er zijn voor automotive opleidingen. Resultaten van het onderzoek zijn verzameld op de website: www.werkplaatsopweg.nl Figuur 1: Resultaten Werkplaats op Weg Met behulp van de Top-Up willen we onderzoeken hoe ondernemers, onderwijzers en onderzoekers om kunnen gaan met onverwachte, disruptieve veranderingen zoals de Coronacrisis, als aanvulling op de eerdere bevindingen die vooral gericht waren op het omgaan met verwachte technologische innovaties. Gezien de enorme en radicale impact van de huidige coronacrisis, is dit het perfecte moment om de sector extra aandacht en ondersteuning hiertoe aan te bieden.
To reach the European Green Deal by 2050, the target for the road transport sector is set at 30% less CO2 emissions by 2030. Given the fact that heavy-duty commercial vehicles throughout Europe are driven nowadays almost exclusively on fossil fuels it is obvious that transition towards reduced emission targets needs to happen seamlessly by hybridization of the existing fleet, with a continuously increasing share of Zero Emission vehicle units. At present, trailing units such as semitrailers do not possess any form of powertrain, being a missed opportunity. By introduction of electrically driven axles into these units the fuel consumption as well as amount of emissions may be reduced substantially while part of the propulsion forces is being supplied on emission-free basis. Furthermore, the electrification of trailing units enables partial recuperation of kinetic energy while braking. Nevertheless, a number of challenges still exist preventing swift integration of these vehicles to daily operation. One of the dominating ones is the intelligent control of the e-axle so it delivers right amount of propulsion/braking power at the right time without receiving detailed information from the towing vehicle (such as e.g. driver control, engine speed, engine torque, or brake pressure, …etc.). This is required mainly to ensure interoperability of e-Trailers in the fleets, which is a must in the logistics nowadays. Therefore the main mission of CHANGE is to generate a chain of knowledge in developing and implementing data driven AI-based applications enabling SMEs of the Dutch trailer industry to contribute to seamless energetic transition towards zero emission road freight transport. In specific, CHANGE will employ e-Trailers (trailers with electrically driven axle(s) enabling energy recuperation) connected to conventional hauling units as well as trailers for high volume and extreme payload as focal platforms (demonstrators) for deployment of these applications.
As electric loads in residential areas increase as a result of developments in the areas of electric vehicles, heat pumps and solar panels, among others, it is becoming increasingly likely that problems will develop in the electricity distribution grid. This research will analyse different solutions to such problems to determine Using a model developed as part of this project, we will simulate various cases to determine under which circumstances load balancing at a community-level is more (cost) effective than alternative solutions (e.g. grid reinforcement and/or household batteries).
