Electrification of mobility exceeds personal transport to increasingly focus on particular segments such as city logistics and taxis. These commercial mobility segments have different motives to purchase a full electric vehicle and require a particular approach to incentivize and facilitate the transition towards electric mobility. A case where a municipality was successful in stimulating the transition to electric mobility is the taxi sector in the city of Amsterdam. Using results from a survey study (n = 300), this paper analyses the differences in characteristics between taxi drivers that either have or do not have interest in purchasing a full electric taxi vehicle. Results show a low intention across the sample to adopt a full electric vehicle and no statistically significant differences in demographics between the two groups. Differences were found between the level of acceptability of the covenant, the rated attractiveness of the incentives, the ratings of full electric vehicle attributes and the consultation of objective and social information sources. These results can be used by policy makers to develop new incentives that target specific topics currently influencing the interest in a full electric taxi vehicle.
Recent studies show that charging stations are operated in an inefficient way. Due to the fact that electric vehicle (EV) drivers charge while they park, they tend to keep the charging station occupied while not charging. This prevents others from having access. This study is the first to investigate the effect of a pricing strategy to increase the efficient use of electric vehicle charging stations. We used a stated preference survey among EV drivers to investigate the effect of a time-based fee to reduce idle time at a charging station. We tested the effect of such a fee under different scenarios and we modelled the heterogeneity among respondents using a latent class discrete choice model. We find that a fee can be very effective in increasing the efficiency at a charging station but the response to the fee varies among EV drivers depending on their current behaviour and the level of parking pressure they experience near their home. From these findings we draw implications for policy makers and charging point operators who aim to optimize the use of electric vehicle charging stations.
Combining electric cars with utility services seems to be a natural fit and holds the promise to tackle various mobility as well as electricity challenges at the same time. So far no viable business model for vehicle-to-grid technology has emerged, raising the question which characteristics a vehicle-to-grid business model should have. Drawing on an exploratory study amongst 189 Dutch consumers this study seeks to understand consumer preferences in vehicle-to-grid business models using conjoint analysis, factor analysis and cluster analysis. The results suggest that consumers prefer private ownership of an EV and a bidirectional charger instead of community ownership of bidirectional charger, they prefer utility companies instead of car companies as the aggregator and they require home and public charging. The most salient attributes in a V2G business model seem to be functional rather than financial or social. The customer segment with the highest willingness to adopt V2G prefers functional attributes. Based on the findings, the study proposes a business model that incorporates the derived preferences
In the last decade, the automotive industry has seen significant advancements in technology (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and autonomous vehicles) that presents the opportunity to improve traffic safety, efficiency, and comfort. However, the lack of drivers’ knowledge (such as risks, benefits, capabilities, limitations, and components) and confusion (i.e., multiple systems that have similar but not identical functions with different names) concerning the vehicle technology still prevails and thus, limiting the safety potential. The usual sources (such as the owner’s manual, instructions from a sales representative, online forums, and post-purchase training) do not provide adequate and sustainable knowledge to drivers concerning ADAS. Additionally, existing driving training and examinations focus mainly on unassisted driving and are practically unchanged for 30 years. Therefore, where and how drivers should obtain the necessary skills and knowledge for safely and effectively using ADAS? The proposed KIEM project AMIGO aims to create a training framework for learner drivers by combining classroom, online/virtual, and on-the-road training modules for imparting adequate knowledge and skills (such as risk assessment, handling in safety-critical and take-over transitions, and self-evaluation). AMIGO will also develop an assessment procedure to evaluate the impact of ADAS training on drivers’ skills and knowledge by defining key performance indicators (KPIs) using in-vehicle data, eye-tracking data, and subjective measures. For practical reasons, AMIGO will focus on either lane-keeping assistance (LKA) or adaptive cruise control (ACC) for framework development and testing, depending on the system availability. The insights obtained from this project will serve as a foundation for a subsequent research project, which will expand the AMIGO framework to other ADAS systems (e.g., mandatory ADAS systems in new cars from 2020 onwards) and specific driver target groups, such as the elderly and novice.
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.
With increasing penetration rates of driver assistance systems in road vehicles, powerful sensing and processing solutions enable further automation of on-road as well as off-road vehicles. In this maturing environment, SMEs are stepping in and education needs to align with this trend. By the input of student teams, HAN developed a first prototype robot platform to test automated vehicle technology in dynamic road scenarios that include VRUs (Vulnerable Road Users). These robot platforms can make complex manoeuvres while carrying dummies of typical VRUs, such as pedestrians and bicyclists. This is used to test the ability of automated vehicles to detect VRUs in realistic traffic scenarios and exhibit safe behaviour in environments that include VRUs, on public roads as well as in restricted areas. Commercially available VRU-robot platforms are conforming to standards, making them inflexible with respect to VRU-dummy design, and pricewise they are far out of reach for SMEs, education and research. CORDS-VTS aims to create a first, open version of an integrated solution to physically emulate traffic scenarios including VRUs. While analysing desired applications and scenarios, the consortium partners will define prioritized requirements (e.g. robot platform performance, dummy types and behaviour, desired software functionality, etc.). Multiple robots and dummies will be created and practically integrated and demonstrated in a multi-VRU scenario. The aim is to create a flexible, upgradeable solution, published fully in open source: The hardware (robot platform and dummies) will be published as well-documented DIY (do-it-yourself) projects and the accompanying software will be published as open-source projects. With the CORDS-VTS solution, SME companies, researchers and educators can test vehicle automation technology at a reachable price point and with the necessary flexibility, enabling higher innovation rates.
