The transition from diesel-driven urban freight transport towards more electric urban freight transport turns out to be challenging in practice. A major concern for transport operators is how to find a reliable charging strategy for a larger electric vehicle fleet that provides flexibility based on different daily mission profiles within that fleet, while also minimizing costs. This contribution assesses the trade-off between a large battery pack and opportunity charging with regard to costs and operational constraints. Based on a case study with 39 electric freight vehicles that have been used by a parcel delivery company and a courier company in daily operations for over a year, various scenarios have been analyzed by means of a TCO analysis. Although a large battery allows for more flexibility in planning, opportunity charging can provide a feasible alternative, especially in the case of varying mission profiles. Additional personnel costs during opportunity charging can be avoided as much as possible by a well-integrated charging strategy, which can be realized by a reservation system that minimizes the risk of occupied charging stations and a dense network of charging stations.
MULTIFILE
This toolkit, originating from the research group Psychology for Sustainable Cities, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (AUAS), contains materials that help to promote behavioural change in relation to electric shared transport based in onstreet e-Mobility hubs (eHUBs). Behavioural knowledge is an essential ingredient for the successful implementation of eHUBs. Because behaviour is very dependent on the target group’s capabilities and motivation and on the social and physical context in which behaviour takes place, the research group has developed materials that municipalities can use to design a tailor-made eHUBs promotion intervention that suits their own situation. Therefore, practical examples and insights from earlier research are shared with regard to stimulating the use of eHUBs.
DOCUMENT
This study aims to evaluate the effect in the energy network of a big shared of decarbonise vehicles (NGV and EV) based on car-use profiles of current conventional and electric vehicles in the city of Groningen. Charging profiles were developed within CBS dataset of mobility and transport, and the electric charging profiles provided by E-Laad.
DOCUMENT
Abstract: Climate change is related with weather extremes, which may cause damages to infrastructure used by freight transport services. Heavy rainfall may lead to flooding and damage to railway lines, roads and inland waterways. Extreme drought may lead to extremely low water levels, which prevent safe navigation by inland barges. Wet and dry periods may alternate, leaving little time to repair damages. In some Western and Middle-European countries, barges have a large share in freight transport. If a main waterway is out of service, then alternatives are called for. Volume- and price-wise, trucking is not a viable alternative. Could railways be that alternative? The paper was written after the unusually long dry summer period in Europe in 2022. It deals with the question: If the Rhine, a major European waterway becomes locally inaccessible, could railways (temporarily) play a larger role in freight transport? It is a continuation of our earlier research. It contains a case study, the data of which was fed into a simulation model. The model deals with technical details like service specification route length, energy consumption and emissions. The study points to interesting rail services to keep Europe’s freight on the move. Their realization may be complex especially in terms of logistics and infrastructure, but is there an alternative?
MULTIFILE
The Interreg Europe eBussed project supports the transition of European regions towards low carbon mobility and more efficient transport. The regions involved are Turku (Finland), Hamburg (Germany), Utrecht (The Netherlands), Livorno (Italy), South Transdanubia (Hungary) and Gozo island in Malta. It promotes the uptake of e-busses in new regions and supports the expansion of existing e-fleets. Within the project, there are four thematic working groups formed that aim at delivering a best practices report and policy recommendations to be used in the partner regions. Thematic Working Group 4 (TWG4) focusses on the topics of Procurement, Tendering and Costs of e-busses. As a starting point for TWG4, the value chain for e-bus public transport per region has been mapped. By mapping how the value chain for e-bus public transport works and defining the nature of the issues, problems or maybe challenges per region can be better understood.
DOCUMENT
Densely populated areas are major sources of air, soil and water pollution. Agriculture, manufacturing, consumer households and road traffic all have their share. This is particularly true for the country featured in this paper: the Netherlands. Continuous pollution of the air and soil manifests itself as acification, decalcification and eutrofication. Biodiversity becomes lower and lower in nature areas. Biological farms are also under threat. In case of mobility, local air pollution may have a huge health impact. Effective policy is called for, after high courts blocked construction projects, because of foreseen building- and transport-related NOx emissions. EU law makers are after Dutch governments, because these favoured economics and politics over environmental and liveability concerns. But, people in the Netherlands are strongly divided. The latest provincial elections were dominated by environmental concerns, next to many socio-economic issues. NOx and CO2 emissions by passenger cars are in focus. Technical means and increasing fuel economy norms strongly reduced NOx emissions to a still too high level. A larger number of cars neutralized a technological reduction of CO2 emissions. The question is: What would be the impact of a drastic mandatory reduction in CO2, NOx, and PM10 emissions on car ownership and use in the Netherlands? The authors used literature, scenario analysis and simulation modelling to answer this question. Electric mobility could remove these emissions. Its full impact will only be achieved if the grid-mix, which is still dominated by fossil fuels, becomes green(er), which is a gradual, long-term, process. EVs compete with other consumers of electricity, as many other activities, such as heating, are also electrifying. With the current grid-mix, it is inevitable that the number of km per vehicle per year is reduced to reach the scenario targets (−25% resp. −50% CO2 emissions by cars). This calls for an individual mobility budget per car user.
LINK
With increased share of energy generated from variable renewable sources, storagebecomes a critical issue to ensure constantly balanced supply/demand.Methane is a promising vector for energy storage and transport.
DOCUMENT
Research finds that the global market value of cargo bikes will hit 2.4 billion euros by 2031. Analysts with Future Market Insights assessing the growth of cargo bikes have placed the parcel courier industry as a key buyer of electric cargo bikes, forecasting that 43 per cent of sales could go to this industry. This growth is driven by city logistics trends, particularly as studies emerge showing the high efficiency and cost saving of the cargo bike versus the delivery van. It will not solely be direct incentives that drive uptake, however. The policy that restricts motoring and emissions is expected to be a key driver for businesses that seek profitability, with three-wheeled electric cargo bikes making up nearly half the market. The advance of e-bike technology has seen a strong rise in market share for assisted cargo bikes, now accounting for a 73 per cent market share. Potentially limiting the growth is the legislation governing the output and range of electric cargo bikes (FMI, 2021).To deal with the issues of faster delivery, clean delivery (low/zero emission) and less space in dense cities, the light electric freight vehicle (LEFV) can be–and is used more and more as–an innovative solution. The way logistics in urban areas is organized is being challenged, as the global growth of cities leads to more jobs, more businesses and more residents. As a result, companies, workers, residents and visitors demand more goods and produce more waste. More space for logistics activities in and around cities is at odds with the growing need for accommodation for people living and working in cities. Book: Innovations in Transport: Success, Failure and Societal Impacts
DOCUMENT
In Germany, public transport organizations are mainly owned by public authorities. Procurement in Hamburg involves the buses and infrastructure instead of transport services. The procurement process for buses and infrastructure is performed by the transport companies. Such processes must meet German and European public regulations. Therefore, public tender and procurement procedures for buying buses by German Public Transport Operators (PTOs) can be more complex and lengthier than procurement by private PTOs in other countries. As a result, the public transport companies are not primarily driven by profitability, but also by obligations towards the public and political aims. Obligations can comprise to provide affordable, environmentallyfriendly transport services for the citizens. In Hamburg, the public authority incorporates obligations (requirements) for the e-buses in their tendering documents. In Utrecht, as well as most of the rest of the Netherlands, public transport is carried out by private companies, under an operating contract (concession) with a public transport authority. In Utrecht, this authority is the province of Utrecht. The e-buses are the operators’ private property and they are obliged to account to the province of Utrecht for their implementation of public transport. When the province of Utrecht procures the operation of public transport services by means of a European tendering process, private transport companies can offer a bid for this tender. Both, the authority and operators, want to provide good public transport for their customers, but they both have different goals. The operators want to earn a reasonable profit margin on public transport, while the authority wants to fulfil certain public policy goals. The tendering process is where these two come together. It is a strong mechanism to get the best ‘value for money’ out of the market – for example, the most public transport, or the highest number of e-buses running in the area, within the available budget of the public transport authority.
DOCUMENT
