Recommendations by ELVITEN to planning authorities emerged after COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the needs and habits of all users across our world, these new changes are not only becoming the new normal but will have repercussions in the near future. In this regard, ELVITEN partners created a report “Recommendations for Planning Authorities emerged after COVID-19” to offer to planning authorities some recommendations related to light electric mobility.
The recommendations are based on the results and experience acquired within the ELVITEN project, trends, and market drivers observed during the pandemic period.
Some of the lessons learned are:
- SAFETY is a fundamental service offering to the user.
- REGULATION POLICIES are required to adapt to the behaviour of the different user groups to help the planning of services.
- PARTNERSHIP WITH PRIVATE OPERATORS are required to renew and to develop the offer of innovative services, which are widely accessible and are integrated with other means of transportation.
- ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY will have to be re-launched as the COVID-19 pandemic has got unprecedented challenges, but at the same time provided a chance to rebuild economies in a way which reinforces the connection between human well-being and a healthy environment.
- TECHNOLOGICAL TOOLS are increasingly important to enable data collection and data analysis. Companies should focus on increasing adaptive capacity by looking to better integrate, refocus and in some cases diversify their offer.
ELVITEN believes these lessons learned can help planning authorities to propose new mobility models adapted to the new context, which will affect urban transport systems at least in the short and medium term.
To read the full report, click here.
ELVITEN Press release – August 2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the needs and habits of all users across our world, these new changes are not only becoming the new normal but will have repercussions in the near future. In this regard, ELVITEN partners created a report “Recommendations for Planning Authorities emerged after COVID-19” to offer to planning authorities some recommendations […]
Recommendations for Service Providers after COVID-19
In spring 2019, after 18 months of preparatory activities, the ELVITEN partners started to deploy the demonstration phase in six European cities: Bari, Berlin, Genoa, Malaga, Rome, and Trikala. The goal was to collect data from the pilot sites to demonstrate how Electric Light Vehicles (EL-Vs) can be used in urban areas.
After few months of demonstrations, the pilot activities became a privileged observatory to understand the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the users’ behaviour and the new mobility needs of European citizens. The collected data in the ELVITEN demonstration cities enabled to obtain useful indications on how the EL-Vs services helped users’ needs during the COVID-19 crisis.
ELVITEN partners prepared a report “Recommendations for Service Providers emerged after COVID-19” to offer some recommendations to light electric mobility service providers. The recommendations are framed based on the results and experience acquired within the ELVITEN project and are integrated with the evidence, trends, and market drivers observed during the pandemic.
Some of the recommendations to service providers are:
– Safety and hygiene: Service providers who can manage to convince users that their vehicles are the safest will have a significant advantage over those who may not have the resources to do so.
– Strategy: Most of the revenue was previously generated locally in many cities, primarily due to the tourists. But due to the current health crisis, travelling is very much restricted and service providers must look for new strategies. Shifting from short-term offers to monthly subscriptions to maintain a low cost per trip for all new regular users can bring in new revenues and help the service providers.
– Integration: Technological innovations such as platforms for the integration of mobility services, and market innovations such as sharing services (cars, bikes, and scooters) can and should contribute to the development of sustainable mobility provision for all citizens.
“Mobility needs to reinvent itself in some way to adapt to the upcoming challenges arising from COVID-19. Operators, software developers, vehicle manufacturers, public services and public
authorities will all have to be creative to find ways to address a wide range of social, technical, and commercial problems created or exacerbated by the pandemic. “
To read the full report, click here.
ELVITEN Press release – July 2020.
In spring 2019, after 18 months of preparatory activities, the ELVITEN partners started to deploy the demonstration phase in six European cities: Bari, Berlin, Genoa, Malaga, Rome, and Trikala. The goal was to collect data from the pilot sites to demonstrate how Electric Light Vehicles (EL-Vs) can be used in urban areas. After few months […]
Perceptions and use of light electric vehicles in Bari, Rome, Genoa, Malaga, Berlin and Trikala: Citizens’ survey
ELVITEN is testing different schemes for sharing, rental or ownership of light EVs through demonstrations in six European cities. The project evaluates the potential for light EVs to replace trips in cities currently made by car, van or motorcycle, for both personal trips and business trips (including use by companies for small deliveries).
This short survey is aimed at citizens living in or near one of the six demonstration cities (or who visit one of them regularly): Bari, Berlin, Genoa, Malaga, Rome, Trikala,
It asks about your regular mode of transport for local urban trips (before and after the COVID-19 restrictions) and your views on light EVs (whether you use them or not).
It is completely anonymous and does not ask any personal information.
The survey is available in English, German, Greek, Italian and Spanish (select using the drop-down “Languages” box on the top right of the screen in the survey).
To respond to the survey, please follow this link.
ELVITEN is testing different schemes for sharing, rental or ownership of light EVs through demonstrations in six European cities. The project evaluates the potential for light EVs to replace trips in cities currently made by car, van or motorcycle, for both personal trips and business trips (including use by companies for small deliveries). This short […]
ELVITEN Interview Series – Promalaga
This is a new interview, as part of ELVITEN interview series, in which we present ELVITEN partner – Promalaga, their role and contribution to the project implementation, as well as their view on urban mobility.
Enjoy the reading!
A short introduction of your organisation.
The Empresa Municipal de Iniciativas y Actividades Empresariales S.A. (Promalaga) is a local public authority in Malaga City (Spain). Their main functions amongst its ample scope of activities are the development, deployment and promotion of economic and social activities contributing to the economical, tourism, technological and social growth in the city of Malaga and its surrounding areas. They also aim to promote and develop activities to generate stable and quality jobs, with projected direct socio-economic industry of Malaga and contribute to the reform of the production model of Malaga and Spain through the support and consolidation companies that produce products and services of high value added.
As our leitmotif, we intend for this endeavour to become a hallmark of the city, where innovation and technology must be everyday processes. We can see this in the progress we have made in recent years with the University, the Technology Park, the different public administrations, and the private business by means of public-private collaboration. The city is turning into a real urban laboratory and has defined its Smart City strategy. The city boasts state of the art aviation, railway, and seaport infrastructure as well as an extensive network of roads and highways that make it a privileged location.
Its main objective is to become the main tool for helping the different economic sectors of Malaga and its surrounding areas, which will enable the new challenges posed in the context of an open economy. The technological development of their productive sectors is regarded as a key factor of growth and sustainability of their economy. Particularly, the Municipal Incubator Network has been configured as one of the main instruments that the City Council has to promote the creation and consolidation of companies, employment and support for entrepreneurs.
What is your task and responsibility in the ELVITEN project?
The activities that are carried out by Promálaga in the ELVITEN project are aimed to introducing a new and clean electric light vehicle in the city of Malaga. Thanks to the implementation of Kyburz black boxes in the vehicles, it can achieve a wide study of trip data such as locating every EL-V, collecting the speed, the number of trips and the trip duration. To attract users, regional media campaigns has been made. Promálaga has taken part in the design and development of several ELVITEN associated apps that the EL-V users can use: The Booking App for the reservation of EL-V’s charge points; Digital Coach; Smart App and ELVIGAME. The impacts in terms of environmental awareness, our actions include the traffic modelling and setting the terms of emission and energy savings. Promálaga has contribute to produce different guidelines. The manufacturers can start designing new and more attractive EL-V generations, and through public administrations and other stakeholders can raise awareness in terms of sustainability.
Promálaga is responsible of carrying out the pilot demonstration in the city of Malaga. The pilot has counted 40 L1eA vehicles and users have been selected based on their mobility habits so they could use the vehicles for two-month periods. In total, almost 200 users have passed through the pilot, and 6,000 trips have been generated.
What was your interest in joining the ELVITEN project?
The Spanish coasts are especially sensitive to the effects of the climate change, such as the increase of the ocean temperatures, the rising of the sea level or the impacts of the coastal erosion. In recent years, there has been a great demographic increase in the Mediterranean area, by the Spanish population but also by tourists, entailing a change in the land use due to the growth of urbanizations on the coast. All of this turns the coastline into a vulnerable and threatened area in the environmental and socio-economic sense. In the light of this situation, Malaga has begun to organize reforms on the promenades to promote mobility on the coast, allowing the existence of a continuity in the maritime axis of the city, connecting this way different districts.
By joining the ELVITEN Project, Malaga obtains information about a clean urban transport system, while reducing harmful gas emissions and the non-renewable energy consumption. With the introduction of new, clean forms of mobility, we aim to support the citizens’ awareness of sustainable development.
What is your opinion on Electric-Light Vehicles?
Light Electric Vehicles provide an extensive series of advantages for sustainable development, mainly described as drastically reducing of the emission of CO2, Nox, NMHC and PM gases, and the collaboration with the reduction of atmospheric and acoustic pollution. With the existing plans of electrifying transport, as well as the proposals that are being carried out to facilitate the acquisition of electric vehicles through incentives (subsidies, tax reductions), Europe is approaching a market with cheaper costs in terms of environmental impact, but also regarding to production and maintenance. The cities are moving at different speeds to transform their fleet from polluting vehicles to more environmentally friendly vehicles. Mobility managers must use the tools at their disposal to facilitate and accelerate this transition and achieve results in a shorter time frame.
Could you explain the impact of EL-Vs on urban mobility?
An 81% of the vehicles (PCs and LCVs) in Malaga are Euro 5, achieving the approved measures regarding the amounts of emissions allowed with respect to transport in the European Union. However, the use of alternative fuels is still at a 1%. Given this, Malaga is included in the European objectives for 2050 to electrify transport and implement the 30% of the countries’ vehicle fleet as electric.
What do you think about the future market for urban mobility?
Urban mobility is rapidly expanding the possibilities of using electric vehicles. Since 2015, the Spanish government established the “Plan MOVES”, which in May of 2020 has updated a budget of 65 million euros, 70% of which is intended to subsidize the purchase of ecological vehicles. Barcelona and Valencia will launch in mid-June a series of incentives for the purchase of electric vehicles, under the so-called “Plan de Fomento de Uso de la Bicicleta”. Along with this, it is contemplated the improvement of the itineraries and connections between municipalities to shorten distances and allow to carry out these routes by bicycle. Other cities include tax deductions for the purchase of electric vehicles.
Faced with COVID-19, the Ministry of Transport is currently studying the need to adjust the concentration of travellers in public transport. This, together with the increase in teleworking, supports the possibility of traveling at different times than the peak hours, and is as well an opportunity to promote the use of electric vehicles. Several companies are acting to participate in the sustainable development: ENDESA plans to install 2,000 charging points for electric vehicles; the national post company plans to renew its fleet with electric vans. All these advances make it clear that the Spanish market seeks to get closer to a sustainable transport model for the environmental development.
This is a new interview, as part of ELVITEN interview series, in which we present ELVITEN partner – Promalaga, their role and contribution to the project implementation, as well as their view on urban mobility. Enjoy the reading! A short introduction of your organisation. The Empresa Municipal de Iniciativas y Actividades Empresariales S.A. (Promalaga) is […]
The future of electric vehicles may be with two-wheelers
Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the global demand for gasoline powered vehicles is slowing down. The recession will put consumers to suppress demand for purchases. Consumers are expected to look towards cheaper and efficient transportation modes. Under these new trends analysts say that inexpensive motorcycles and scooters will make up the largest group of new vehicles hitting the world’s roads in the next decade out of which electric bike will have major share.
With car sales slowing in developed countries, electric two wheeler may have their moment. According to projections from the Energy and Resources Institute, a New Delhi think tank – hundreds of millions of vehicles will be sold in emerging markets like India and China. Electric two wheelers are already showing environmental impact, according to the International Energy Agency, a Paris-based energy watchdog. Electric two- and three-wheelers on the roads avoided more pollutants than all electric cars combined in 2018, the most recent year for which data is available, according to the IEA. India’s government has said it wants 30% of new vehicles to be electric in the next decade, and has even higher goals for two-wheelers. In China, the IEA estimates 90% of two-wheelers will be electric by 2030.
In Brussels (Belgium) mobility sharing company Billy bike announced the use of electric bicycles doubled since the beginning of lock-down on 18 March. In March, Billy bike announced 500 minutes of free rides for essential personnel who help keep the city running. Although the company saw decline in profits, soon the scheme began to rise and became a hit in the city. Other mobility sharing companies decided to pull their vehicles due to the COVID-19, but Billy bike took the risk. Eventually it paid off and the company received twice as many registrations and usage of bikes than usual. The CEO of Billy Bike Pierre de Schaetzen told La Libre “During the evenings and weekends, there are more often longer rides in the Forêt de Soignes or along the Channel.”
He added, the reluctance to use public transport due to to health safety might be the reason for increase in bike sharing. He said “We even see that car drivers are also using bicycles at the moment, Many people are discovering cycling as a mode of transport in Brussels.”
Picture: Billy Bike ©
Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the global demand for gasoline powered vehicles is slowing down. The recession will put consumers to suppress demand for purchases. Consumers are expected to look towards cheaper and efficient transportation modes. Under these new trends analysts say that inexpensive motorcycles and scooters will make up the largest group of new […]
ELVITEN is presented in the e-smartec promotional video
The European project e-smartec is funded by the Interreg Europe (European Regional Development Fund) under the low carbon economy thematic area. The project aims at developing action plans to start and implement effective mobility intervention and it works to bring enhanced sustainable mobility using its marketing techniques.
The project brings together 9 partners from 7 different countries to enhance citizens and stakeholders engagement to develop urban mobility plans. It is currently engaged in six different project areas. Recently they collected 76 good practices across Europe as part of their task in the project. ELVITEN project was one of the three projects featured in e-smartec promotional video. ELVITEN also collaborates with e-smartec to bring out the best solutions for urban mobility.
You can watch the e-smartec video below.
A report has been published later. The aim of this report is to present the good practices from regions outside the e-smartec partner regions. To read the full report, click here.
To know about e-smartec, click here. Follow e-smartec on Twitter & join their Linked-In Group.
The European project e-smartec is funded by the Interreg Europe (European Regional Development Fund) under the low carbon economy thematic area. The project aims at developing action plans to start and implement effective mobility intervention and it works to bring enhanced sustainable mobility using its marketing techniques. The project brings together 9 partners from 7 […]
ELVITEN’s vehicle fleet
ELVITEN project is present in six demonstration cities across Europe: Bari, Berlin, Genoa, Rome, Trikala and Malaga. Each of these cities differ in existing mobility challenges, infrastructure and policies. ELVITEN project helps the users in demonstration cities by providing them with a better EL-V experience. It is possible with the support of our partners involved in the project who provide with the EL-V fleet.
KYBURZ Switzerland AG is providing with three-wheeler and four-wheeler light electric vehicles in the cities of Trikala and Genoa, which are offered by a e-sharing platform for private transport and light deliveries across the city. The vehicles can be rented from the local registration point or using the available apps like Digital coach, Serious game and Incentive smart app.
Furthermore, in Genoa private EL-Vs are also invited to join the demonstrations. Currently private vehicles are equipped with black boxes and send data to ELVITEN dashboard.
Hubject is offering 10 e-scooters called ZeroScooters made by the manufacturer Simple Mobility in the city of Berlin. These vehicles can be rented from the ZeroZone website and picked up at the delivery centre. ZeroScooters have a unique feature where the battery is removable and can be charged at any conventional power socket. It just takes 2 hours to charge 70% of battery.
S3Transportation is providing more than 175 RadRhino bikes manufactured by RadPowerBikes in the cities of Trikala, Bari, Rome and Malaga. These bikes can be rented using the apps like Digital coach, Serious game and Incentive smart app. Once registered and approved by the local authorities, users can pick up and leave the vehicles at one of the e-Hub parking positions, which are installed near to the city centre.
To know more about the ELVITEN project, click here.
ELVITEN project is present in six demonstration cities across Europe: Bari, Berlin, Genoa, Rome, Trikala and Malaga. Each of these cities differ in existing mobility challenges, infrastructure and policies. ELVITEN project helps the users in demonstration cities by providing them with a better EL-V experience. It is possible with the support of our partners involved […]
Help us with collecting opinions on the EL-V experience
The ELVITEN project is conducting an online survey (anonymously) on the real experience of Electric Light Vehicles (EL-V) users and non EL-V users. The survey consists of four sets of questionnaires about people’s real experience with EL-Vs covering two-wheeler, three-wheeler, four-wheeler and non EL-V users. The ELVITEN survey also has a few questions about charging points.
Under Work Package 5, as part of a task led by the University of Leeds, ELVITEN partners are collecting responses on real EL-V driver conditions, including interactions with other traffic participants. Based on the questionnaires’ responses, the user’s experiences will be analysed in detail, especially as regards:
- any situations occurred and resulted from interactions among EL-V users with other traffic participants (e.g. vulnerable road users, heavy vehicles, level of interactions, involved participants, user’s reaction);
- any matters regarded interactions between EL-V users and road infrastructures, environment conditions (e.g. road signs, road markings, visibility conditions);
- the satisfactory level of availability of private and public charge points and technologies;
- any technical problems encountered as regards EL-V;
- the level of comfort of EL-V users and any matters experienced with the control of an vehicle.
The ELVITEN survey findings will be documented per category of EL-V as well as per user age, gender and a cluster.
The survey is available in five languages: English, German, Greek, Italian and Spanish.
The survey is still open and it should not take more than 10-15 minutes to complete.
Your contribution to the survey is valuable for implementation of ELVITEN project.
The ELVITEN project is conducting an online survey (anonymously) on the real experience of Electric Light Vehicles (EL-V) users and non EL-V users. The survey consists of four sets of questionnaires about people’s real experience with EL-Vs covering two-wheeler, three-wheeler, four-wheeler and non EL-V users. The ELVITEN survey also has a few questions about charging […]