Abstract
AbstractOne of the growing innovations in the electric vehicle market concerns light electric vehicles (LEVs), promoted at local and national level by many initiatives, such as the European project ELVITEN, involving six cities, which is analysed in the present paper in relation to the Genoa pilot case study. In Italy, LEVs have been increasingly successful, as the number of their registrations shows (+76% in 2019 compared to 2018). In this context, the city of Genoa, where a considerable fleet of mopeds and motorcycles (214,499 in its metropolitan area in 2018) circulates, lends itself well to the experimentation of two-wheeled LEVs. The monitoring of the use of LEVs within the framework of the ELVITEN project has shown that the average daily round trips recorded in the metropolitan area of Genoa are equal to 15–20 km, thus reinforcing the idea that LEVs represent a valid alternative to Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) private vehicles. Moreover, the characteristics of the travel monitored and the users’ feedback highlight that the question of range anxiety is less present than expected. Finally, and contrary to our expectations, the data analysis indicates that the use of LEVs in Genoa during two months of Covid-19 pandemic lockdown—March and April 2020—shows a decrease of 21%, while the average decrease recorded by the six cities globally considered is 51%.
Highlights
One of the growing innovations in the electric vehicle market concerns light electric vehicles (LEVs), promoted at local and national level by many initiatives, such as the European project ELVITEN, involving six cities, which is analysed in the present paper in relation to the Genoa pilot case study
The main purpose of the present paper is to show, in the light of the ELVITEN experience carried out in the pilot city of Genoa—which has 575,577 inhabitants [2] and is squashed between the Apennines and the Ligurian Sea—that LEVs are a viable and sustainable alternative, both for individual use and for sharing
Users who evaluated LEVs positively (88% of total pilot city users who filled in the questionnaires submitted) expressed that today the challenges facing LEVs are mostly related to the three following issues, listed approximately in order of priority from the citizens’ point of view: cost, charging infrastructure and range
Summary
The new frontiers of mobility include a number of new transport models, starting from the use of electric vehicles, micro-mobility or soft mobility systems up to electric self-driven vehicles, allowing environmentally friendly transit. Such models, which play an important role in the smart mobility scenario, require a solid. In this line, many cities have adopted new transport systems based on electric mobility, encouraging the use of light electric vehicles (LEV). The ELVITEN project (Electrified L-category Vehicles Integrated into Transport and Electricity Networks) aims at the diffusion and simultaneous integration of LEVs (e-bicycles, e-scooters, e-tricycles and quadricycles) in order to offer a new concept of sustainable urban transport system for people mobility (work, tourism, and leisure) and goods delivery.
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