Mobile Sector Research Articles

Shared E-Scooters: A Review of Uses, Health and Environmental Impacts, and Policy Implications of a New Micro-Mobility Service

Shared e-scooters refer to a micro-mobility service that enables the short rentals of e-scooters. The rapid growth of e-scooter sharing has sparked a heated discussion about its role in the urban mobility sector. This article presents a systematic review of the current knowledge on its uses and users, health and environmental impacts, and policy issues. The analysis is based on academic literature, identified with Google Scholar by using keywords and publication years from 2017, and relevant gray literature. Firstly, we highlight that the profiles of e-scooter renters seem to highly match the characteristics of other micro-mobility services users. Secondly, e-scooters are often associated with a high perception of risk from the public and an increasing occurrence of related road accidents. Thirdly, even if promoted as a green mobility option, the true environmental impact of shared e-scooters has only started to be investigated. Early studies point out negative impacts around their production, usage, and maintenance. Fourthly, the integration of shared e-scooters into the existing transport systems requires policy changes, both at the local and national level, including traffic regulations, safety rules, and physical infrastructure. Finally, this paper reveals the ambiguity of the term “e-scooter” and stresses the need for more research, as the future of cities is tied to the development of low-car lifestyles.

Toward carbon-neutral electricity and mobility: Is the grid infrastructure ready?

Toward carbon-neutral electricity and mobility: Is the grid infrastructure ready?

Enough? The role of sufficiency in European energy and climate plans

Energy sufficiency is one of the three energy sustainability strategies, next to energy efficiency and renewable energies. We analyse to what extent European governments follow this strategy, by conducting a systematic document analysis of all available European National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) and Long-Term Strategies (LTSs). We collect and categorise a total of 230 sufficiency-related policy measures, finding large differences between countries. We find most sufficiency policies in the transport sector, when classifying also modal shift policies to change the service quality of transport as sufficiency policies. Types of sufficiency policy instruments vary considerably from sector to sector, for instance the focus on financial incentives and fiscal instruments in the mobility sector, information in the building sector, and financial incentive/tax instruments in cross-sectoral application. Regulatory instruments currently play a minor role for sufficiency policy in the national energy and climate plans of EU member states. Similar to energy efficiency in recent decades, sufficiency still largely referred to as micro-level individual behaviour change or necessary exogenous trends that will need to take place. It is not treated yet as a genuine field of policy action to provide the necessary framework for enabling societal change.

Strategies for an Adaptive Control System to Improve Power Grid Resilience with Smart Buildings

Low-voltage distribution grids face new challenges through the expansion of decentralized, renewable energy generation and the electrification of the heat and mobility sectors. We present a multi-agent system consisting of the energy management systems of smart buildings, a central grid controller, and the local controller of a transformer. It can coordinate the provision of ancillary services for the local grid in a centralized way, coordinated by the central controller, and in a decentralized way, where each building makes independent control decisions based on locally measurable data. The presented system and the different control strategies provide the foundation for a fully adaptive grid control system we plan to implement in the future, which does not only provide resilience against electricity outages but also against communication failures by appropriate switching of strategies. The decentralized strategy, meant to be used during communication failures, could also be used exclusively if communication infrastructure is generally unavailable. The strategies are evaluated in a simulated scenario designed to represent the most extreme load conditions that might occur in low-voltage grids in the future. In the tested scenario, they can substantially reduce voltage range deviations, transformer temperatures, and line congestions.

Three stages in the co-transformation of the energy and mobility sectors

Renewable electricity sources such as wind and solar power have shown a remarkable development in terms of efficiency, costs and availability, but system integration still remains a challenge. Realizing a fully renewable electricity supply will require large scale storage technologies and flexible users to overcome long periods of low power generation. At the same time, other sectors such as mobility and industry must be electrified to replace fossil fuels. Power-to-methane is a promising technology as it enables large-scale energy storage and sector coupling using existing infrastructures. In this work, we analyze the co-transformation of the German electricity, mobility and industry sectors, taking into account the recent decision to phase out coal by 2038. We evaluate the necessary capacities of renewables and sizes for storage options, as well as system costs and associated emissions using a techno-economic optimization model with a high technological and temporal resolution in the open-source framework OSeMOSYS. We find three rather different stages of the transformation driven by the decreasing emissions cap and the coal phase-out. Solar power is expanded vastly up to 2030, whilst coal is replaced mainly by fossil natural gas by 2040. Emissions caps become very challenging after 2040 to the extent that all flexibility options are greatly expanded: storage, curtailment and flexible power-to-methane.

Emerging market orientation: advertising and promotion in the French telecommunications sector: 1952-2002

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the level and forms of advertising in the French telecommunications sector between 1952 and 2002 in order to understand the transformation of the leading organization in the sector and its succesful adoption of increasingly sophisticated practices. The context of increased market orientation is examined to investigate how such practices emerge.Design/methodology/approachExtensive historical study of primary source material and secondary sources was conducted to develop acomparison of three eras. For each era, major changes in relation to advertising and promotional practices are identified along with key contextual elements to understand the relative importance of internal or external influences on the adoption of market-oriented practices.FindingsInitially, advertising and promotional practices studied were introduced gradually within the state-run organization (1952–1973). They subsequently became increasingly important and systematic (1974–1985) before finally becoming those of a modern organization (1986–2002) in the competitive sphere. In addition to single institutional messages aimed at either consumer or business markets, more abstract forms of communication were used over time and publicity was increasingly targeted at different segments.The French telecommunications sector was aware of the necessity to engage in advertising and promotional activities prior to the existence of competition in its main consumer market. Adoption of such customer-oriented practices was more pronounced initially in the business segment. Advertising and promotional activities to consumers became increasingly significant as the administration modernized and developed innovative services. This growth in promotion and in its sophistication accelerated within the new competitive environment following deregulation and, in particular, with the growth of the mobile sector. Both the external environment and internal organizational transformations thus need to be taken into account when analyzing growing adoption of advertising and promotion.Originality/valueThis systematic study of the introduction of advertising and promotional practices in the French telecommunications sector highlights how public organizations can introduce practices linked to market orientation. In the organization studied, the fact that increased advertising and promotional activity was driven by organizational transformation in the second of the three eras studied indicates the importance of investigating internal influences and external factors such as competition.

Transformation of Mobility Industry by Advanced Digital Technologies

The world of mobility has always been a vanguard of scientific discovery. Artificial intelligence (AI) has already been used in motorsports, making the car more reliable and advanced. The digital transformation using AI and Machine learning in the automotive industry is fast, creating huge monetization opportunities. Autonomous cars, sophisticated self-control, safe, secure, and high-performance vehicles, and even flying cars may be the future of mobility. This research paper discusses how AI and Robotics will transform the mobility sector. It discusses the use of AI and Machine Learning (ML)in driverless cars. It also studies AI and Robotics’ convergence, creating a platform and ecosystems for human–robot partnerships, making humans free for more critical tasks. The digital technology disruption of the mobile industry is not free from challenges. The paper also discusses challenges, possible solutions, and how the transformation can benefit humanity.

Indian Ambition

As the second most populated country in the world, with the fifth largest car market, India offers mouth-watering opportunity for electrification on the roads but there are high hurdles to overcome in its aggressive push to revolutionize its entire mobility sector

A simulative framework for a multi-regional assessment of local energy markets – A case of large-scale electric vehicle deployment in Germany

The increasing share of distributed energy resources gives rise to new opportunities for deploying innovative business models and coordination schemes within sustainable energy systems. Different concepts entail different implications at socioeconomic, technical and institutional level. Hence, their thorough assessment is key to understanding their actual potential as enablers of the energy transition. Considering this background, we focus on local energy markets as an increasingly discussed approach for coordinating distributed energy systems and introduce a simulative framework for enabling a multi-regional assessment of this concept. Local energy markets bear the potential for increasing the active participation of end consumers, which could increase their acceptance for energy projects in general and their returns on investment, as well as for reducing the peak load on increasingly congested electrical grids by enhancing local energy balancing. We evaluate these hypotheses for twelve representative German regions, for which we formulate assumptions regarding the energy demand as well as the shares of distributed energy resources that are consistently aligned with an overall European energy scenario envisaging a rapid growth of electric vehicles in Germany. For this purpose, we enhance an existing framework for the assessment of local energy markets in order to be able to include the flexibility of the electric mobility sector in local trade activities. The simulation results show that local energy markets have a significant impact on energy systems: First, local trading increases the economic benefits over all participants, who would otherwise only be able to use their generation for self-consumption or direct marketing in central energy markets. Second, local energy balancing increases on average by60%over all regions. Third, infrastructural relief of the overlaying transmission grids can be accomplished by reducing the yearly peak load at the point of common coupling by39%on average and at the most by97%.Furthermore, we find that including electric vehicles in local market activities does not alter but rather reinforces these effects.

Value co-creation and co-destruction in service ecosystems: The case of the Reach Now app

In recent years, a change in business logic from goods-dominant (G-D) to service-dominant (S-D) logic can be observed widely. For instance, in the case of the mobility sector, companies such as Daimler AG and the BMW Group are shifting from solely producing cars to also providing mobility services. One fruit of their efforts is the Reach Now app, which supports users by combining multiple mobility services. Although such an app can contribute significantly to achieving smart mobility and thereby making the use of the private car less predominant, only a relatively small number of people use it. In this article, we adopt the S-D logic perspective to analyze the link between value formation (i.e., value co-creation and co-destruction) in customer-to-business relationships and business-to-business relationships in the service ecosystem of the Reach Now app based on an analysis of customer reviews of the Reach Now app in the Android Google Play Store between 2016 and 2019. We complement this analysis with interviews with representatives from six German public transport organizations and the Moovel Group GmbH, the app provider. Based on our analysis, we develop an interactional phase-based perspective on value formations in the tripartite relationship between app users, the Moovel Group GmbH, and public transport organizations. Our work complements previous S-D logic studies that (1) do not focus on information technology-enabled value formation, (2) neglect the concept of value co-destruction, (3) analyze only single dyadic actor-to-actor relationships, and/or (4) examine an established service ecosystem.

Mega-disruptions and policy change: Lessons from the mobility sector in response to the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK

There has been widespread interest in the potential for the significant behavioural and policy adaptations rendered necessary by Coronavirus to act as a catalyst for radical longer term policy change in transport. However, this body of work to date has been limited in its consideration of how such policy change might be brought about. Translating the lessons from the Coronavirus response to other ongoing strategic challenges such as decarbonisation requires analysis of what the pandemic has revealed about processes of policy formulation and how institutions responsible for policy implementation actually work.This paper explores the extent to which rapid policy change has actually been possible in the transport sector in England and Scotland during the pandemic, and key examples of how such change has been both achieved and blocked. Two rounds of interviews with senior stakeholders from across the transport sector were undertaken in June and November 2020 to inform the analysis.We find that the pandemic has accelerated some policy commitments that were already planned, but at a time of huge stress on the whole of government and its partner delivery organisations, the potential to deliver radical policy adaptation was limited. However, Coronavirus is recognised as being a potentially path-changing disruption to existing trajectories in terms of the adaptations to business practices, industry structures, ways of working and the public finances. Paradoxically, whilst recognising these uncertainties, decision-makers are yet to deviate from pre-pandemic planning assumptions and policy plans and this risks missing the opportunities to steer how those changes unfold.

Моделирование загрязнения тонкодисперсными взвешенными частицами атмосферного воздуха промышленного города

The paper deals with the quantification of fine particulate matter (PM10) dispersion in atmospheric air of an industrial city using the AERMOD model by an example of Zhlobin (the Gomel oblast, Belarus). Model input data and procedures for the emission inventory and obtaining spatially distributed estimates are described. Emissions and dispersion of PM10 from the main categories of sources are considered, including industrial facilities, road and off-road mobile sources, domestic sector, and agriculture. It is shown that the main contribution to high PM10 concentrations in atmospheric air is made by industrial enterprises, the domestic sector, and road transport. The spatial pattern of urban air pollution is described. The simulation results are compared with the results of PM10 measurements at the monitoring site, their satisfactory consistency is demonstrated.

Mortality-based damages per ton due to the on-road mobile sector in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic U.S. by region, vehicle class and precursor

On-road vehicular emissions contribute to the formation of fine particulate matter and ozone which can lead to increased adverse health outcomes near the emission source and downwind. In this study, we present a transportation-specific modeling platform utilizing the community multiscale air quality model (CMAQ) with the decoupled direct method (DDM) to estimate the air quality and health impacts of on-road vehicular emissions from five vehicles classes; light-duty autos, light-duty trucks (LDT), medium-duty trucks, heavy-duty trucks (HDT), and buses (BUS), on PM2.5 and O3 concentrations at a 12 × 12 kilometer scale for 12 states and Washington D.C. as well as four large metropolitan statistical areas in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic U.S. in 2016. CMAQ-DDM allows for the quantification of sensitivities from individual precursor emissions (NO, SO2, NH3, volatile organic compounds, and PM2.5) in each state to pollution levels and health effects in downwind states. In the region we considered, LDT are responsible for the most PM2.5-attributable premature mortalities at 1234 with 46% and 26% of those mortalities from directly emitted primary particulate matter and NH3, respectively; and O3-attributable premature mortalities at 1129 with 80% of those mortalities from NO emissions. Based on a detailed source-receptor matrix of sensitivities with subsequent monetization of damages that we computed, we find that the largest damages-per-ton estimate is approximately $4 million per ton of directly emitted primary particulate matter from BUS in the New York-Newark-Jersey City metropolitan statistical area. We find that on-road vehicular NH3 emissions are the second largest contributor to PM2.5 concentrations and health impacts in the study region, and that reducing 1 ton of NH3 emissions from LDT is ∼75 times and from HDT is ∼90 times greater in terms of damages reductions than a 1 ton reduction of NO. By quantifying the impacts by each combination of source region, vehicle class, and emissions precursor this study allows for a comprehensive understanding of the largest vehicular sources of air quality-related premature mortalities in a heavily populated part of the U.S. and can inform future policies aimed at reducing those impacts.

Inverse parameter identification of an anisotropic plasticity model for sheet metal

The increasing economic and ecological demands on the mobility sector require efforts to reduce resource consumption in both the production and utilization phases. The use of lightweight construction technologies can save material and increase energy efficiency during operation. Multi-material systems consisting of different materials and geometries are used to achieve weight reduction. Since conventional joining processes reach their limits in the connection of these components, new methods and technologies are necessary in order to be able to react versatilely to varying process and disturbance variables. For fundamental investigations of new possibilities in joining technology, numerical investigations are helpful to identify process parameters. To generate valid results, robust and efficient material models are developed which are adapted to the requirements of versatile joining technologies, for instance to the high plastic strains associated with self-piercing riveting. To describe the inherent strain-induced plastic orthotropy of sheet metal an anisotropic Hill-plasticity model is formulated. Tensile tests for different sheet orientations are conducted both experimentally and numerically to adjust the anisotropic material parameters by inverse parameter identification for aluminium EN AW-6014 and steel HCT590X. Then, the layer compression test is used to validate the model and the previously identified parameters.

Analysis and Prediction of Electromobility and Energy Supply by the Example of Stuttgart

This paper seeks to identify bottlenecks in the energy grid supply regarding different market penetration of battery electric vehicles in Stuttgart, Germany. First, medium-term forecasts of electric and hybrid vehicles and the corresponding charging infrastructure are issued from 2017 to 2030, resulting in a share of 27% electric vehicles by 2030 in the Stuttgart region. Next, interactions between electric vehicles and the local energy system in Stuttgart were examined, comparing different development scenarios in the mobility sector. Further, a travel demand model was used to generate charging profiles of electric vehicles under consideration of mobility patterns. The charging demand was combined with standard household load profiles and a load flow analysis of the peak hour was carried out for a quarter comprising 349 households. The simulation shows that a higher charging capacity can lead to a lower transformer utilization, as charging and household peak load may fall temporally apart. Finally, it was examined whether the existing infrastructure is suitable to meet future demand focusing on the transformer reserve capacity. Overall, the need for action is limited; only 10% of the approximately 560 sub-grids were identified as potential weak points.

On the influence of ϰ-carbides on the low-cycle fatigue behavior of high-Mn light-weight steels

High-manganese light-weight steels offer a great potential for structural purposes in the mobility sector due to their reduced density combined with outstanding mechanical properties. As many of the envisaged applications of these materials will suffer from cyclic loading during their service life, the fundamentals of their fatigue behavior must be studied extensively. In the present work, the low-cycle fatigue (LCF) properties of an austenitic Fe-29.8Mn-7.65Al-1.11C light-weight steel were investigated. Two microstructurally different conditions are directly compared: a homogenized, fully austenitic condition and an aged, austenitic, ϰ-carbide-containing condition. Results elaborated by total strain-controlled fatigue tests are discussed considering microstructural insights revealed by scanning electron microscopy and synchrotron diffraction analysis. Although fatigue properties are improved upon aging due to ϰ-carbide formation for lower strain amplitudes as compared to homogenized counterparts, the cyclic deformation behavior is characterized by cyclic softening at increased strain levels. Shearing of the ϰ-carbides and their mechanical dissolution due to the onset of plastic deformation are found to be the underlying mechanisms. Determination of LCF parameters for both conditions was realized by evaluation of the fatigue life based on the Coffin-Manson law and Basquin equation, eventually providing explanations for the Masing and non-Masing behavior of the aged and homogenized condition, respectively, deduced from analysis of half-life hysteresis loops.

Quantifying the Fleet Composition at Full Adoption of Shared Autonomous Electric Vehicles: An Agent-based Approach

Aims: Exploring the impact of full adoption of fit-for-demand shared and autonomous electric vehicles on the passenger vehicle fleet of a society. Background: Shared Eutonomous Electric Vehicles (SAEVs) are expected to have a disruptive impact on the mobility sector. Reduced cost for mobility and increased accessibility will induce new mobility demand and the vehicles that provide it will be fit-for-demand vehicles. Both these aspects have been qualitatively covered in recent research, but there have not yet been attempts to quantify fleet compositions in scenarios where passenger transport is dominated by fit-for-demand, one-person autonomous vehicles. Objective: To quantify the composition of the future vehicle fleet when all passenger vehicles are autonomous, shared and fit-for-demand and where cheap and accessible mobility has significantly increased the mobility demand. Methods: An agent-based model is developed to model detailed travel dynamics of a large population. Numerical data is used to mimic actual driving motions in the Netherlands. Next, passenger vehicle trips are changed to trips with fit-for-demand vehicles, and new mobility demand is added in the form of longer tips, more frequent trips, modal shifts from public transport, redistribution of shared vehicles, and new user groups. Two scenarios are defined for the induced mobility demand from SAEVs, one scenario with limited increased mobility demand, and one scenario with more than double the current mobility demand. Three categories of fit-for-demand vehicles are stochastically mapped to all vehicle trips based on each trip's characteristics. The vehicle categories contain two one-person vehicle types and one multi-person vehicle type. Results: The simulations show that at full adoption of SAEVs, the maximum daily number of passenger vehicles on the road increases by 60% to 180%. However, the total fleet size could shrink by up to 90% if the increase in mobility demand is limited. An 80% reduction in fleet size is possible at more than doubling the current mobility demand. Additionally, about three-quarters of the SAEVs can be small one-person vehicles. Conclusion: Full adoption of fit-for-demand SAEVs is expected to induce new mobility demand. However, the results of this research indicate that there would be 80% to 90% less vehicles required in such a situation, and the vast majority would be one-person vehicles. Such vehicles are less resource-intense and, because of their size and electric drivetrains, are significantly more energy-efficient than the average current-day vehicle. This research indicates the massive potential of SAEVs to lower both the cost and the environmental impact of the mobility sector. Quantification of these environmental benefits and reduced mobility costs are proposed for further research.

How changes in human activities during the lockdown impacted air quality parameters: A review.

The health emergency linked to the spread of COVID‐19 has led to important reduction in industrial and logistics activities, as well as to a drastic changes in citizens' behaviors and habits. The restrictions on working activities, journeys and relationships imposed by the lockdown have had important consequences, including for environmental quality. This review aims to provide a structured and critical evaluation of the recent scientific bibliography that analyzed and described the impact of lockdown on human activities and on air quality. The results indicate an important effect of the lockdown during the first few months of 2020 on air pollution levels, compared to previous periods. The concentrations of particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide have decreased. Tropospheric ozone, on the other hand, has significantly increased. These results are important indicators that can become decision drivers for future policies and strategies in industrial and logistics activities (including the mobility sector) aimed at their environmental sustainability. The scenario imposed by COVID‐19 has supported the understanding of the link between the reduction of polluting emissions and the state of air quality and will be able to support strategic choices for the future sustainable growth of the industrial and logistics sector.

Managing the Disruption of Mobility Services: How to align the value propositions of key ecosystem players

IntroductionThe mobility sector is one of the industry sectors that faces growing pressure to adapt to a changing society by implementing new solutions. Factors such as urbanization, digitalization, and climate change have led to increasing political and social demands for new means to develop automotive technology, rethink the established mobility solutions, and reduce

Investigation of Different Joining by Forming Strategies when Connecting Different Metals without Auxiliary Elements

Lightweight constructions become more and more important, especially in the mobility sector. In this industry, the increasingly strict regulations regarding the emissions of carbon dioxide can be achieved to a certain extent by reducing the vehicle weight. Thus, multi-material systems are used. Conventional joining techniques reach their limits when joining different materials due to different thermal expansion, unequal stiffness or chemical incompatibilities. This is why additional joining elements or adhesives are used. These must be viewed critically regarding a lightweight and resource-efficient production, since they add weight or complicate the recycling process of these components. Consequently, there is a great and growing need for new versatile joining technologies in order to overcome these challenges and to be able to react to changing process parameters and boundary conditions. Joining without an auxiliary element using pin structures formed directly from the sheet metal plane is one approach to meet these challenges. These pin structures are then joined by direct pressing into the joining partner. This is possible with a variety of material combinations, but is advantageous with regard to continuous fibre-reinforced thermoplastic composites (CFRTP), as the fibres do not have to be cut when joining CFRTP using pin structures. In this paper, the formability of pin structures made of a dual-phase steel DP600 (HCT590X + Z) is investigated. The extruded pin structures are joined by direct pin pressing with an EN AW-6014 to form tensile shear specimens. Different joining strategies are investigated to compare their influence on the joint strength. The results have shown that it is feasible to form suitable pins from a DP600 dual-phase steel to produce reliable connections with an aluminium sheet joined by direct pin pressing.