Electric light commercial vehicles: Are they the sleeping giant of electromobility?. (September 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Tsakalidis, Anastasios; Krause, Jette; Julea, Andreea; Peduzzi, Emanuela; Pisoni, Enrico; Thiel, Christian
• Is Part Of: Transportation research. Volume 86(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-09
• Subjects: Last mile delivery -- Electric vehicles -- eLCV -- Incentives -- Total cost of ownership -- Emissions mitigation; Transportation -- Research -- Periodicals; Transportation -- Environmental aspects -- Periodicals; 354.76
• DOI: 10.1016/j.trd.2020.102421
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1361-9209

Abstract

Highlights: Holistic analysis of electric light commercial vehicles for low emission transport. Total cost of ownership of some electric vehicle variants is already favourable now. High penetration scenarios decrease CO2 and other emissions by 2030 above 3%. Electric light commercial vehicles can reduce particulate concentrations by ca. 2%. Besides fiscal support measures, other policies needed to remove market barriers. Abstract: Transport emissions need to be drastically decreased in order to put Europe on a path towards a long-term climate neutrality. Commercial transport, and especially last mile delivery is expected to grow because of the rise of e-commerce. In this frame, electric light commercial vehicles (eLCVs) can be a promising low-emission solution. Literature holistically analysing the potential of eLCVs as well as related support policies is sparse. This paper attempts to close this research gap. To this aim, the total cost of ownership (TCO) comparisons for eLCVs and benchmark vehicles are performed and support measures that target the improvement of the eLCV TCO are analysed. Various eLCV deployment scenarios until 2030 are explored and their impact on carbon dioxide (CO2 ) and other pollutant emissions as well as pollutant concentrations are calculated. It is found that while in several European Union (EU) countries eLCVs are already cost competitive, because of fiscal support, some remaining market barriers need to be overcome to pave the way to mass market deployment of eLCVs. High penetration of eLCVs alone can lead to a reduction of total transport CO2 emissions by more than 3% by 2030. For pollutant emissions, such as nitrogen oxide (NOx ) and particulate matter (PM), the reduction would be equal or even higher. In the case of PM, this can translate to reductions in concentrations by nearly 2% in several urban areas by 2030. Carefully designed support policies could help to ensure that the potential of eLCVs as a low-emission alternative is fully leveraged in the EU.