Electric vehicles and charging strategies to meet urban mobility requirements

Abstract

In order to integrate electric vehicles into urban mobility it is necessary to assess the usability and efficiency of hybrid, plug-in and battery electric vehicles. Despite the progress that has been made in this field over the last decade many issues still need to be addressed. These include the limited range of electric vehicles, life cycle assessment of their parts and components, integration with the electricity grid as well as long-term sustainability of Li-ion batteries. This paper analyses real urban driving data collected with GPS devices installed in vehicles. These devices enable to map typical urban mobility needs and driving patterns in detail. The data was collected in May 2011 in the Italian province of Modena. The analysis involved approximately 16,000 vehicles out of more than 50,000 surveyed. The travel data was used to quantify the capabilities of different types of electric vehicles and their ability to meet modern urban mobility needs. This paper presents the model, the input parameters and the assumptions adopted for the analysis. It examines the relevance of different recharging scenarios against real-life mobility data. The results provide a new insight into the potential electrification of urban transport and development of recharging infrastructure. © 2013 WIT Press.