Small electric vehicles – benefits and drawbacks for sustainable urban development

Abstract

Small electric vehicles (SEVs) have the potential to contribute to climate protection, efficient land use and mitigation of air pollution in cities. Even though, they show many benefits that could enhance urban quality of life, they are not yet widely used. In this paper benefits as well as drawbacks for these vehicles are discussed by combining literature research and outcomes of a mixed-method approach with expert interviews and an online survey. Resulting from these arguments a vision for SEVs in urban areas is drawn showing them integrated in a mix of various transport modes. Environmental benefits are derived, for example, from their lower weight and low maximum speed making them a more energy efficient transport option than heavier cars. Additionally, the small vehicle size lowers land use for SEVs and e.g. allows for less parking areas needed. However, they also hold constraints that need to be dealt with in different ways. On the one hand the lower safety compared to passenger cars is an issue that is further worsened by current traffic regulations. On the other hand costs in terms of purchase prices seem to be an issue for SEVs.