Innovative Light ELEctric Vehicles for Active and Digital TravEl (ELEVATE): reducing mobility-related energy demand and carbon emissions

迄今为止，英国运输部门在实现能源多样化和减少碳排放方面落后于所有其他部门，自1990年基准年以来，运输部门的排放量基本保持不变。气候变化委员会一直对这一失败持批评态度，并将电动滑板车和自行车确定为需要紧急加速的解决方案的一部分。事实上，英国在客运和货运应用的一系列创新轻型车辆方面落后于其他国家。示例包括电动辅助：自行车、货运自行车、推式踏板车、滑板、三轮车、四轮车、悬浮板等。这些涉及一些电动辅助，以及用户的一些能量消耗。因此，我们将这些车辆归类为轻型电动汽车主动旅行（LEVAT）。它们使人们能够比传统的步行或骑自行车更容易或更愉快地骑自行车，滑板，溜冰或以其他方式旅行。他们的电源提供了连接到各种数字技术的机会-从解锁共享车辆，到交付公司的“跟踪和跟踪”系统，再到地图系统或用户的健康反馈工具-ELEVAVTE称之为“数字”旅行。电动汽车和数字技术的接口创新对于采用这些新模式起着关键作用，能源，IT和运输行业是关键参与者。这些车辆的增加对于减少与交通有关的能源需求和碳排放具有巨大潜力，特别是当用户从汽车或货车等非活动模式切换时。该项目的目的是更好地了解这些机会-技术和商业选项和规格，它们可能吸引哪些人，它们可以用于哪些旅行，它们可以在多大程度上取代传统的机动车旅行-以及伴随它们的一些挑战-例如整体能源使用，安全和监管问题，数字集成，物理环境设计，电池标准化和行为惯性。在基于多个标准开发类型学和技术评估之后，实证最终用户研究将包括调查（旨在获得1，200个回复），演示日（旨在吸引至少300人）以及2020年和2021年期间在英格兰3个城市进行的至少60名个人的长期试验。将在使用前后对参与者进行定量调查和深入访谈，以了解用户感知和体验的变化，并与试验车辆的GPS跟踪和上下文数据（例如天气，丘陵）进行三角测量。作为工作的一部分，我们将为每种模式开发新的安全培训资源，借鉴和调整现有的英国倡议和国际经验，并致力于认证计划。物流行业的货运应用将通过专家访谈和案例研究进行分析。一些技术和需求情景将评估整个生命周期的健康和环境影响。这将包括与世界卫生组织专家组合作，扩大HEAT工具（该工具使没有影响评估专门知识的用户能够对步行或骑自行车的健康影响进行经济评估），以包括这些类型的车辆，该项目得到一系列合作伙伴的支持，包括三个地方当局、Sustrans和世界卫生组织，并将由一个咨询小组提供指导。我们还将通过运输系统弹射器，清洁增长英国和其他方式与一系列行业利益相关者进行接触。我们还设想国际社会参与这项工作，因为这一专题的性质正在迅速发展和增长，而且缺乏关于这些创新轻型车辆对能源需求、流动性和气候变化的影响的大量学术文献。

The UK transport sector lags behind all other sectors in its achievement of energy diversification and carbon emission reductions to date, with emissions from transport essentially unchanged since the benchmark year of 1990. The Committee on Climate Change have been very critical of this failure and identified electrically-assisted scooters and bikes as part of solutions that need to be urgently accelerated. Indeed, the UK lags behind other countries in the uptake of a range of innovative light vehicles for both passenger and freight applications. Examples include electrically-assisted: bicycles, cargo bicycles, push scooters, skateboards, trikes, quadricycles, hoverboards etc. These involve some electrical assistance, as well as some energy expenditure by the user. Hence, we class these vehicles as light electric vehicles for active travel (LEVATs). They enable people to cycle, scoot, skate or otherwise travel more easily or enjoyably than conventional walking or cycling. Their power source provides the opportunity to link to a variety of digital technologies - from unlocking shared vehicles, to 'track-and-trace' systems for delivery companies, to map systems or health feedback tools for users - what ELEVAVTE refers to as 'digital' travel. Innovation at the interface of e-mobility and digital technologies plays a key role for the uptake of these novel modes, with energy, IT and transport industries as key players. Increased uptake of these vehicles has significant potential for reducing mobility-related energy demand and carbon emissions, especially when users switch from non-active modes such as cars or vans. The aim of this project is to better understand these opportunities - the technological and business options and specifications, where and who they might appeal to, what trips they could be used for, how far they could replace conventional motor vehicle trips - and some of the challenges that accompany them - such as overall energy usage, safety and regulatory issues, digital integration, physical environment design, battery standardisation and behavioural inertia. After developing typologies and technology assessments based on multiple criteria, the empirical end user research will consist of surveys (aiming for 1,200 responses), demonstration days (aiming to engage at least 300 people) and longer trials with at least 60 private individuals in 3 cities in England throughout 2020 and 2021. Quantitative surveys and in-depth interviews will be undertaken with participants before and after usage to understand changes in user perceptions and experience, triangulated with GPS tracking of the trial vehicles and contextual data (e.g. weather, hilliness). As part of the work, we will develop new safety training resources for each mode, drawing on, and adapting, existing UK initiatives and international experience and working towards certified schemes. Freight applications in the logistics industry will be analysed through expert interviews and case studies. A number of technology and demand scenarios will assess the whole lifecycle health and environmental impacts. This will include work with the World Health Organization expert group to extend the HEAT tool (which enables users without expertise in impact assessment to conduct economic assessments of the health impacts of walking or cycling) to include these types of vehicle.This project is supported by a range of partners - including the three local authorities, Sustrans and the World Health Organization - and will be guided by an advisory panel. We will also engage with a range of industry stakeholders, through the Transport Systems Catapult, Clean Growth UK and other means. We also envisage international engagement in the work, given the rapidly evolving and growing nature of the topic, and the lack of a substantial academic literature on the implications of these innovative light vehicles for energy demand, mobility and climate change.