Shared E-Mobility
Vehicle sharing is an instrument which provides a local community with an alternative mobility service for their daily or occasional commuting, reducing the number of private vehicles in the city and improving the lives of its citizens.
The electric mobility market is fairly new and has potential to develop in many different ways, also thanks to many different revenue sources. Findings from analysis into early EV market developments show that the availability of chargers emerged as one of the key factors for contributing to the market penetration of EVs. Additionally, integration of smart parking sensors at EV charging platforms increases the service efficiency.
But e-mobility isn’t limited to traditional vehicles. Future bus services, cycle hire, scooters, and e-logistics will need to be integrated into a shared and interoperable infrastructure to deliver a seamless end-to-end solution for all citizens. There are many touch-points and stakeholders to align across such a future ecosystem to ensure sustainability and circularity, and citizen-centric digitisation is critical to success.
Challenge Owner
Sharing Cities is a major international smart cities project funded through the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme (grant 691895) to address some of the most pressing urban challenges facing today’s cities through replicable solutions. Sharing Cities is formed of a group of 34 European partners from across the private, public and academic sectors, which is testing smart solutions in our Lighthouse cities Lisbon, Milan, and London .
Sharing Cities is built upon a collaborative and scalable framework, in which governments and citizens co-design and deliver more efficient, sustainable, and inclusive living environments using smart technology, and transfer knowledge and tools to other cities looking to replicate similar solutions.
The primary Challenge Owner is the Greater London Authority, working in close partnership with the Royal Borough of Greenwich, and the municipalities of Lisbon, and Milan.
The Challenge
The GLA is working with DLT4EU to see what opportunities are presented by decentralisation. Currently the vehicles can use smart parking spaces in the borough, which are equipped with sensors integrated into the road surface and which communicate occupancy in real time (either available or occupied) to a local network via a communication hub installed on a smart lamppost. The data is sent to the London Datastore.
Greenwich’s standard charger supplier operates the charge points and receives all revenues, and points are integrated into the wider Source London network.
In addition to the car sharing scheme, six electric vans were added to Greenwich council’s fleet. These vehicles are in regular use carrying out Council business on Greenwich’s streets. They are used by a number of council services, including: waste advisors, disability and home improvement, enviro-crime enforcement, and wardens.
Potential Challenge Areas
How can DLT/blockchain change or improve the way multiple European cities can provide common digital infrastructure focused on e-mobility (e.g. EV charging points, cycle hire, e-logistics)?
How do the impacts of centralised ownership and control over citizen mobility data compare against self-sovereign data stores held by citizens?
What new business models emerge from operating shared digital infrastructure co-owned by multiple city stakeholders (e.g. the various boroughs of London), or different European cities?