The Role of E-mobility and Shared Transportation Solutions in Addressing Climate Emergency

The impact of social distancing rules on shared mobility is yet to be ascertained, as an aftermath of the pandemic, but in the long term, given the combined financial and environmental benefits stacking from asset sharing, reversion to mean is a high likelihood event, with safety guidelines in good order.

On cleaner fuels and powertrains, E-mobility is a front runner with lower tailpipe emissions–while there is no silver bullet to solve decarbonization in its entirety, e-mobility has lower tailpipe emissions and from a lifecycle emissions standpoint can potentially have 30%-40% lower carbon footprint compared to mainstream fossil fuels (includes the energy intense upstream rare earth mining and battery assembly process). E-mobility aided by connected devices (IoT), can improve asset utilisation and optimize battery pack performance.

Post pandemic world, would have forced the society to revisit the rules laid thus far – Is driving to work daily really efficient? In a limited supply environment during the lockdowns, people have adapted to “doing more with less” – hence supply chains models will adapt to this new reality. Here, I see an ever-increasing adoption of B2B2C transportation models evolving, which may push all to think of energy optimization at every step of the consumption cycle. Hence a cab ride from point A to B, might necessitate delivery of essential items to consumers along the way.

And if there are fewer automobiles on road, there might be lower demand of underutilised parking space. This additional space could be used to develop affordable housing for all or increased green cover to decarbonize the environment further – these are some of the aspects of social empathy for consideration to enhance harmony and reduce social inequity in the community.

Optimization of the real estate and future of electric mobility are intertwined. The lack of real estate leads to fewer charging station infrastructure, which in turn leads to reduced demand of EV. Specific to two and three-wheelers, battery swapping works particularly well in dense urban areas, where there is limited real estate to create physical infrastructure for AC/DC chargers. Underutilized real estate in shopping malls, gas stations, retail hypermarkets and parking areas can be used to create battery swapping infrastructure.

There are prevailing concerns around high reserve ratios of batteries in a swapping system, but by an optimal network design process, dovetailed with network operational excellence, battery reserve ratios can be reduced. Additionally, the experience from Taiwan points to increased user acceptance pf swapping as a solution, where range anxiety issues are allayed by robust battery performance & swapping network. However, it is imperative to develop policies such as tax rebates, incentives for localized manufacturing thereby lowering costs, setting into motion a win-win paradigm for investors and customers.

Design thinking combined with TOD models are required to develop smart cities and insulate citizens with the brutal impact of climate change. Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) model’s primary goal is to diversify our transportation options, revitalize the city landscape by providing more free space to people, optimize their journeys better by providing access to multi-modal transportation choices–with public transit at the heart of urban design. If over 60 percent of the trips made in major metros are less than three km (two miles) and almost 99% of these trips are by cars, SUVs. Why would we do that?

In applying TOD models, smart city planning could embed first and last mile transportation as diverse vehicle form factors in (bicycles, two, three and four-wheelers) on sharing platforms and with the help of technology enablers (APIs libraries), bespoke MaaS platforms could connect seamlessly with the MRT and Public transit corridors. By having docked parking stations adjacent to MRT stations, could provide the last mile commuting far easier and near-zero carbon footprint at a fraction of the costs of individual car ownership.

The climate emergency challenge is a complex problem, with interdependency on multiple SDG goals–response to solve this challenge requires an integrated and design thinking approach, aided by robust policy design by effective dialogue with city planners, consumers and businesses. Disruptive innovation challenging the incumbent mobility models can yield sustained environmental benefits and a thriving planetary ecosystem.