Small Electric Vehicles: An International View on Light Three- and Four-Wheelers

This edited open access book gives a comprehensive overview of small and lightweight electric three- and four-wheel vehicles with an international scope. The present status of small electric vehicle (SEV) technologies, the market situation and main hindering factors for market success as well as options to attain a higher market share including new mobility concepts are highlighted. An increased usage of SEVs can have different impacts which are highlighted in the book in regard to sustainable transport, congestion, electric grid and transport-related potentials. To underline the effects these vehicles can have in urban areas or rural areas, several case studies are presented covering outcomes of pilot projects and studies in Europe. A study of the operation and usage in the Global South extends the scope to a global scale. Furthermore, several concept studies and vehicle concepts on the market give a more detailed overview and show the deployment in different applications.

Amelie Ewert works as Research Fellow for the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Vehicle Concepts in Stuttgart, Germany, since 2018. In her field of work, she is responsible for user requirements and future perspectives of light vehicle concepts. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography and a master’s degree in environmental management and urban planning in conurbations. She is part of the IEA-HEV TCP Taskforce 32 “Small Electric Vehicles” and won an award for best paper in the category dialogue papers in recognition of 224 dialogue papers submitted for the EVS32 Symposium, Lyon, France, in May 2019. The title of the paper was “Fostering small electric vehicles on a municipal level”.   

Stephan A. Schmid is head of the department "Vehicle Systems and Technology Assessment" at the Institute of Vehicle Concepts of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Stuttgart, Germany. Together with his team, he is working on new vehicle concepts for road and rail, focusing on energy, emissions and costs. The vision of his research is to identify technically and economically feasible and sustainable ways forward for the transport sector. He is the operating agent of the Task Force 32 “Small Electric Vehicles” of the IEA Technology Collaboration Programme Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (HEV TCP). Since 2011, he has been appointed National Scientific Delegate of Germany to the HEV TCP. From 2011 to 2013, he represented DLR's transport programme and research activities at DLR's Brussels office in Belgium. Stephan Schmid received his diploma (Dipl.-Ing.) in mechanical engineering from the Technical University of Karlsruhe (Germany) and his doctorate (Dr.-Ing.) in mechanical engineering from the University of Stuttgart (Germany). 

Mascha Brost works as Research Fellow for the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Vehicle Concepts in Stuttgart, Germany, since 2015.  She conducts research in the area of vehicle concepts in connection with new mobility concepts such as on-demand services. Her focus is on sustainable mobility solutions, which includes light electric vehicle concepts. She received her diploma (Dipl.-Ing.) in mechanical engineering from the University of Stuttgart, Germany and complemented her technical education with a master’s degree in Integral Design Studies, an international, interdisciplinary programme of the Stuttgart State Academy of Art and Design. She applied the combination of technical development and artistic product design in a product design office for two years before she changed to scientific research at DLR. Mascha Brost coordinated a study on potentials of small and light electric vehicles “Elektrische Klein- und Leichtfahrzeuge. Chancen und Potenziale für Baden-Württemberg” and is also part of the IEAHEV TCP Taskforce 32 “Small Electric Vehicles”. 

Huw Davies is Senior Lecturer in Automotive Engineering Policy and Regulation within the Research Centre for Future Transportand Cities at Coventry University. He is Chartered Engineer, Fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers and Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. He has a passion for automotive engineering and the automotive industry, having started his career as a design engineer in the motorsport industry before moving into the area of vehicle regulation and completing a PhD focused on the development the next generation of vehicle crash tests. He looks to use his knowledge of emerging technology trajectories to support the development of policy and regulatory actions that optimise, adapt or radically transform the mobility system in order to minimise the negative impacts of road transport. It is multi-disciplinary, linking engineering, social sciences and business. He has published over 20 peer-reviewed research papers; over 40 international conference papers and authored a number of book chapters.

 Luc Vinckx got his degree in mechanical engineering and energy technology from the Catholic University of Leuven (1982) and an additional degree in applied and environmental fluid dynamics from the Von Karman Institute in Brussels (1983). He has been working as Research and Teaching Assistant at the University of Leuven in the department of energy technology. Since 1989, he is active in the fields of vehicle regulations, vehicle homologation, road safety and environment and energy policy. He was employed by FEBIAC (Belgian federation of the car industry), VITO (Flemish research organization) and General Motors. Later on, he worked as Consultant for FEB-VBO, 5GAA, LOGOS/MCI, Toyota, European copper alliance and Van Hool bus manufacturers. He is also the author of several articles about small electric vehicles and related regulatory issues.