Abstract:

Electric moped scooter sharing services have seen rapid expansion in recent years, especially in Europe. Shared e-mopeds are ideal for reducing the environmental effect of urban transportation due to their compactness, environmental friendliness, and ease. However, its traffic-related, economic and environmental effects are merely represented in academic research. Therefore, this study investigates the ability of an e-moped sharing system to substitute passenger car trips, and the resulting economic and environmental effects. First, based on a passenger automobile scenario generated by the multi-agent transport simulation framework MATSim, this study modelled fleets of 2500, 10,000, and 50,000 shared e-mopeds in Berlin. Afterwards, the total cost of ownership and a life cycle assessment are conducted. The results indicate that a substantial part of all passenger car trips in Berlin can be substituted. The larger the fleet, the more and longer trips are replaced. Simultaneously, the efficiency in terms of fleet utilization decreases. The scenario with 10,000 e-mopeds offers the lowest total distance-based costs for sharing operators, whereas a fleet consisting of 2500 vehicles exhibits the lowest environmental emissions per kilometer. Already with today’s grid mix, the use of shared e-mopeds results in a significant reduction in environmental impact compared to conventional and battery-electric passenger cars. With only renewable energy in the power grid mix, the shared fleets gain additional advantages due to the emission reduction during the use phase, particularly for the global warming and eutrophication potential.