E-light vehicles in European cities: Starting from “Ele. C. Tra.-Electric City Transport” experience, ready to take up new challenges

The sector of e-light vehicles (E-LVs) suffers from an unfortunate positioning, squeezed between the e-car and e-bike market, and it has difficulty in expressing its competitive edge. On the other hand, e-light vehicles are an effective and eco-sustainable solution to overcome urban mobility problems, by replacing internal combustion engine vehicles (ICE) or creating new services. Being aware of this, the European Commission showed great interest in a few exploratory projects: among such projects, Ele. C. Tra.-Electric City Transport Project, IEE Programme 2012, represents a paradigmatic experience that provided several useful suggestions. Taking inspiration from what Ele. C. Tra.-Electric City Transport carried out, a new Horizon 2020, ELVITEN Project, will start in November 2017 and develop 8 pilot cases in Europe to ease the e-light vehicle use in urban areas concretely. Simultaneously, Ele. C. Tra.-Electric City Transport partners are continuing promotion of e-light vehicles in urban areas at local and international level, also in Romania thanks to RELIANS, former partner.