Daily Management Review

WEF Report States Travel Costs To Be Slashed By Proliferation Of Electric Vehicles In Global Cities


02/14/2018




WEF Report States Travel Costs To Be Slashed By Proliferation Of Electric Vehicles In Global Cities
Travel costs would be reduced by up to 40 percent while CO2 marginal emissions would be reduced to zero in urban areas by the advent of electrified autonomous vehicles, predicts a recent report of the World Economic Forum (WEF).
 
Some new approaches to electric mobility would be required by decentralization of energy systems, digitalization and autonomous and shared mobility claimed the WEF's report which is titled "Electric Vehicles for Smarter Cities: The Future of Energy and Mobility" and published on Tuesday.
 
By the year 2030, there could be value creation worth up to 635 billion U.S. dollars for the global society due to the benefits to human health that would result from significant enhancement in the quality of breathable air and the creation of a host of new jobs and business opportunities, the report claimed.
 
"The convergence of mobility and energy strategies can magnify the economic and social benefits of electric mobility in cities, and ensure increased sustainability, reliability and customer choice," said Roberto Bocca, head of Energy and Basic Industries, and a WEF executive committee member.
 
There are a number of large cities in the world where the process of electrification of vehicles is being vigorously done by backing from both the governments there and the private companies active in those regions. Such cities were cited as examples by the WEF report.
 
For example, eh report notes that the third largest city of China, Guangzhou, has set an aim of electrification of at least 200,000 new busses by 2018 as part of the city’s efforts to electrify the public transport system within the city limits.
 
The process of development of regulations at a national level for the testing and trial of autonomous vehicles on the public roads all across China is underway according to an announcement recently by the Chinese government.
 
City developers are also being encouraged to create and shore up infrastructure for electric vehicles charging in the city of Hong Kong by the local government there. According to the report, these efforts also include incorporating smart payment solutions for the common people through the use of the payment system Octopus. This smart payment system can also be accessed by common people for travelling on the public transport network.
 
Another example cited in the report is in the city of London where the Transport for London office has already announced that by 2030, the agency would not permit any diesel vehicles and has already mandated that all new black (metered) cabs have to either be powered by electricity or be emission free.
 
260 fleet vehicles of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), on the other of the Pacific, has been decided to be transformed into electric ones. There is also opportunities for the LAPD to make investments in charging stations which could include fast-charging stations in city center car parks if the agency decides to lease electric vehicles instead of purchasing them.
 
(Source:www.xinhuanet.com)