Supporting transition – Electric vehicle weight
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A good number of electric micro-vehicles are now hitting the market, and they could soon find a positioning somewhere between ever larger cars and micromobility.
The introduction of electric quadricycles in Europe (following the example of KEI cars in Japan) looks to be an interesting opportunity to support the transition to more sustainable forms of transportation.
Analysis of the challenges associated with these vehicles, and their promotion as part of the transition to more sustainable mobility, are fully in line with the objectives of the European Union’s Green Deal.
Challenges and Opportunies
Heavy ev-quadricycles are small, very battery-efficient, require only a lightweight driving license, and are inexpensive, hence their growing popularity. Mainly intended for urban use, heavy quadricycles are actually useful in areas where there is little or no public transport. But unlike “real cars”, there are no safety stipulations and they cannot carry more than a driver and a passenger due to mass regulation.
On the other side, “regular” BEVs (with “M1” homologation) are becoming very heavy and increasingly expensive, partly due to safety regulations (GSR2) and proto-regulations (Euro-NCAP).
How to address the need for small and light 4 passengers battery powered cars at a reasonable price? But what about on-board safety, which has recently received some bad press? So the big question is what are the levers for action to guarantee the highest possible level of protection for the riders of these vehicles, generally designed to offer a lighter and more compact alternative to traditional cars?
In practice
The Movin’On Community of Interest has set out to address the need for a new intermediate category of cars between L6e/L7e and M1. Can we propose a category for a small vehicle, adapted to our roads, streets and parking spots, but also to our families seating four people. Can we design a car that addresses 98% of the needs of an M1 car, at the same level of real-life safety than a M1 car.
While they present certain safety risks, are they necessarily more dangerous than other types of vehicle? We will draw conclusions based on real-life accidentology data points from Kei cars in Japan and propose a new concept for a vehicle that has acceptable performance. But we will also design and build a rolling prototype of such a car in order to demonstrate that it is feasible.
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We are therefore proud to announce our collective commitment throughout the year to achieving one goal: to help make the decarbonization of land transportation in Europe a success, in line with the objectives of the “Fit for 55” package by the year 2030 and in tune with the signing of the call for “Fossil-Free Transportation” initiated by our long-standing institutional partner SLOCAT.
Pease discover the themes we have together defined to meet this challenge, and for you, too, to collectively be a real part of it: Energy – Intermodality – Circular economy – Financing the transition – Inclusive mobility – Supporting the transition. – Sovereignty
These 7 themes are the starting point for our 2024 Communities of Interest, working groups that bring together various ecosystem stakeholders. They study the burning question of sustainable mobility, develop a common vision and jointly experiment with new solutions.
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