Electric carsharing and micromobility

Abstract

Shared e-mobility is a category of emerging mobility services that includes electric carsharing, e-bike sharing, and e-scooter sharing. These services are expected to reduce the negative externalities of road transport in cities, which is currently dominated by fossil-fuel-powered private car trips. In order to better inform the development and promotion of these services and indicate directions for further research, we conducted a comprehensive review of existing literature on the three shared e-mobility modes focusing on their usage pattern, demand estimation, and potential impacts. We found that despite the different vehicle capabilities, all three shared e-mobility services are mainly used for short trips, and their current users are mostly male, middle-aged people with relatively high income and education. The demand of all shared e-mobility modes share many common predictors: they appeal to people with similar socio-demographic characteristics and generate higher demand in locations with better transport connectivity and more points of interest. Shared e-mobility services can potentially lead to positive impacts on transportation and the environment, such as reducing car use, car ownership, and greenhouse gas emissions. However, the magnitude of these benefits depends on the specific operational conditions of the services such as the fuel type and lifetime of shared vehicles. The impact of each shared e-mobility mode is also expected to be affected by other coexisting shared e-mobility modes due to both complementarity and competition. Future directions should include studying the competition between and integration of multiple shared e-mobility modes.