How can policies influence the development of electric mobility?

• How can policies steer and accelerate the development and market roll-out of electric vehicles?
• How can the CO₂ reduction targets in transport be met by sensibly combining different policy measures?
  
• How and to what extent should the construction of infrastructure for electric vehicles be supported?
  
• What measures can bring about a predominantly electric use of plug-in hybrid vehicles?
  
• How can policies coordinate the climate-friendly transformation of the transport and energy sectors?

Real-world usage of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles: Fuel consumption, electric driving, and CO₂ emissions

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles accounted for about 3.5% of all new passenger car registrations in Europe in the first half of 2020. Equipped with a combustion engine as well as an electric motor, the potential for reducing emissions for plug-in hybrid vehicles depends strongly on their daily driving patterns. For a joint study, the German Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI and the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) analyzed a comprehensive dataset about the real-world usage patterns for more than 100,000 plug-in hybrid vehicles in Europe, North America and China.

Supporting the BMVI (German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure) with the Mobility and Fuels Strategy

This scientific monitoring supports the German Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure by evaluating selected topics for designing the Mobility and Fuels Strategy (MFS). This includes a pivotal project, in which the consortium advises the BMVI on designing climate-friendly transport measures. The MFS also serves as a knowledge platform for all the stakeholders actively involved in the transformation of the transport sector. It helps to close knowledge gaps using scientific reports and quantify the potentials for achieving the transport sector‘s transformation. In addition, the MFS monitors and supports the implementation of measures to achieve this transformation.

Governing sustainable energy-mobility transitions (EMPOCI)

The 2015 Paris Agreement aims to limit global warming this century to 1.5C-2C. This requires a rapid decarbonization of our systems of production and consumption, and a transition to low-carbon solutions, particularly in the increasingly interconnected energy and mobility sectors.  Policy intervention at a national and regional level is needed to accelerate this process. The EMPOCI project investigates how the global low-carbon transition in energy and mobility systems can be accelerated on a regional and national level.

Accompanying research catenary trucks in Germany (BOLD)

Based on today’s knowledge, the German government’s climate policy targets can only be achieved if electrification concepts for the transport sector are also developed, tested and broadly implemented for heavy goods transport. With the adoption of the “Climate Action Program 2020”, the German government therefore decided to conduct a field trial to test electrical drives in heavy commercial vehicles. To implement this decision, the ELISA, FESH and eWayBW projects are each constructing a test route for trucks powered by overhead lines on a trunk road and testing their operation under everyday conditions.

Market evolution scenarios for electric vehicles

What share of electric vehicles can be expected on the market in Germany by 2020? The study aimed to address this question by using several thousand real driving profiles of conventional vehicles as well as technical and economic data for different scenarios to ascertain the economic potential of electric vehicles. Factors hindering the diffusion of electric vehicles such as their limited range and the restricted choice of models were integrated as supporting factors such as the willingness to pay more for this innovative technology.

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• Wietschel, M.; Plötz, P.; Dütschke, E.; Neuner, F.; Tröger, J.; Gnann, T. (2023): Diskussionsbeitrag – Eine kritische Diskussion der beschlossenen Maßnahmen zur E-Fuel-Förderung im Modernisierungspaket für Klimaschutz und Planungsbeschleunigung der Bundesregierung vom 28.3.2023.
• Plötz, P.; Wachsmuth, J.; Sprei, F.; Gnann, T.; Speth, D.; Neuner, F.; Link, S. (2023): Greenhouse gas emission budgets and policies for zero-Carbon road transport in Europe. In: Climate Policy, 1-12. 
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• Plötz, P.; Moll, C.; Mock, P.; Bieker, G. (2021): From lab-to-road: Real-world emissions of plug-in-hybrid electric vehicles. In: Environmental Research Letters.
  
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