ELECTRIFICATION OF URBAN MOBILITY  

Why do we emphasize the role of cities in achieving Sustainable Mobility goals? The most obvious answer is the following:

In developed countries, over half of the population resides in urban areas, a figure that rises above 70 percent in Europe. These cities are hubs for major industries and the starting and ending points for key logistic routes, resulting in the most extensive transportation networks. Excluding industrial use, transportation accounts for approximately 23 percent of Europe's energy consumption.

Urban mobility demands our primary attention because cities are the crucibles of modern culture. Here, 'culture' encompasses its wider implications, such as daily behaviors, lifestyle choices, and mindsets. Essentially, cities are the birthplaces of new ideas, movements, and thought processes. Consequently, if we manage to positively shape human activities in urban settings, especially mobility, it's probable that these positive changes will propagate beyond the urban boundaries.

Cities are characterized by high population density, which in a compact area, presents numerous challenges and opportunities for resolution. The dense mix of people and various modes of transportation, including personal, public, and commercial vehicles, often leads to more accidents, traffic jams, noise, pollution, and other negative impacts. On the flip side, this density can shorten distances between people, making walking or cycling viable options. It also broadens transportation choices, with public transit, car-sharing services, and personal vehicles available for both people and goods transportation.

The energy generated in cities can often be consumed within those same urban areas, thereby integrating with and shaping the nature of urban mobility. From this standpoint, a multitude of opportunities emerge for enhancing the environment and the quality of life for urban residents.

Why do we prioritize electrification today? The first and most straightforward answer is that this technology has been familiar to us for a long time, and it is sufficiently developed and safe for large-scale application. All this is true while many other technologies considered as alternatives do not yet exhibit similar characteristics of reliability. Instead, we already see electric vehicles becoming more common on our streets, primarily referring to personal mobility means and electric cars.

Electrification is efficient when considering the coefficient of efficiency. A considerable amount of thermal energy produced by the combustion of fuel in internal combustion engines is not utilized for mobility. This suggests that we can increasingly depend on electric energy without awaiting a full shift to alternative energy sources. Despite some experts questioning the environmental benefits of electric vehicles from a life cycle standpoint, city authorities can craft policies tailored to local characteristics.

In Armenia, the electrification of transportation presents an additional benefit. It will lead to a significant decrease in reliance on imported fossil fuels, particularly as the proportion of alternative sources like solar energy grows in electricity generation. To summarize, the three primary benefits of utilizing electric energy are as follows:

These three factors, in our opinion, make the electrification of transport one of the priority solutions towards Sustainable Urban Mobility.

While highlighting the benefits of electrifying urban mobility, it's also crucial to acknowledge that it is not a panacea that will swiftly, effortlessly, and definitively resolve all existing issues and challenges.

It is obvious that in many cases, walking or cycling can be a much more effective solution than any type of transport, whether it is an old, worn-out bus with an internal combustion engine or a modern electric shuttle. These methods are also cleaner and more efficient when considering air pollution or space usage. However, it is clear that we cannot completely abandon motorized transport and force people to move only by their own foot power, regardless of the distances they need to cover.

This means that we will still need to use external energy sources. And this is where the wide and targeted use of electricity can become an important and decisive factor, enabling the active movement of people and goods without polluting the atmosphere.

In this context, it's crucial not to replicate past errors. Electric vehicles graced the roads at least as early as their internal combustion counterparts. For instance, electric public transport debuted in 1907, and several automakers, including Porsche and Nissan, initiated their ventures with electric models. Electric cars enjoyed popularity until the 1930s, but eventually, internal combustion vehicles, being easier and faster to refuel, overshadowed them. This shift was primarily due to the limitations of charging and energy storage technologies. Additionally, the decreasing cost of oil and its byproducts played a significant role.

Currently, the trend appears to be reversing. In numerous countries, fuel for internal combustion engines is costly, whereas electricity remains comparatively cheap. Significant advancements have been made by car manufacturers and experts in the field regarding battery production and charging technologies. The widespread use of alternative energy sources also contributes positively to the prospects of electric mobility, despite the uneven distribution of these resources across various regions. Consequently, the shift towards electric vehicles may occur in diverse ways, with varying approaches and timelines, depending on the continent, country, or even city.