Why cycling matters for electric mobility: towards diverse, active and sustainable e-mobilities

Abstract This paper proposes the concept of e-velomobility. E-velomobility covers practices, systems and technologies of electrically-assisted cycling where velomobility’s pedal-power combines with e-mobility’s battery/motor assistance to propel the rider. The concept draws on research and policies around e-mobility, velomobility and e-bikes. Results of an analysis of qualitative material from a UK trial of e-bikes illustrate how e-velomobility is experienced. The empirical material and the conceptual approach show e-velomobility as a distinct and important form of mobility with implications for research agendas and e-mobility policy. E-velomobility and the more diverse understanding of e-mobility suggested in this paper could support a shift of strategies and policies towards more active and sustainable as well as less expensive modes of e-mobility than the current focus on electric cars.

[1]  J. Urry,et al.  The New Mobilities Paradigm , 2006 .

[2]  Zach Furness.  Critical Mass, Urban Space and Vélomobility , 2007 .

[3]  Rachel Aldred,et al.  Incompetent or Too Competent? Negotiating Everyday Cycling Identities in a Motor Dominated Society , 2013 .

[4]  Chris Kiefer,et al.  Smart e-bike monitoring system: real-time open source and open hardware GPS assistance and sensor data for electrically-assisted bicycles , 2016 .

[5]  Susan L Handy,et al.  Experiences of electric bicycle users in the Sacramento, California area , 2014 .

[6]  David Skinner,et al.  Hell is Other Cyclists: Rethinking Transport and Identity , 2016 .

[7]  I. Jones.  Geographies of mobilities: practices, spaces, subjects , 2011 .

[8]  Xiaoying Zheng,et al.  Understanding on-road practices of electric bike riders: an observational study in a developed city of China. , 2013, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[9]  Antoine Cazals,et al.  Political cycles , 2019, International Financial Markets.

[10]  Paul McIlvenny,et al.  Vélomobile Formations-in-Action , 2014 .

[11]  Till Koglin,et al.  The marginalisation of bicycling in Modernist urban transport planning , 2014 .

[12]  Paul McIlvenny,et al.  The Joy of Biking Together: Sharing Everyday Experiences of Vélomobility , 2015 .

[13]  Eleanor Lockley,et al.  Mobile Lives , 2013 .

[14]  Tim Jones,et al.  Motives, perceptions and experiences of electric bicycle owners and implications for health, wellbeing and mobility , 2016 .

[15]  W. Fichtner,et al.  Wer nutzt Pedelecs und warum , 2012 .

[16]  J. Urry.  The ‘System’ of Automobility , 2004 .

[17]  Joan M. Ogden,et al.  The future of electric two-wheelers and electric vehicles in China , 2008 .

[18]  A. Clarke,et al.  Where We Ride: Analysis of Bicycling in American Cities , 2013 .

[19]  E Windisch,et al.  Triggering the development of electric mobility: a review of public policies , 2011 .

[20]  S. Reimer,et al.  Moto-mobilities: Geographies of the Motorcycle and Motorcyclists , 2012 .

[21]  Christopher R. Cherry,et al.  Comparative environmental impacts of electric bikes in China , 2009 .

[22]  Stefanie Kettner,et al.  E-mobility in Germany: White hope for a sustainable development or Fig leaf for particular interests? , 2013 .

[23]  Georgine W Clarsen,et al.  Pedaling Power: Bicycles, Subjectivities and Landscapes in a Settler Colonial Society , 2015 .

[24]  Rachel Aldred,et al.  Cycling’s Sensory Strategies: How Cyclists Mediate their Exposure to the Urban Environment , 2014 .

[25]  T. Cresswell.  Towards a Politics of Mobility , 2010 .

[26]  Allison Helyer.  Local Transport Plan , 2015 .

[27]  Daniel Sperling,et al.  Can Electric 2-Wheelers Play a Substantial Role in Reducing CO2 Emissions? , 2012 .

[28]  I. Hendriksen,et al.  Electrically assisted cycling: a new mode for meeting physical activity guidelines? , 2009, Medicine and science in sports and exercise.

[29]  J. Spinney.  Cycling the City: Movement, Meaning and Method , 2009 .

[30]  Yuan Li,et al.  Built Environment and Household Electric Bike Ownership , 2013 .

[31]  Ralph Buehler,et al.  Making Cycling Irresistible: Lessons from The Netherlands, Denmark and Germany , 2008 .

[32]  G. Gremion,et al.  Electric bicycles as a new active transportation modality to promote health. , 2011, Medicine and science in sports and exercise.

[33]  Chen Su,et al.  Energy Consumption and Emission of Pollutants from Electric Bicycles , 2014 .

[34]  David Tyfield,et al.  Greening China’s ‘Cars’:Could the Last be First? , 2012 .

[35]  Chi-Jen Yang,et al.  Launching strategy for electric vehicles: Lessons from China and Taiwan , 2010 .

[36]  Hinrich Helms,et al.  How to green Electric Vehicles , 2014, IEEE International Electric Vehicle Conference.

[37]  Ingo Kollosche,et al.  Communicating Electric Mobility Futures: Towards a School of Mobility. Combining Futures Research and Strategic Implementation Process1☆ , 2014 .

[38]  Geoffrey Rose,et al.  Electric Bikes and Transportation Policy , 2012 .

[39]  Wanli Fang,et al.  Accessibility in Cities: Transport and Urban Form , 2017 .

[40]  Dave Horton,et al.  Bicycles Don’t Evolve: Velomobiles and the Modelling of Transport Technologies , 2016 .

[41]  Phil Jones,et al.  Performing the city: a body and a bicycle take on Birmingham, UK , 2005 .

[42]  I. Neumann,et al.  Experiencing Range in an Electric Vehicle: Understanding Psychological Barriers , 2012 .

[43]  M. Sheller.  The new mobilities paradigm for a live sociology , 2014 .

[44]  Michael W. Pesses.  Automobility, Vélomobility, American Mobility: An Exploration of the Bicycle Tour , 2010 .

[45]  David Tyfield,et al.  Putting the Power in ‘Socio-Technical Regimes’ – E-Mobility Transition in China as Political Process , 2014 .

[46]  Christopher R. Cherry,et al.  Use characteristics and mode choice behavior of electric bike users in China , 2007 .

[47]  Kang An,et al.  Travel Characteristics of E-bike Users: Survey and Analysis in Shanghai☆ , 2013 .

[48]  Zachary M. Furness,et al.  One Less Car: Bicycling and the Politics of Automobility , 2010 .

[49]  Christopher R. Cherry,et al.  E-bikes in the Mainstream: Reviewing a Decade of Research , 2016 .

[50]  Changxu Wu,et al.  Traffic Safety for Electric Bike Riders in China , 2012 .

[51]  D. Raffo,et al.  A24 Electrically-assisted bikes: understanding the health potential , 2015 .

[52]  Peter Cox,et al.  The role of human powered vehicles in sustainable mobility , 2008 .

[53]  Barbara Lenz,et al.  A new vehicle for urban freight? An ex-ante evaluation of electric cargo bikes in courier services , 2014 .

[54]  Jian Sun,et al.  Behavior of Riders of Electric Bicycles at Onset of Green and Yellow at Signalized Intersections in China , 2012 .

[55]  Ben Fincham,et al.  Bicycle messengers: image, identity and community , 2007 .

[56]  Martin Wietschel,et al.  Evaluation of European electric vehicle support schemes , 2010 .

[57]  J. Nelson,et al.  Bridging the Mobility Gap: The Role of ITS , 2012 .

[58]  Renato J. Orsato,et al.  The emergence of an electric mobility trajectory , 2013 .

[59]  J. Datta,et al.  Cycling and the city: a case study of how gendered, ethnic and class identities can shape healthy transport choices. , 2011, Social science & medicine.

[60]  Dave Hurst,et al.  Electric bicycles : global market opportunities, barriers, technology issues, and demand forecasts for e-bicycles, pedal-assist bicycles, and e-bicycle batteries , 2012 .

[61]  Ole B. Jensen,et al.  Together and Apart: Affective Ambiences and Negotiation in Families’ Everyday Life and Mobility , 2015 .

[62]  Martyn Thomas,et al.  Electric vehicles:charged with potential , 2010 .

[63]  Kang An,et al.  Comparison Study on Travel Characteristics between Two Kinds of Electric Bike , 2013 .

[64]  Justin Spinney,et al.  Cycling the city: non-place and the sensory construction of meaning in a mobile practice , 2007 .