Project Summary

University of Oxford’s Transport Studies Unit will advance a project known as QUISEM, or QUantifying Impacts for Shared Electric Mobility. The aim is to define and test inputs for a tool that can quantify the place-specific benefits of shared electric car clubs. The tool will use real-life data to produce metrics and indicators of value for local policymakers, operators, community groups, developers and investors involved in supporting or delivering these services. Outputs will inform different parties as to the effectiveness of these services in achieving a range of objectives, such as carbon emissions reduction and measuring usage over time

Project Achievements

PLEASEM is a functional online dashboard (car-club-potential.shinyapps.io/dashboard/) that quantifies place-specific outputs based on nationwide open data on vehicle ownership and mileage. The tool
visualises the potential CO2e emissions reductions by upper tier local authority. It shows that suburban and rural local authorities may achieve relatively greater savings than city authorities because the most savings accrue where the average annual private mileage is greatest. Users can adjust the annual mileage to estimate carbon savings more precisely, e.g. if they have mileage data from a local electric car club to benchmark. The tool also shows the impact on EV uptake and car ownership at the Middle layer Super Output Area (MSOA) level per shared vehicle, and aggregates this to lower tier local authority.

Conclusions

PLEASEM demonstrates that shared electric vehicles (EVs) have the potential to accelerate the decarbonisation of local travel, not only in the dense urban areas where they are mainly located at present, but also and perhaps more so in rural areas. It also offers a platform for gathering and visualising further indicators that can help local policymakers from county to parish level make the case for shared EVs and attract financial or in-kind support for sustainable transport options and investment. Identifying which indicators of shared electric mobility are place-specific and persuasive is an iterative process that involves exploring data, testing inputs and conversion factors, and working closely with operators, as well as engaging with local and national policymakers and community groups. As this iterative process continues, the functionality of PLEASEM as an open-source tool can be expanded to respond to different needs to scale shared electric mobility across diverse communities.

Next Steps

Feedback on PLEASEM will be sought from partners on an ESRC-funded, 3-year, mainly-qualitative research project into shared electric mobility in rural areas. This project will also generate data that may be used
to expand the tool’s functionality and potential audience, while its design and transparency will allow simple updates with the latest public data. Proposals for collaborations to add new maps and indicators are also
welcome, and discussions with other academics working in this space are underway.

A paper on the utilisation clustering work done during the exploratory phase of this project is being written up for an academic journal and will reflect on what aspects of utilisation may best inform indicators that
would support and scale shared electric mobility outside cities.