Factors that influence the expansion of electric delivery vehicles and trucks in EU countries

J Environ Manage. 2021 Oct 15:296:113177. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113177. Epub 2021 Jul 9.

Abstract

As one of the possibilities of reducing exhaust emissions, the article takes into account infrastructure and electric vehicles used in road transport. Taking into account the goal to achieve a 30% share of vehicle electric, the number of charging stations available in the entire European Union is not sufficient. There has been a slight increase in sales of electric vans and trucks in the EU in recent years. This may be due to the lack of available infrastructure which would render it possible to power them, and also from the lack of available delivery vehicles in the market. What is interesting, the number of electric vehicles in a country is not necessarily in proportion to the number of available charging stations. It is the authors' intention as well to indicate the potential directions of the development of a low-emission cargo transport in the European Union. Upon the basis of the results, it is ascertained that there is a strong correlation between the value of a country's GDP and the number of electric vehicle charging stations. A moderate correlation is also observed in the case of a country's population, as well as in the case of the market share of registered electric delivery vehicles in a country.

Keywords: Decarbonisation; Electric vehicles; Low-emission logistics; Power supply infrastructure; Road transport.

MeSH terms

  • Electricity
  • European Union
  • Humans
  • Motor Vehicles*
  • Vehicle Emissions* / analysis

Substances

  • Vehicle Emissions