energies Review On the Historical Development and Future Prospects of Various Types of Electric Mobility Amela Ajanovic 1,*, Reinhard Haas 1 and Manfred Schrödl 2 1 Energy Economics Group, Vienna University of Technology (TU WIEN), 1040 Vienna, Austria; [email protected] 2 Institute of Energy Systems and Electrical Drives, Vienna University of Technology (TU WIEN), 1040 Vienna, Austria; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +43-1-58801-370364 Abstract: Environmental problems such as air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions are caused by almost all transport modes. A potential solution to these problems could be electric mobility. Currently, efforts to increase the use of various types of electric vehicles are under way virtually worldwide. While in recent years a major focus was put on the electrification of passenger cars, electricity has already, for more than hundred years, been successfully used in some public transport modes such as tramways and metros. The core objective of this paper is to analyze the historical developments and the prospects of electric mobility in different transport modes and their potential contribution to the solution of the current environmental problems. With respect to the latter, we analyze the effect of the electricity generation mix on the environmental performance of electric vehicles. In addition, we document major policies implemented to promote various types of e- mobility. Our major conclusions are: (i) The policies implemented will have a major impact on the future development of electric mobility; (ii) The environmental benignity of electric vehicles depends to a large extent on the electricity generation mix. Citation: Ajanovic, A.; Haas, R.; Schrödl, M. On the Historical Keywords: electric mobility; environment; policies; public transport; passenger cars Development and Future Prospects of Various Types of Electric Mobility. Energies 2021, 14, 1070. https:// doi.org/10.3390/en14041070 1. Introduction The transformation and electrification of the transport system has become a major Academic Editor: Hugo Morais strategy in the fight against environmental problems and climate change. In the EU, Received: 12 January 2021 the transport sector is responsible for a quarter of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Accepted: 7 February 2021 The largest amount of these emissions is caused by road transport, especially passenger Published: 18 February 2021 cars. In opposition to all other sectors, in which GHG emissions have been decreasing over the last few decades, transport has had by far the worst dynamic performance (see Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral Figure1). Therefore, electrification of the transportation sector would significantly reduce with regard to jurisdictional claims in local air pollution that causes respiratory illnesses and cancer. Moreover, depending on published maps and institutional affil- the electricity used, electrification of transport could significantly reduce the amount of iations. greenhouse gases which contribute to global warming. A major challenge today is to identify the proper solutions for the transport sector which can support the transition towards an overall more sustainable energy system. One of the mostly discussed strategies is the “Avoid-Shift-Improve” (The “Avoid” refers to the need to avoid unnecessary travel Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. and reduce trip distances, the “Shift” refers to the need to improve trip efficiency using Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. more sustainable transport modes, and the “Improve” refers to the need to improve This article is an open access article transport practices and technologies.) strategy. Although a major focus is currently placed distributed under the terms and on the electrification of passenger cars, in the future, with the increasing shift to public conditions of the Creative Commons and shared mobility, it will be important to ensure a high electrification level of almost all Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// transport modes. creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). Energies 2021, 14, 1070. https://doi.org/10.3390/en14041070 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/energies Energies 2021, 14, x FOR PEER REVIEW 2 of 27 Energies 2021, 14, x FOR PEER REVIEW 2 of 27 Energies 2021, 14, 1070 2 of 25 Figure 1. Development of GHG-emissions in the EU-27 in the different sectors (and transport modes) from 1990–2018 (1990 = 1) (DataFigure source: 1. Development [1]). of GHG-emissions in the EU-27 in the different sectors (and transport modes) from 1990–2018 Figure 1. Development of GHG-emissions in the EU-27 in the different sectors (and transport modes) from 1990–2018 (1990 = 1) (Data source: [1]). (1990 = 1) (Data source:Currently, [1]). efforts to increase the use of electricity in the transport sector are under- way worldwide.Currently, Since many efforts transport to increase modes, the such use ofas electricityrailways, tramways in the transport and metros, sector are under- are alreadyway veryCurrently, worldwide. well electrified, efforts Since toin many increasethe past transport thefew use years modes, of ela ectricitymajor such focus as in railways, the has transport been tramways placed sector on andare under- metros, the electrificationwayare alreadyworldwide. of road very transport, wellSince electrified, many especial transport inly the passenger past modes, few cars yearssuch and as a major railways,buses. focus Figure tramways has 2 been shows placedand metros, on the the exampleareelectrification of already Austria very that of well roadthe publicelectrified, transport, transport especiallyin the (e.g., past passengerra fewilways, years underground, carsa major and buses.focus tramways has Figure been2 showsplaced theon and e-buses)theexample contribute electrification of Austria to more of thatroad than the transport, 95% public of the transport especial total kilometersly (e.g., passenger railways, driven cars underground, andwith buses. electric Figure tramwaysve- 2 shows and hicles. thee-buses) example contribute of Austria to more that the than public 95% oftransport the total (e.g., kilometers railways, driven underground, with electric tramways vehicles. and e-buses) contribute to more than 95% of the total kilometers driven with electric ve- hicles. Figure 2. SharesFigure of different 2. Shares modes of different and technologies modes and technologies of electric mobility of electric by mobility the number by the of numberkilome- of kilometers ters driven indriven Austria in Austriain the year in the2018 year (Data 2018 source: (Data [2]). source: [2]). Figure 2. Shares of different modes and technologies of electric mobility by the number of kilome- ters drivenAlthough in Austria both in private the year and 2018 public (Data source: electric [2]). mobility have a long history, they are still seen as a major option for the reduction of the GHG-emissions in the future. Especially in urban areas electric mobility is considered as an important means to solve the local Energies 2021, 14, x FOR PEER REVIEW 3 of 27 Energies 2021, 14, 1070 Although both private and public electric mobility have a long history, they are3 ofstill 25 seen as a major option for the reduction of the GHG-emissions in the future. Especially in urban areas electric mobility is considered as an important means to solve the local envi- environmentalronmental problems. problems. Moreover, Moreover, the shift the from shift private from private cars to cars public to publictransport transport in combi- in combinationnation with electrification with electrification is often is seen often as seena major as astrategy major strategyfor heading for headingtowards sustaina- towards sustainableble transport transport systems. systems. However,However, surprisingly, surprisingly, in in the the literature literature there there are are only only very very few few contributions contributions analyzing analyz- e-mobilitying e-mobility in all in dimensionsall dimensions and and possible possible applications. applications. Many Many papers papers have have focused focused onon batterybattery electricelectric vehicles,vehicles, despitedespite theirtheir currentcurrent minorminor relevancerelevance inin comparisoncomparison toto publicpublic transporttransport (e.g.,(e.g., trains, trains, railways, railways, underground, underground, etc.), etc.), whereas whereas there there is ais verya very low low number number of studiesof studies dealing dealing with with the the electrification electrification of otherof other transport transport modes. modes. 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