Systems Perspectives on Electromobility

The transportation of goods and people is at the heart of the industrial society. Yet transportation relies heavily upon oil – a scarce fossil fuel that contributes to climate change and local air pollution. The term ‘electromobility’ refers to an alternative transportation system based on vehicles propelled by electricity. Electromobility is increasingly seen as favourable in that it could circumvent problems related to both oil and biofuels whilst meeting our mobility needs and desires. However, the virtue of electromobility is not uncontested and a range of questions demand an answer: if electric vehicles are energy efficient; if they are safe; how environmental friendly they are; if metal resource scarcity will limit their use; to what extent driving patterns shape or are shaped by new types of vehicles; if electromobility is suitable only for cars and not for heavy vehicles, or vice versa; and what type of new business models and governmental policy support that is required to stimulate demand for electric vehicles. There is not one final answer to questions like these. However, studying electromobility from different systems perspectives can help to resolve such complex issues. The seventeen chapters of Systems Perspectives on Electromobility 2017 address different topics related to the immensely important issue of whether – and to what extent – our transport systems can and should be energised by electricity