Light Electric Vehicles (LEVs) key in fight against climate change

The first comprehensive study on how the use of LEVs can contribute to Climate Protection shows that Light Electric Vehicles (LEVs) are key to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

For context, “with the energy it takes to get a loaf of bread from the bakery in an electric car, one can go to the same bakery 100 times in a light, electric vehicle.” highlights Jan Cappelle, Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering Technology, KU Leuven.

German Aerospace Center (DLR), who produced ‘The Potential of Light Electric Vehicles for Climate Protection Through Substitution for Passenger Car Trips – Germany as a case Study,’ found, “the data quantifies how getting out of our cars and onto a smaller and lighter electric vehicle for our everyday mobility, be that an e-bicycle, a micro e-car or a scooter, would save 88% – of GHE, a whopping reduction of 57 million tonnes of CO2 eq per year, or 44% of GHG emissions produced by car trips.”

“This report, using real-world behaviour data, shows that LEVs can be an important and readily available way to fast-track climate mitigating technology into the transportation sector for many of society’s trips, which can result in large short-term reductions in emissions,” said Prof. Christopher Cherry, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Tennessee

Annick Roetynck, Manager of LEVA-EU, the European trade-association for Light Electric Vehicle (LEV) businesses, who commissioned the research, points out that, “legal bottlenecks, particularly in technical legislation are very seriously hampering the technological and market development of LEVs.” However, “the results of the DLR-study should convince the Commission to prioritise those issues.”