Electric Vehicles in Urban Europe

Electric Vehicles in Urban Europe (EVUE) focuses on the development of integrated, sustainable strategies and dynamic leadership techniques for cities to promote the use of electric vehicles. Urban initiatives to encourage the public and business to use EV's will contribute to EU clean air and car fleets targets, making cities more attractive and competitive.

Between 2009 and 2013, nine cities across Europe: Beja, Katowice, Frankfurt, Lisbon, London, Madrid, Oslo, Stockholm, Suceava and Zografou, supported by the URBACT programme, worked together to share knowledge and experience of how EVs can be implemented in the urban environment under the EVUE project.

Further activity has been undertaken through Pilot Delivery Network funding to look at the outcomes from the Local Action Plan process. EVUE II concludes in March 2015. The internal combustion engine changed all aspects of city living. From expanding the urban footprint as new suburbs and regions were opened up through to new economic opportunities as people and goods could move more efficiently and effectively, it has impacted every aspect of our lives. This does come at a cost however; climate, air and noise emissions, congestion and oil dependency all impact on our quality of life.

Electric vehicles (EVs) provide an opportunity to mitigate against these negative effects while maintaining the level of mobility necessary in a modern, thriving economy. Our project will look at how the partner cities have been implementing their local action plans, as developed under the 2009-2013 EVUE project, and what more can be done to realise the shift to electro-mobility.

With new funding from the URBACT programme, six of these cities (Beja, Katowice, Frankfurt, London, Oslo and Suceava) will now continue to share their experiences, opportunities and challenges as they implement these plans, with particular attention on:

• Political considerations.
• Technical constraints.
• Communication methods.
• Regulation.
• Environmental issues.
• Financial barriers

Cities, regions and countries are more interdependent than ever before and the challenges facing us require concerted action. URBACT will enable us to work together to identify and implement the best solutions for urban mobility while strengthening linkages across Europe.

The EVUE II project builds on the learning from EVUE and will focus on identifying and implementing the framework and infrastructure required that will enable electric vehicles to become the preferred mode of choice in urban areas. By directly targeting a major source of air and noise pollution in our cities, we hope to improve the lives of all citizens and ensure that urban areas mitigate their negative environmental impacts as efficiently as possible.