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21st Century Operations Using 21st Century Technologies

United States-European Commission Urban Freight Twinning Initiative: Compendium of Project Summaries
Overview of Second Annual Urban Freight Roundtable at 2017 Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting


Pilot Policy

Freight Electric Vehicles in Urban Europe (FREVUE)

The FREVUE project is exposing more than 80 fully electric freight vehicles to the day-to-day rigors of the urban logistics environment. In doing so, the project aims to prove that the current generation of electric vans and trucks can offer a viable alternative to diesel vehicles, particularly when combined with state-of-the-art urban logistics applications, innovative logistics management software, and well-designed local policy.

As part of the FREVUE project, eight of Europe's largest cities, including six capitals, are assessing whether electric vehicles conducting "last-mile" freight movements in urban centers can offer significant and achievable de-carbonization of the European transport system.

The demonstrations have been designed to ensure that FREVUE covers the breadth of urban freight applications that are common across Europe, including goods deliveries, novel logistics systems, vehicle types, climates, and political/regulatory frameworks.

photo of a service station attendant charging an electric vehicle

A service station attendant charging an electric vehicle.
Source: FREVUE

Project Type

Demonstration

Period of Performance

March 2013 - September 2017

Project Site(s)

Amsterdam, Lisbon, London, Madrid, Milan, Oslo, Rotterdam, and Stockholm

Website

www.frevue.eu

Contact

Tanja Dalle-Muenchmeyer
FREVUE Coordinator
Cross River Partnership/Westminster City Council
+44 (0)20 7641 1693
TDMuenchmeyer@westminster.gov.uk

Challenges Addressed

  • Air quality and congestion

Expected Outcomes

Data from the demonstrations will be analyzed, and relevant conclusions for the logistics industry and policymakers will be drawn, including:

  • Technical suitability of electric freight vehicles.
  • Economics of electric freight vehicles.
  • Environmental performance of the demonstrations (e.g., carbon dioxide emissions), and analysis of impacts of wider-scale deployment (for air quality, congestion, and the electricity grid).
  • Social impact of the electric-vehicle logistics applications and policies (e.g., curfew extensions).
  • Impact of the range of policies on the economic case for logistics operators to deploy electric vehicles.

Based on this information, partners will produce clear guidelines and recommendations for the key focus groups of this project: freight operators and fleet managers; public authorities at the local and regional level; energy network operators; Information & Communications Technology and service providers and vehicle manufacturers.

Stakeholder Involvement

The public-private partnership of FREVUE brings together 17 industry partners, 9 public-sector bodies, and 6 research and networking organizations.

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