I Indoor ndoor and and Built uilt Environment Original Paper Electric vehicle deployment in urban areas Evanthia A. Nanaki 1 , G. A. Xydis 2 and C. J. Koroneos 3 Abstract The transportation sector accounts for approximately one-fifth of global primary energy use and one quarter of all energy related carbon dioxide emissions, with nearly half of those emissions originating from passenger vehicles. In order to reduce significantly the use of fossil fuels in urban mobility, whilst improving air quality and increasing the accessibility and attractiveness of urban areas, it is necessary to increase the use of non-conventionally fuelled vehicles for passenger and freight transport in urban areas. The introduction of electric vehicles (EVs) is a promising option, so as to achieve decarbonisation objectives, energy security, improved urban air quality and to increase energy efficiency. However, there are a number of challenges for the large-scale deployment of EV both on global and European level. These, in particular, are the high cost of the battery, lack of a standardised recharging infrastructure, relatively low range of battery electric vehicles or lack of interesting value proposition for consumers. A few studies have attempted to calculate the costs and benefits of EVs, but none consider the cost and benefits of EVs at a level of detail comparable to what has been performed for other vehicle technologies. This study constructs the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of EVs, based on real data from the auto-industry, in order to assess the costs and benefits as well as the potentiality of electro-mobility deployment in urban areas. Keywords Electric vehicles, Smart cities, Energy policy, EV deployment, Total cost of ownership, Costs and bene- fits, Urban transport Accepted: 19 November 2015 Introduction The transportation sector accounts for approximately one-fifth of global primary energy use and one quarter of all energy-related carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions, with nearly half of those emissions originating from passenger vehicles. 1 According to a European Commission (EC) report, CO 2 emission from road transport is responsible for about 22.4% of the anthropogenic CO 2 emission of the EU28 countries. 2 In this context, the European Union (EU) has com- mitted to the goal of reducing the anthropogenic green- house gas (GHG) emission by at least 60% until 2050 compared to the 1990 level. 3,4 For this purpose, the use of non-conventionally fuelled vehicles for passenger and freight transport in urban areas should be increased and actively promoted. The introduction of electric vehicles (EVs) is a promising option, so as to achieve decarbonisation objectives, energy security, improved urban air quality and to increase energy effi- ciency. Using power from moderately clean electric grid, EVs would produce about 50 grams of CO 2 per kilometre of travelled, well below today’s most efficient cars, which emit between 100 and 150 g of CO 2 per 1 Centre for Research and Technology Hellas, Institute for Research & Technology of Thessaly, Technology Park of Thessaly, Volos, Greece 2 Soft Energy Applications & Environmental Protection Lab, Piraeus University of Applied Sciences, Athens, Greece 3 University of Western Macedonia, Bakola and Salviera, Kozani, Greece Corresponding author: Evanthia A. Nanaki, Centre for Research and Technology Hellas, Technology Park of Thessaly, 1st Industrial Area, Volos 38500, Greece. Email: evananaki@gmail.com Indoor and Built Environment 0(0) 1–10 ! The Author(s) 2015 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/ journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1420326X15623078 ibe.sagepub.com by guest on December 29, 2015 ibe.sagepub.com Downloaded from