Electric vehicle revolution to slash travel costs in global cities: report

GENEVA - Electrified autonomous vehicles will revolutionize urban mobility by reducing travel costs by up to 40 percent and cut down CO2 marginal emissions to zero, a World Economic Forum (WEF) report said Tuesday.

The WEF's report, titled "Electric Vehicles for Smarter Cities: The Future of Energy and Mobility", said autonomous and shared mobility, digitalization and decentralization of energy systems require new approaches to electric mobility.

The report says the generation of new jobs, combined with resulting improvements in air quality, will benefit human health and could result in up to $635 billion of value creation for society by 2030

"The convergence of mobility and energy strategies can magnify the economic and social benefits of electric mobility in cities, and ensure increased sustainability, reliability and customer choice," said Roberto Bocca, head of Energy and Basic Industries, and a WEF executive committee member.

The WEF report cites examples of world cities where vehicle electrification is proceeding with government and business backing.

In Guangzhou, China's third biggest city plans to speed up bus electrification and aims to reach 200,000 new units in 2018, notes the report.

China's government has also announced it will develop national regulations for testing AV on public roads in cities across the country.

Also, in China, the Hong Kong local government encourages developers to scale-up the electric vehicles charging infrastructure.

This includes solutions integrated with the smart payment system, Octopus, which is also used to access the public transport network said the report.

In the British capital, the Transport for London office requires all new black (metered) cabs to be electric or emission-free, and diesel vehicles will not be permitted in London by 2032.

On the US west coast, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has decided to switch 260 fleet vehicles to electric vehicles.

By leasing rather than buying vehicles, the LAPD can invest in charging stations, including fast-charging stations in city center car parks.