Promoting alternative automotive technologies in urban areas: Lessons learned from international cases

The core objective of this paper is to document criteria for successful case studies of pilot projects implemented in urban areas and to derive lessons learned which can be transferred to other cities or regions. The successful case studies are analyzed from economic, energetic and ecological point of view, taking into account three success criteria: low costs, CO2-reduction and multiplicity (easy transferability of lessons learned). The major conclusion of this work is that there is a wide range of possibilities to introduce alternative, low emissions automotive technologies and fuels in urban areas. Most of analyzed case studies are successful from technological and ecological point of view and well accepted from final users. Experiences in local areas are a very good basis for further dissemination of alternative technologies and fuels as well as successful policy measures. In some cases due to the missing infrastructure, as well as regulatory framework the transferability of knowledge and technology is limited. However, bad economics is still the major problem for a broader dissemination of alternative fuels and alternative automotive technologies in urban areas. This problem can be solved by means of public procurement policies e.g. regarding fuel switching for public busses and introduction of emission-free zones.