The electrically powered assisted bicycle’s potential in improving the climate performance of the transport sector

Sammanfattning: This master thesis addresses the electrically powered assisted bicycle (EPAC) as a future low-carbon commuting option and its market. The purpose of the report is to evaluate whether the EPAC can be used to improve the climate performance of the transport sector and to assess the outlook for the Swedish EPAC market. The EPAC is compared to the bicycle, car, bus and train and assessed thereafter. The human induced climate effect is a highly discussed topic in developed countries and much is being done to decrease the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions where the transport sector globally accounts for approximately 27 % of all GHG emissions. To determine whether the EPAC can be part of the solution, this project has been done as a two part study; 1. Climate performance evaluation of the commuting options and 2. A market analysis of the emerging EPAC market. The result of the climate performance study shows that the EPAC performs among the best. The train along with buses powered by renewable fuel perform in the same order of magnitude in terms of emissions and should be considered a good alternative. These are the best options when it comes to motorized commuting alternatives. The EPAC together with the public transportation system offers highly efficient transportation chains, in terms of GHG emissions. As seen from international experience (Copenhagen, DK, and Houten, NL) the work to increase the bicycle and EPAC modal share has to be long-term and strategic. The reward of increasing the cycle modal share has proven to be significant with benefits far beyond reduced GHG emissions. The Swedish EPAC market faces a bright future. The Dutch market has an EPAC market share of sold cycles of 19 % and the Swedish market is seeing rapid development. The manufacturers are exploring new customer segments with main focus on commuters. The potential for reducing the GHG emissions in Sweden is enormous and replacing 10 % of car commuting would decrease the total Swedish GHG emissions by more than 1 %. The means for wide market adaptation exists, i.e. products at affordable prices, but the one thing missing in Sweden is bicycle prioritization during infrastructure planning which at the moment is focused on car traffic. More focus on bicycle infrastructure is needed to improve the situation for bicycle and EPAC cyclists.