Bosch bets big on small electric vehicles for urban transport

With urban transport, the world over, already stressed with issues of congestion and parking, small vehicles are set to play a big role. That’s what German technology products and services provider Bosch thinks.

Small vehicles are able to weave quickly through the traffic as well need less parking space compared to bigger siblings. With the average distance traveled by vehicles in cities estimated to be around 40 kilometres a day, Bosch believes that small electric vehicles could be the answer for improving urban mobility. By 2025, 80 of the world's metropolises will be smart cities, said Dr Rolf Bulander, Member of the Board of Management and chairman Business Sector Mobility Solutions, Bosch.

E-scooters which are a common sight in countries such as China, Taiwan, and Vietnam, are yet not popular in other countries globally. According to the company’s estimates, some 100 million light electric vehicles will be produced worldwide by 2020 – these include scooters and small four-wheeled cars roughly the same size as a Smart.

Speaking at the Bosch Mobility Experience today, Dr Markus Heyn, Member of the Board of Management Robert Bosch GmbH, said: “Small EVs have great potential worldwide.” He pointed out that Asia, where annual sales of e-scooters grew from 58,000 units a decade ago to 30 million now, will see more growth in the coming years. For Bosch, India constitutes an example for electric two- and three-wheelers and the market for e-scooters and light EVs is also set to grow in the coming years.

e.GO and electric Schwalbe scooter showcased
The e.GO four-seater (pictured above) and Schwalbe scooter’s electric makeover (pictured below) have been showcased at the Bosch Mobility Experience, which is underway at Boxberg since yesterday. Both vehicles are powered by Bosch solutions. Targeting demand coming in the future from urban mobility solutions, the company has developed an integrated system – including motor, control unit, battery, charger, display, and app – for two-, three-, and four-wheelers.

Bosch believes that along with zero emissions and reduced noise in EVs, there’s another advantage of small e-vehicles – the 48-volt system will help generate annual internal growth of well over 100 percent.

Gains for vehicle makers
The company is of the opinion that since the e-vehicle system is made up of off-the-shelf automotive components, manufacturers will have the benefit of production-tested parts and minimal development expense. This will give both established OEMs and new players in the market the opportunity to launch vehicles within a very short timeframe of 12 to 18 months, thanks to simple scalability, multiples of the system’s components can be combined, depending on vehicle class and the desired level of power.

Sharing mobility
With fast-changing customer preferences when it coming to car owning, the German major believes sharing is the new trend. With Coup, its e-scooter sharing service, the company says it is making urban mobility simpler and less stressful. In addition, direct feedback from the customers, both about the service itself and the technologies used gives an opportunity to improve and launch new developments.