More and more smart cities pop up around the world as communities work to find combative and thoughtful responses to the effects of global warming. Smart cities rely on tech and data collection to most efficiently use their resources, promote sustainability, and improve the quality of life of their residents.
A smart city without convenient, efficient transport simply isn’t smart. Transportation options are just as vital to smart cities as the tech and data that drive them. They play an enormous role in urban infrastructure and the way every city operates.
Think about the last time you used your city’s public transit. Did its effectiveness or lack thereof make or break your morning? Exactly.
But transportation goes beyond traffic congestion, wait times, and fares. For many people, accessible transportation is the difference between being able to access workplaces, doctor’s appointments, grocery stores, and schools, or being left without a way to reach these daily essentials.
Nearly every recognized smart city integrates sustainable transportation into its transit model. Electric vehicles (EVs) are integral to driving those sustainability goals.
EVs: The Driving Force Behind Smart Cities
Smart cities rely on forward-thinking technologies, so naturally EVs have become their first pick in transportation options.
The tech and data behind EVs help smart cities successfully achieve their primary goals:
- Improve Efficiency:
Using technology and data to deliver the most productive services with the least amount of inconvenience, environmental impact, and cost. - Promote Sustainability:
Mitigating global warming effects and preparing for the changes that it is bringing to our environment. Focusing on innovation and resilience is key. - Enhance Quality of Life:
Prioritizing the experience of residents. Smart cities ensure the health, safety, and happiness of their communities focusing not only on functionality, but livability. Check out our partner blog about how EVs improve sustainability and quality of life in smart cities!
Making Smart Cities More Efficient
How do EV fleets Drive Efficiency in Smart Cities? EVs have real-time data updates that connect to the Internet of Things (IoT), a network of physical objects with embedded software that connect to the internet and each other to share data. IoT is important for smart cities because it allows various technologies to work together and optimize operational efficiency.
Think of this like different species in the wild, and the way they depend on one another in nature to maintain a healthy ecosystem. EVs operate in the same way. They integrate with other technologies to support a healthy, interconnected smart city.
EVs are more energy efficient than traditional cars with internal combustion engines (ICEs) because they don’t lose energy in the form of heat. According to the Department of Energy (DOE), EVs convert more than 77% of electric power from the grid to their wheels, whereas ICEs only convert about 12-13% of gasoline energy into their wheels because of significant energy loss from heat release.
High population communities are increasingly suffering from urban heat islands (UHIs) where urban areas are significantly warmer than their surrounding suburban counterparts. For example, NYC is roughly 7° F hotter than its surrounding areas in the Summer. That’s about the temperature difference between Spring and Fall.
These heat islands happen for a number of reasons. Plants and trees practice transpiration, a process where they absorb water and transform it into vapor that’s released into the air. This process functions as a natural air conditioner and helps keep the climate cooler. Asphalt sidewalks are dark and impervious, water can’t flow through them. These darker surfaces absorb a ton of heat from the sun, and have no natural way to cool down because they prevent the cycle of water flowing and evaporating from occurring.
Heat islands pose dangerous public health risks for populations more likely to experience heat exhaustion (e.g. infants, the elderly, pregnant people, those with chronic health conditions, lower-income individuals, etc.).
Additionally, people tend to blast their ACs in hopes of escaping the heat, but this extreme energy use drives up energy prices and doesn’t actually address the root of the problem. Innovative solutions that use energy efficiently, like EVs, are a much more direct and effective solution to heat islands.
EVs are generally smoother, have stronger acceleration abilities, and require less maintenance than ICEs making them a more efficient choice with less expensive upkeep. These qualities in combination with EVs’ efficient energy use make them a core part of smart cities and better for community members at large.
Energy efficiency and urban heat island mitigation are just two of the many reasons why EVs increase smart city efficiency. To learn more about how EVs drive efficiency, check out these articles:
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How EVs Can Serve as Mobile Power Sources (Vehicle-to-Grid or V2G Integration)
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How EVs Can Reuse Their Energy (regenerative braking)
Still Curious About Smart Cities?
At Circuit, we’re EV and efficiency experts. We’ve used an entirely EV fleet since 2011. Our 300+ EVs deliver microtransit to more than 40 communities across the country making them each a little bit smarter.
If you’re curious to learn more about smart cities and EVs, contact us, sign up for our newsletter, or get early bird tickets to Tomorrow.City USA in West Palm Beach, FL, the country’s leading event for urban innovation!
