Comparative Analysis of the Micro-MobilitySector using Electric and Hydrogen Scooters : The case study of the City of Chicago

The micro-mobility sector, with electric scooters and hydrogen scooters, is an encouraging substitute for the passenger cars inside the cities and could help reduce the greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector. While passenger cars are currently the largest greenhouse gas emitter within the transportation sector, there is potential for its reduction through the adoption of micro-mobility solutions like electric and hydrogen scooters, particularly inside the cities. By switching from traditional car usage to these alternatives, cities can significantly lower emissions and promote more sustainable modes of transportation. For that purpose, it is important to analyze the economic viability of implementing a fleet of electric scooters and to explore the economic feasibility of deploying a fleet of hydrogen scooters to meet a certain demand, from the rental companies perspective. As of today, several papers have examined the economics behind electric scooters, however the potential of hydrogen scooters remains unexplored. The optimization model performed in this study combines multiple factors including hourly demand expressed in kilometers, technical specifications of scooters such as battery and tank sizes and energy consumption, as well as efficiencies of both electric and hydrogen scooter technologies. Furthermore, it considers parameters such as the hourly wholesale electricity prices and the levelized cost of hydrogen. The model, built in python, is designed to produce optimized results including the investment cost, expressed in the number of scooters and their unit price, the optimized charging strategies alongside the corresponding charging costs, and operational costs for both scooter technologies. The model is applied to a electric scooter pilot program organized by the city of Chicago.
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