Global warming is endangering the earth as we know it, and CO2 levels are rising to amounts the world has never seen before and cannot handle. Additionally fossil fuels and natural resources are depleting very rapidly. For that reason the 1997 Kyoto protocol up to the 2018 Paris Agreement were signed, aiming towards a more sustainable and environmentally friendly re-source extraction and reduction of the CO2 footprint. Introducing Smart, emission free cities, is one of the solutions to this challenge. To develop such a city, all day to day activities must be considered. This includes but is not limited to: communication, electricity and mobility. These factors are in the bigger picture connected and will be introduced through analyzing future mobility in this thesis.
Mobility plays a big role in maintaining the stability of the grid, expected to be supporting the unpredictable renewable energy sources through charging and discharging when needed. This will play a big factor for Demand Side Management and enable a better, higher quality of life. Future vehicles are expected to be electrical and autonomous, requiring no human interaction during the driving. They should be a part of a bigger system, allowing all the city’s residents to be able to get from A to B safely and efficiently. Allowing on the city to become more self sufficient and sustainable and on the other hand easier connection to neighbouring cities. The future resident will not have to worry about getting from a place to the other, even if its in a rural area. The beauty of having such a system enables worry free mobility for the citizen and a structured design for the governments.
The potential of these autonomous vehicles is analysed on a techno-economical base and their implementation is simulated on a virtual residential quarter in Berlin, Germany. The technical simulation works intelligently, creating iterations to provide the best possible way and the amount of vehicles needed. Whereas the economical analysis shows the potential of the autonomous ve-hicle with regards to value and money.
The potential of autonomous vehicles as means of mobility in Smart Cities will be conveyed in this master thesis, clearly showing the benefits if such a system were adapted.
