Design, Development, and Validation of Driving Simulators for Enhancing the Safety and Sustainability of Electric Microvehicles

Micromobility vehicles, e-scooters and e–bicycles in particular, gain an increasing popularity but also receive criticism, mainly due to road safety issues and their carbon footprint, particularly in relation to their Li-ion batteries. Available field data are not sufficient to explore those issues. Important input variables, such as riders’ reaction time, the impact of human factors on riders’ safety, battery performance degradation with time, remain unknown. This paper presents the design, development, initial calibration and validation of two novel driving simulators, one for an e-scooter and one, for an e-bicycle. The simulators are already operational and used to acquire new knowledge on driving behavior and battery performance. By enabling a better understanding of e-vehicle performance and safety, these simulators contribute to reducing the environmental impact of micromobility by optimizing battery usage and improving vehicle design for sustainability. The paper describes the overall configuration and the main technical specifications of both simulators and provides a thorough description of all their mechanical and electromechanical components. It documents the initial calibration process before launching the experiments and presents the validation methodology with the participation of over 100 users. The outcomes of future experiments are expected to be beneficial to (i) researchers who will gain new insights on e-vehicle performance, (ii) users, enabling them to make informed decisions on vehicle choice and riding patterns, (iii) urban planners on improving urban infrastructure design, (iv) vehicle manufacturers on identifying customer needs and enhancing vehicle design for sustainability, and (v) Public Authorities on adjusting vehicle and infrastructure specifications to reduce the carbon footprint of urban mobility.