SOLUTIONSplus: Tailor-Made Solutions for E-Mobility Worldwide

After four and a half years of international research and implementation work, the SOLUTIONSplus project has an impressive track record: In Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe, the project partners developed customised solutions for low-CO2 urban mobility – and simultaneously promoted social, ecological and economic development through numerous synergy effects, for example in terms of gender equality, capacity building, local business models or the foundation of start-ups.

The basic idea of SOLUTIONSplus is to promote innovative electromobility worldwide. To this end, the researchers tested and demonstrated the feasibility of various e-mobility solutions for passenger and goods transport in very different urban environments. These range from affordable e-motorbikes for female taxi drivers in Rwanda to electric vans and cargo bikes that make an important contribution to sustainable urban logistics in Quito to fast-charging solutions for the growing e-bus fleet in Madrid.

Participatory approach: living labs ensure local suitability, funding and capacity building support implementation

The participatory living lab approach ensures that the solutions developed in the project are tailored precisely to the respective local conditions and the users’ requirements: In participatory living labs, the researchers worked together with regional stakeholders to develop locally adapted electric vehicles for urban passenger and freight transport, from two- and three-wheeled electric bicycles to electric motorbikes and e-buses – including the matching business models, which were also tested in practice to ensure economically successful and sustainable implementation. And with success: case studies have already been reproduced in over 20 replication projects in other countries.

The SOLUTIONSplus start-up incubator played a central role in this: start-ups from Africa, Asia and Latin America received seed capital, technology and training to work with local and global industry and knowledge partners.

Capacity building and knowledge transfer were also important success factors: more than 4,000 local stakeholders were trained in-person and online in the implementation and scaling of e-mobility solutions, including government officials, entrepreneurs and urban planners. The project reached around 12,000 additional participants via an online Toolbox. Regional centres were set up at universities to equip future generations of decision-makers with the necessary tools and knowledge to advance e-mobility in their regions.

SOLUTIONSplus also had a significant impact on policy and regulatory frameworks at national and city level, as well as on cross-cutting policy dimensions like electric vehicle regulation, gender-inclusive electric mobility or electrification of paratransit. For example, in Kathmandu, Nepal, the project supported the development of national strategies for vehicle retrofitting and e-mobility infrastructure, while in Rwanda it helped to prepare an e-bus master plan.

Prof. Dr. Oliver Lah, Head of the UN-Habitat Collaborating Center Research Unit at the Wuppertal Institute, summarises: "SOLUTIONSplus has been a catalyst for sustainable change and has paved the way for a wider adoption of e-mobility technologies worldwide". The project not only stimulated the local development and production of electric vehicles, but also achieved numerous positive side effects, such as the promotion of gender equality and an increased focus on more resource-efficient vehicles, said Lah.

The Wuppertal Institute played a central role in this project: the researchers were responsible for the regional coordination of the living labs in Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. The institute also contributed to numerous other activities, including impact assessment, capacity building, demonstration initiatives and policy advice.

Replication guide enables further dissemination of successful projects

With a replication guide containing the accumulated knowledge from four and a half years of research and implementation work, the project participants are making the lessons learnt from SOLUTIONSplus available to current and future stakeholders who want to replicate the project's successes. The guide contains best practice examples and learnings tailored to the target audience: It establishes the link to the local context and also includes insights on suitable business models to ensure that the project's achievements can be effectively disseminated and applied beyond the original project framework. Local actors thus have valuable resources and guidelines at hand to implement sustainable and innovative solutions that have proven effective in the SOLUTIONSplus project – improving not only urban mobility, but also quality of life, social justice and the economic situation in their respective regions.

The impact of SOLUTIONSplus also continues beyond the official project’s lifetime: the solutions developed are currently being scaled-up and implemented in more than 15 projects at the local, regional and global level – continuing the transformative measures and international cooperation with local authorities, industry, research institutions and implementation partners. In addition, SOLUTIONSplus knowledge products have been integrated into the curricula of several universities in the context of the Urban Living Lab Center. 

The Replication Guide can be downloaded free of charge via the following link. Over 100 publications on various individual aspects of the project are also available on the SOLUTIONSplus website.