The overall aim of ELIPTIC is to develop new use concepts and business cases to optimise existing electric infrastructure and rolling stock, saving both money and energy. ELIPTIC will advocate electric public transport sector at the political level and help develop political support for the electrification of public transport across Europe. ELIPTIC looks at three thematic pillars: • Safe integration of ebuses into existing electric PT infrastructure through (re)charging ebuses “en route”, upgrading trolleybus networks with battery buses or trolleyhybrids and automatic wiring/de-wiring technology • upgrading and/or regenerating electric public transport systems (flywheel, reversible substations) • Multi-purpose use of electric public transport infrastructure: safe (re)charging of non-public transport vehicles (pedelecs, electric cars/ taxis, utility trucks) With a strong focus on end users, ELIPTIC will analyse 23 use cases within the three thematic pillars. The project will support uptake and exploitation of results by developing guidelines and tools for implementation schemes for upgrading and/or regenerating electric public transport systems. Option generator and decision-making support tools, strategies and policy recommendations will be created to foster Europe-wide take up and rollout of various development schemes. Partners and other cities will benefit from ELIPTIC's stakeholder and user forum approach. ELIPTIC addresses the challenge of “transforming the use of conventionally fuelled vehicles in urban areas” by focusing on increasing the capacity of electric public transport, reducing the need for individual travel in urban areas and by expanding electric intermodal options (e.g. linking e-cars charging to tram infrastructure) for long-distance commuters. The project will strengthen the role of electric public transport, leading to both a significant reduction in fossil fuel consumption and to an improvement in air quality through reduced local emissions.

The sales of electric vehicles (EVs) are increasing but their drivers still encounter problems to find appropriate charging options. The vision of eCharge4Drivers is to focus on the users and substantially improve the EV charging experience within cities and on long trips, making it better than refuelling an ICE vehicle. The work will start with wide surveys in 10 demonstration areas, to capture the a priori users’ perceptions and expectations as regards the various charging options and their mobility and parking habits. Based on the survey findings and after matching with the perspective of authorities, operators and service providers, the project will develop and demonstrate in 10 areas, including metropolitan areas and TEN T corridors, easy-to-use, scalable and modular, high- and low-power charging stations, low-power DC charging stations and components with improved connection efficiency and standardised stations for LEVs. All stations will offer various direct payment methods and bigger user-friendly displays. The charging stations and all actors’ back-ends will support the ISO 15118 Plug & Charge feature and will enable the standardised transfer of enhanced information in the ecosystem, thus enabling the interoperability of communication and the provision of more sophisticated services to the users before, during and after the charging process, including smart charging services. The project will demonstrate additional convenient charging options within cities, a mobile charging service, charge points at lamp posts and networks of battery swapping stations for LEVs. Using the knowledge generated, the project will propose an EV Charging Location Planning Tool to determine the optimum mix of charging options to cover the user needs, recommendations for legal and regulatory harmonisation and guidelines for investors and authorities for the sustainability of charging infrastructure and services.