Can speed pedelecs really fulfil the mobility needs of daily commuters?

Considering the problems Belgium faces regarding air quality and road congestion, a switch from conventional cars to battery electric cars is a step forward, but only part of the solution. This is also acknowledged by the European Commission, who’s advice is to introduce disincentives for car use and by reducing car use. The switch should come along with a transition to light electric vehicles (LEVs). A promising LEV for the Flemish commuter is the speed pedelec. This paper discusses the results of the 365SNEL-project, commissioned by the Flemish department of Environment as part of the “Clean Power for Transport” action plan. In this project at least 10 speed pedelecs from different manufacturers will be deployed in several companies for one year. Covering every province in Flanders, the project will provide at least 120 test users the opportunity to test the speed pedelecs for 3 weeks at a time. 365SNEL has the purpose of investigating the potential of the speed pedelec, mapping user’s needs, defining appropriate accessories and designing a quality framework to determine whether the speed pedelec can really fulfil the mobility needs of daily commuters. In this paper a descriptive analysis is given of the qualitative data as a result of several focus groups during the testing period of 1 year, as well as a descriptive analysis of the quantitative data collected through the surveys. This is compared to the objective measurements in the form of logging of commuting rides, linked to a quality framework.