Industry Agenda Electric Vehicles for Smarter Cities: The Future of Energy and Mobility

The document proposes a 'transformation' model for electric vehicle (EV) adoption, moving beyond the current 'proliferation' of personal EVs toward the electrification of high-use fleets and the integration of autonomous vehicles (AVs). It emphasizes the convergence of energy and mobility through smart charging and grid-edge technologies to optimize energy systems and reduce urban emissions. The report provides a three-principle framework for action: adopting a multistakeholder, market-specific approach; prioritizing high-use vehicles; and deploying charging infrastructure that anticipates future mobility patterns to avoid stranded assets.

• The report distinguishes between 'proliferation'—driven by substituting personal internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles with EVs—and 'transformation,' which is driven by local objectives for smarter cities and broader economic development.
• Prioritizing the electrification of high-use vehicles, such as public transport, commercial fleets, and mobility-as-a-service, is more effective than focusing on personal vehicles because these represent a higher volume of miles travelled.
• In the US, a full transformation approach could generate nearly four times the value by 2030 compared to the proliferation model, with significant value coming from mobility savings and smart charging.
• Electric vehicles can serve as decentralized energy resources (DERs) through smart charging and vehicle-to-everything (V2x) technology, providing flexibility to the grid and reducing the need for peak-capacity investments.
• The integration of electrification, decentralization, and digitalization in the energy system could generate over $2.4 trillion of global value for society and industry by 2025.
• To avoid 'stranded assets,' charging infrastructure should be strategically located, moving away from residential or street-side parking toward hubs on city outskirts connected to public transport nodes.
• Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are expected to significantly reduce the cost per mile of urban mobility, potentially reaching around $0.40 per mile by 2030, challenging traditional vehicle ownership models.
• Electrifying light-duty vehicles (LDV) can decrease CO2 emissions by 60% per mile driven, even when using the current energy mix.

APA

World Economic Forum (2018). Industry Agenda Electric Vehicles for Smarter Cities: The Future of Energy and Mobility. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_2018_%20Electric_For_Smarter_Cities.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Industry Agenda Electric Vehicles for Smarter Cities: The Future of Energy and Mobility. 2018. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_2018_%20Electric_For_Smarter_Cities.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Industry Agenda Electric Vehicles for Smarter Cities: The Future of Energy and Mobility |date=January 2018 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_2018_%20Electric_For_Smarter_Cities.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2018industry, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Industry Agenda Electric Vehicles for Smarter Cities: The Future of Energy and Mobility}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2018}, month = jan, url = {http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_2018_%20Electric_For_Smarter_Cities.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }