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Comment 14 for Public Workshop to Discuss Potential Future Changes to the LCFS Program (lcfs-wkshp-dec21-ws) - 1st Workshop.
First Name: Brit
Last Name: Moller
Email Address: brit.moller@spin.pm
Affiliation: Spin (Ford Mobility)
Subject: Development of EERs for micromobility
Comment:
Dear Chair Liane M. Randolph, As a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company, Spin is an industry leader in offering shared micromobility solutions, including e-scooters and e-bikes. Over the last four years, Spin has greatly expanded the availability of e-scooters and e-bikes for hire in over 113 cities and universities across North America and Europe. Each day, hundreds of thousands of Americans rely on Spin e-scooters and other microbility options to conveniently get to work, school, or visit local retail businesses in their communities. In the context of COVID-19, the value of micromobility as a vital transportation option has also become more apparent. By eliminating the highest risk factors for coronavirus transmission, electric scooters offer two distinct safety advantages compared to other modes of shared transportation: The ability to 1) ride alone and 2) stay outdoors. These public-health advantages explain why many U.S. cities quickly declared electric scooters an "essential service" and integral part of their local transportation ecosystem. Beyond the value to riders, shared micromobilty also offers broader potential as a sustainable transportation alternative to gasoline-based cars and motor vehicles. This is particularly true in cities, where the majority of trips are short-distance (e.g. less than 3 miles) and congestion and pollution from cars is a persistent and growing issue. Fortunately, within the micromobillity industry, there is a growing recognition that more must be done to improve the underlying sustainability of all elements of operations. At Spin, for example, these efforts include using 100% renewable electricity to charge our fleets (i.e. e-scooters and e-bikes), replacing gas vans with electric vans and other sustainable vehicles such as e-cargo bikes and electric low-speed vehicles to serve operational needs, and using swappable and long-range batteries to reduce the need for transporting scooters to our warehouses for charging, so e-scooters and e-bikes can remain on the street available for use. In reference to CARB's public workshop on changes to the LCFS Program, we have included some relevant data (see attached file) to help inform the development of new energy economy ratios (EERs) for "battery-electric micromobility applications." Specifically, our data includes a recent Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) of our latest e-scooter vehicle completed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, along with aggregated mode shift survey results from our riders in California. These mode shift surveys shed light on the decision making behind why people chose to use shared e-scooters and e-bikes over other transportation options, including private cars, rideshare Apps, public transportation, and walking. Encouragingly, over 27% of our respondents said they decided to ride an e-scooter rather than a private car or rideshare option (e.g. Lyft or Uber). Still, we recognize that significantly more mode shift away from cars is needed. Spin recently published a report (see attached file) on the factors that we believe can enable and encourage such mode shift and what we are doing to promote greater mode shift. Looking ahead, we strongly support the creation of new energy economy ratings (EERs) for micromobility to help achieve CARB's stated objective of accelerating the transition to zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs). As your staff continues the consultation process, we encourage you to reach out for additional data and technical input as needed. At the moment, we are working with researchers from UC Davis to conduct additional mode shift research based on our data and to better understand what drives mode shift so we can enable greater mode shift to happen in the future. Such inputs may be useful for your team to inform the development of EERs for micromobility by leveraging the latest industry and independent research available. Thank you for your consideration, and we look forward to continue working with your team on this important issue. If you have any follow up questions or additional data needs, please do not hesitate to contact us directly. Sincerely, Brit Moller
Attachment: www.arb.ca.gov/lists/com-attach/31-lcfs-wkshp-dec21-ws-UTJdOgBzUGFQCQRn.pdf
Original File Name: CARB Comment Letter (Final).pdf
Date and Time Comment Was Submitted: 2022-01-06 12:28:03
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