Environmental problems such as air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions are especially challenging in urban areas. Electric mobility in different forms may be a solution. While in recent years a major focus was put on private electric vehicles, e-mobility in public transport is already a very well-established and mature technology with a long history. The core objective of this paper is to analyze the economics of e-mobility in the Austrian capital of Vienna and the corresponding impact on the environment. In this paper, the historical developments, policy framework and scenarios for the future development of mobility in Vienna up to 2030 are presented. A major result shows that in an ambitious scenario for the deployment of battery electric vehicles, the total energy demand in road transport can be reduced by about 60% in 2030 compared to 2018. The major conclusion is that the policies, especially subsidies and emission-free zones will have the largest impact on the future development of private and public e-mobility in Vienna. Regarding the environmental performance, the most important is to ensure that a very high share of electricity used for electric mobility is generated from renewable energy sources.

Road transportation is one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gas emissions. The EU set the target to reduce overall transport emissions by 60% by 2050 compared to 1990. Electric mobility is considered a proper means to achieve this goal. Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are a mature technology. The high investment costs, limited driving range and a charging infrastructure that is not extensive yet are currently the main challenges. This work analyses how policies affect the dissemination of BEVs in selected countries with remarkable market shares of BEVs. The core objective is to investigate how policies affect BEV economics compared to conventional car economics. Financial policies and their effects on BEVs for the major markets of China, the USA and Europe were analysed. To do so, the total cost of ownership (TCO) was calculated for each country. The major conclusions were: (i) The investment cost of a car had the most significant impact on the TCO; (ii) Low TCO as an incentive was not enough to ensure successful BEV dissemination; (iii) Non-monetary incentives such as access to certain zones and the usage of bus lanes for BEVs combined with registration taxes, low electricity prices and high fuel prices were very favourable conditions.