Advancing shared inclusive mobility:
How the ESPRIT Research project enabled the emergence of a new shared mobility system

The H2020 ESPRIT1 collaborative research project has enabled the emergence of a new shared
mobility system. It consists in designing a small electric quadricycles (L6 or L7 category) that
can be mechanically nested to each other and driven all together by a single driver (up to 10
vehicles jointly). This enables to propose an alternative mobility concept based on new
carsharing service that provide access to mobility without vehicle ownership. This system
targets a better quality of service while proposing cheap solutions for both delivering zero
emission vehicles upon request of a customer and rebalancing carsharing stations. As such,
this mobility service provides intermodal transportation connecting suburban/ rural areas with
public transport hubs, addresses city congestion and favors the usage of public transport by
offering a ‘last kilometer’ solution.

The consortium involving 15 partners developed six functional prototypes and a simulation tool
for modal share impact. Three major European cities i.e. L’Hospitalet de Llobregat (Spain),
Glasgow (UK) and Lyon(France) have agreed to perform real city demonstrations.

The developments initiated by ESPRIT project continued within DRIVE22 project proposed
within EIT Climate KIC. This time, the multimodal concept was tested by an additional 450 users,
which confirmed their interest in using it. Additionally, to foster its marketability, opportunities
offered by this new shared mobility system were presented to cities and transport operators.

The outcome of these projects has secured the feasibility of the system at industrial scale and
the financial sustainability of the proposed services based on use-cases made in various
suburban area.

As a logical step, a startup company was born in 2024 aiming to bring the system to the market
and thus enable its deployment at larger scale. Hence, ESPRIT project is an example of how
European research can improve practical ‘commuting’ problem in the daily life of the users.

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1. H2020 grant agreement No 653395.
2. EIT Climate KIC Project No 200286