Ten things to watch for in the world of e-mobility in 2023

By James Attwood

2 Jan 2023

Electric vehicle technology is advanced at a dizzying rate, and it’s not slowing down any time soon.

Big Ben has only just chimed in 2023, and the first big event in the e-mobility calendar – tech extravaganza CES – is about to kick off.

There’s a lot to take in everywhere you look, from new vehicles and technology, to developments in regulations, customer demands and more. So here are 10 big electric mobility trends and topics to keep an eye on in 2023.

What happens to e-scooter regulations?

If you’re confused about the legality of electric scooters, you’re far from alone (thankfully, our handy guide has all the answers): frankly, it’s all a bit of a mess – and, frustratingly, it’s not going to get cleared up any time soon.

In May last year, the government announced plans to introduce new laws that would fully legalise e-scooter use on UK roads… but by the end of the year it had quietly ditched the Transport Bill that would have included those regulations.

It’s possible that the government could introduce plans again in the next parliamentary session – likely to run from sometime in April or May into 2024 – but there are no guarantees, especially with a General Election on the horizon next year.

But there surely has to be some action to try and clear up the current confusion, where it’s perfectly legal to buy an e-scooter but then illegal to use it on the same public roads you can legally rent an e-scooter. The lack of clarity is beginning to hurt: different police forces are taking different approaches to enforcing the laws. Hopefully at some point this year we’ll get some timeline of potential action.

What will happen to e-scooters in Paris and London?

The French capital of Paris is regarded as one of the cities at the forefront of the electric mobility movement – but that could change this year. The Mayor of Paris is currently considering a ban on e-scooters on the city’s streets, including shared rental machines.

Reports suggest that the ban is set to go ahead, despite the leading shared e-scooter operators in the city introducing a series of steps and measures to improve their safety and address concerns of other road users. If so, it would be a major blow to the e-mobility movement – and it would be a precedent that could influence the actions of other major cities worldwide.

Meanwhile, there are also significant steps in London. The UK capital has indicated it will extend its rental e-scooter trial scheme into 2024, but will open the scheme up to tender – so current operators Dott, Lime and Tier will have to bid to keep their spots, and are likely to face competition from other providers.

Will the Citroën Ami spark a quadricycle invasion?

Seen a Citroën Ami in the wild in the UK yet? Okay, at the moment they’re still quite rare and would score well in a game of I-Spy (bonus points if you spot the Move Electric #MEami…), but Citroën has found plenty of demand for the ultra-cute quadricycle.

At the moment, it’s one of a mere handful of machines on the road that fit in the quadricycle class for four-wheeled machines that are smaller and slower – but also cheaper – than cars. But we’re hopeful that if the Ami is a success more firms could bring quadricylces to the UK, freeing up valuable road space by tempting people out of hulking big SUVs.

There are certainly some interesting machines out there, such as the shaper-shifting City Transformer CT-1, and the Squad Mobility Solar City Car. In the future, there’s the prospect of the Mobilize Duo, the spiritual successor to the Renault Twizy.

The machines are in development – now we just need commitments to offer them in the UK. Fingers crossed.

Could this be a big year for small electric cars?

You might haver spotted a trend in recent years for the bulk of electric cars to take the form of big SUVs. There are various reasons for that, such as hiding the weight of the batteries and the fact firms can charge more for them than for smaller machines. But mostly it’s because car buyers love SUVs, so car firms keep on making them.

But with a need to get more people into EVs, there’s been a real push to make smaller, more affordable electric cars – and this could be a pivotal year for them. The new Abarth 500e (a reworking of the existing Fiat 500e) will show if people can be attracted by an electric pocket rocket, while firms such as Citroën are really pushing to make its new machines smaller and cheaper.

The Volkswagen Group is getting closer to unveiling its trio of entry-level EVs (the Volkswagen ID 2, Cupra UrbanRebel and an as-yet-unnamed Skoda) by 2025, so we’d expect to see more about those at some point in 2023.

And even firms that aren’t making small cars are downsizing: we’re expecting to see Volvo and Polestar launch their smallest EVs yet at some point during the year, for example.

Can Chinese EV firms win over UK buyers?

The growing influence of the Chinese car industry is already being felt in the UK through the success of MG and van firm Maxus (both owned by Chinese giant SAIC), and even the success of Volvo and Polestar as part of the Geely empire.

This year a host of new Chinese firms will reach the UK, and this time they’re coming with established brands that have already succeeded in China. We’re talking the likes of Ora and BYD, with firms such as Aiways, Xpeng and Nio not far behind.

The intrigue is how British buyers will react: will they stick with what they know, or can a mix of interesting cars and tech, some competitive pricing and, frankly, availability, tempt them to make the switch?

Can the UK’s charging network keep up with demand?

We expect electric cars sales to continue to accelerate this year, as more drivers realise that the future really is electric. But there’s a problem: the UK’s public charging network isn’t growing at the same rate as sales of EVs.

Not everyone can charge on their driveway, and while range anxiety is a thing of the past, charging anxiety – that fear there’ll be a big queue for the fast charging point you need to use – very definitely is not.

The good news is that the charging companies are all racing to expand their networks. But is it fast enough? This year we should hear more from the government about its plans to massively expand the charging network by 2030 – and hopefully we’ll see more signs in the form of banks of shiny, fast and efficient chargers.

How fast will the cargo e-bike market keep on growing?

Is there anything cooler than a cargo e-bike? We’re not sure there is – and they’re an increasingly common presence on our roads and bike lanes.

Whether it’s rising costs, low emission zones and ever-increasing congestion prompting firms to swap cargo vans for e-bikes or light electric vehicles, or people switching an SUV for pedal power for the school run, all manner of people are being won over by the hugely diversity of cargo e-bikes.

We’re expecting sales to keep on ramping up, and firms to keep on embracing the trend. Amazon has already opened a number of micromobility hubs in major cities: we suspect more will follow in the coming 12 months.

Will e-bikes electrify bike racing?

Electric motorsport has really taken off in recent years, with the ABB Formula E World Championship joined by series such as Extreme E, various rallycross categories and, soon, national-level categories. And other forms of e-mobility are going racing: the eSkootr Championship showed promise in its first season, for example.

There are interesting things to watch in those various categories in 2023. How will Formula E’s new rules package work? Can Extreme E continue to grow and win a bigger audience? Can eSC take a step forward in its second season?

But the series we’re most intrigued about in 2023 is an entirely new one: E-Bike Grand Prix. While there are some sanctioned categories for e-bikes (the UCI has baked an e-mountain bike category) EBK GP is an attempt to replicate Formula E on two wheels: close racing on temporary circuits in the heart of major cities (the first race is due to take place in Dubai), and with plenty of spectacle thrown in.

In theory, it should make for an intriguing new category. So how will it work in reality?

Will environmentally friendly planes take flight?

Aviation presents the single biggest challenge when it comes to decarbonising the transport sector, in part because it’s one of the biggest emitters in the transport sector. There’s also the small matter of physics: try and stick enough batteries in a plane to make a transatlantic flight and it would be too heavy to take off.

But advances are being made, with a real focus on hydrogen and synthetic ‘e-fuels’. This year, a Virgin Atlantic 787 will fly from London to New York with its Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines powered by synthetic fuel made primarily from waste oil and fats. It’s a potentially big step to cleaning up our skies.

What will Tesla and Elon Musk do next?

If you thought Tesla’s grip on the electric car market would quickly fade once the legacy manufacturers ramped up production, it might be time to think again. The competition is coming, but Tesla is holding its ground admirably.

Still, that competition is ramping up, and Tesla will need to keep upping its game to maintain its lead. So will 2023 finally be the year the Cybertruck goes on sale? Or even the second-generation Roadster? Or will the firm finally unveil that cheaper, smaller EV that is regularly rumoured? It’s always worth keeping an eye on what Tesla is up to.

As for what Tesla boss Elon Musk will do next, well, we’ll be honest: we have no idea. We’re not even sure if Elon Musk has any idea. But we’re certain he’ll do... something. And we’re certain that whatever it is will be significant and a little bit controversial, create loads of headlines and spark lots of debate on social media.