Urban areas are increasingly turning to pedal-assisted electric bike sharing systems as a sustainable transportation option. Despite growing adoption of shared pedelecs, few studies quantify how local energy systems and operational conditions affect their their life cycle climate impacts.This study employs a life cycle assessment to compare the climate change impacts per passenger-km of pedelec sharing systems in Barcelona and Munich, based on primary operational data as well as the GaBi database (v 10.7.1.28). A life cycle assessment is conducted using the ReCiPe 2016 Midpoint (H) method, focusing on climate change impacts expressed in kg CO₂-eq./passenger-km. The system boundary included material production, assembly, transport, use phase, charging, rebalancing, replacements, and end-of-life treatment. Results show total climate impacts of 42 g CO₂-eq./pkm in Barcelona, with the use phase contributing 11.7 g CO₂-eq./pkm, dominated by diesel van rebalancing of 67%. Tyre replacement is the second highest contributor at 15%, followed by electric van service trips (9%), battery replacement (7%), and electricity for charging (2%). Switching from a green electricity mix to the Spanish grid mix would raise use-phase emissions by 25%. The Munich case showed total climate change impacts of 43 g CO₂-eq./pkm. The use-phase impacts in Munich are 5% higher compared to Barcelona, due to its more carbon-intensive electricity mix of 73.2 g CO₂-eq./kWh, as opposed to the Spanish renewable electricity mix (PV: 25.3; Wind: 13 g CO₂-eq./kWh) for the Barcelona case. The study demonstrates how local operational factors, especially electricity mix and rebalancing practices in the use phase, influence the life cycle climate impact of shared pedelec systems, offering evidence-based strategies for optimising low-carbon urban mobility.
Effah et al. (2026) studied this question.