From path dependence to policy mixes for Nordic electric mobility: lessons for accelerating future transport transitions?

We examine the problem of how to accelerate policies related to electric vehicles (EVs) in the Nordic countries Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. These four Nordic countries represent an interesting collection of cases by virtue of having common decarbonization targets extending to the transport sector, interlinked electric energy systems and a joint electricity market largely based on low-carbon energy while they are open societies bent on innovation, making them well adaptable to a transition toward electric mobility. Our analytical framework drawing from transition research, lock-in and path dependency and institutionalism enables us to discern technological, institutional and behavioral mechanisms which can have both constraining and enabling effects vis-à-vis this transition by means of shaping national socio-technical systems and regimes. On this basis, we also discuss how to develop policies accelerating the transition. We find that the incumbent industries can shape policy choice through the lock-in into institutional inter-dependencies. The accumulation of social and material features, and vested interests of actors, for its part can maintain regime level inertia, impeding the transition. Yet, technological lock-in can also enable EVs, by means of learning effects from technologically interrelated wind energy projects and available infrastructure in buildings that support the EV charging needs. Overall, the complexity of path-dependent mechanisms embedded in the dominant regimes, together with the diversity of emerging policy mixes, demands attention both on the technologies and broader socio-technical systems in order to properly assess the prospects of transition toward electric mobility

How do policy incentives influence the adoption of electric vehicles?

Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are an effective way to reduce fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. BEVs result in lower energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and urban air pollution compared to internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs). Although the uptake of EVs has been significant in a short period of time, most government goals for adoption have not been met and the number of BEVs on the road is still low. Therefore, in order to reduce current greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector, a vast number of governments have implemented different policy incentives, aiming to stimulate the mass adoption of electric vehicles. The policy makers have introduced two main types of policies – purchase-based and use-based. This work seeks to determine the relationship of those policy incentives to the market deployment of BEVs to mainstream consumers with demographics and vehicle attribute preferences most common to today’s new vehicle purchasers. Moreover, this research argues that policies intending to stimulate the uptake of BEVs should not focus on mainstream consumers, but instead they should refocus on niche markets and early adopters, targeting them differently. Regarding to that, this work also presents findings, that that there are two main groups of early adopters – high-end and low-end adopters, which have different socio-economic profile and different opinions of their vehicles with high-end adopters viewing their BEVs more preferentially. BEV policies approaching early adopters and niche markets differently would create complementary system that will lead to increased BEV market penetration and realization of intended societal benefits.Os veículos eléctricos a bateria são uma forma eficaz de reduzir o consumo de combustível fóssil e a emissão de gases de efeito de estufa. Os VEB para além de terem como resultado um consumo de energia e emissão de gases significativamente mais reduzidos, têm um impacto menor na poluição atmosférica urbana, em comparação, aos veículos com motor de combustão interna. Embora a receptividade dos VE tenha aumentado significativamente num curto período de tempo, a maioria dos objetivos governamentais e incentivos à adopção de VE ficaram aquém e consequentemente, o número de VE na estrada é consideravelmente baixo. Com o objectivo de reduzir a emissão de gases de efeitos de estufa provenientes do sector dos Transportes, um vasto número de entidades governamentais implementou diversas políticas de incentivos com a finalidade de estimular a adopção em massa de VE. Os decisores políticos introduziram dois tipos de medidas: baseadas na compra ou na utilização. Este trabalho de investigação visa determinar a relação destas políticas de incentivos com o desenvolvimento do mercado de VE para consumidores mainstream, com características demográficas e preferências de atributos mais comuns aos novos compradores de veículos. Essencialmente, esta investigação tem como argumento que os focos deveriam ser mercados de nicho e novos consumidores (early adopters), ao invés de consumidores mainstream. Esta investigação apresenta, ainda, resultados como a distinção de dois grupos de early adopters - high-end and low-end adopters – que têm diferentes perfis socioeconómicos e diferentes preferências quanto à escolha dos veículos. As políticas dedicadas aos veículos eléctricos a bateria dirigidas a mercados de nicho e early adopters iriam criar uma forma complementar de impulsionar a penetração de mercado dos veículos eléctricos a bateria e a concretização dos benefícios sociais pretendidos

Designing innovative transport systems, electric and automated on priority corridors

This study focuses on two great technologies improvements, they are vehicle automation and newest fast charging methods that could enable new and innovative transport systems. Automated and electric vehicles could will enable first/last mile efficient transport services, economically and environmentally sustainable that could be useful to improve transportation services in rural sprawled areas with a low density of transport demand. It is proposed an innovative system concerning electric and automated vehicles in specific paths called priority corridors, it is described a methodology of designing leaving the detailed analysis and impacts analysis to future studies. Automation, Internet of Things and smartphones are revolutionising mobility and with it the economy. With such mobility revolution all aspects of our life, economic, social and environmental will be impacted. Automated vehicles can be deployed as personal vehicles or as shared vehicles; while personal vehicles are not yet ready for deployment shared vehicles are. This work aims to propose an innovative transport system with off the shelf technologies and a methodology of design dealing with vehicle automation, current designing methods and environmental impacts. The methodology foresees six steps, they could be repeated with an iterative change of parameters in order to compare different results. These steps are: Parameters and input data, Itinerary analysis and corridors identification, Corridor choice and speed profile generation, Vehicle choice and fleet dimensioning, Electric traction needs and specifications, Results evaluation. Four categories of results are considered: vehicles and operators needed, energy consumption, transportation and socio-economic evaluation. After the results calculation, it is required an evaluation of them. Methodology is applied to Mentana, a little town in the outskirts of Rome. Mentana has only one corridor that links city centre to train station be distant eight kilometres. Economic results are positive, revenues cover operative costs and the whole system doesn’t require subsides

Determinants of public charging infrastructure for plug-in electric vehicles in the European Union : using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (FSQCA)

Mestrado Bolonha em Economia e Gestão de Ciência, Tecnologia e InovaçãoElectric vehicles are considered a critical answer for decarbonisation of the transportation sector. The European Green Deal calls for a carbon-neutral Europe by 2050. In 2021, more than four million EVs were active in the EU fleet. For this purpose, a robust public charging infrastructure allied with policies to incentivize home charging is necessary for meeting these objectives. We propose a model using fuzzy set Quality Comparative Analysis to better understand the necessary conditions and successful pathways for the development of public charging infrastructure in the European Union. The results show two equifinal solutions, the first one, nations with a higher population density and no incentives for public charging infrastructure, and the second, nations with presumably a lower population density and governmental incentives for the development of the public charging infrastructure; additionally, both groups present high levels of EVs per capita, sales share of EVs and GDP per capita. It is also possible to observe geographic and geopolitical similarities between the nations representing each solution. Thus, other political and sociocultural characteristics could be related to the deployment of public charging infrastructure. However, this merits further investigation by future research. This research could represent an insight to stakeholders, namely industry players and governments, on what are some of the characteristics that enable the development of the public infrastructure and which nations can serve as an example for policy implementation.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

E-mobility charging sites. Assessment of power system impacts, consumption patterns and feasibility aspects to explore a new business opportunity.

Electrification of energy demand is seen as one of the key elements of energy transition toward decarbonisation. E-mobility is one main side of the electrification process, and it is considered as a crucial way to reduce the emissions of the transport sector. A core element for a widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) is the deployment of the charging infrastructure, and installing a microgrid can the best way to integrate a charging site in the main power grid. The research project has being developed in collaboration with Volvo Penta to support the exploration of this new business opportunity. For the possible stakeholders the knowledge gap concerns the economic feasibility of charging sites/microgrids, and also which data and information are needed to properly assess it. The present research project has then the objective to gather and analyse information and data to deliver a semi quantitative assessment of different alternative charging site/microgrid configurations, to evaluate which could be the most economically viable and under which conditions. Three research questions (RQ) focused the work toward the aim of the study: 1) which are the main impacts and implications for the power system? 2) Which can be some potential consumption patterns? 3) Which are the main technical, economic, regulatory feasibility aspects? A mixed research method was adopted: qualitative, with a thorough literature review and a number of interviews, for all the three RQs; and quantitative, performing a levelised cost of energy (LCOE) comparative analysis for different cases, for the third RQ. The work finds that e-mobility can entail a number of issues for the power system, but they will become relevant only when a higher degree of penetration will be reached, when it will also become important to provide some solutions to cope with them. A common assumption, also adopted in the present research, for the assessment of potential charging profiles is that, at least at the beginning, the use patterns of EVs will be in line with use of internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs). The work also concludes that although today the main feasibility problems for charging sties/microgrid are still related to the costs of the involved technologies, in the mid-long term the need to update the regulation and the adoption of new business models could be the main hurdles. The LCOE calculations show how the results vary substantially according to the configuration, but in general the economics are not yet favourable for microgrids in the considered cases. In the best case the LCOE for the microgrid configurations is 1.2 times higher than the one for the grid dependent solutions, while in the worse cases they are more than 10 times higher. The detailed comparative analysis illustrates the cost compositions in the different cases. Further research should be conducted in particular regarding the feasibility aspects. Different elements can radically change these results, such as possible needed grid upgrades or the evolution electricity tariffs. Possible investors and researches should bear in mind those aspects related to the charging sites when delving into e-mobility. In the future specific business cases will need to be assessed by Volvo Penta in order to get more exact results and insights

Mass introduction of electric passenger vehicles in Brazil: impact assessment on energy use, climate mitigation and on charging infrastructure needs for several case studies

Mobility has proved to be a major challenge for human development, especially in urban centers worldwide, where more displacement is required, since fossil fuels consumption is increasing as well as greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, causing air quality degradation and global warming. The predicted population increase in cities tends to increase the demand for mobility and to further exacerbate those impacts. Therefore, sustainable transport is key for the future of mobility, and electric vehicle (EV) has emerged as a recognized sustainable option. However, there are many electric vehicle barriers diffusion. This research aims to contribute to the diffusion of EV in Brazil, by assessing: 1) whether EV is a more sustainable technology when compared with ethanol vehicle; 2) the impacts of the expansion of electric mobility on CO2 emissions, in Sao Paulo; 3) how to overcome the barriers for the charging infrastructure deployment at the municipality level, in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte; and 4) key challenges and opportunities from the mass adoption of EV in Brazil. A plethora of different methods were used, including scenario analysis, multi-criteria decision methods, geographic information systems and SWOT analysis. Main results point to EV as the best technology to mitigate passenger transport related CO2 emissions in Brazil, due to its low carbon footprint. In Sao Paulo, this option could reduce around 11 MtCO2 by 2030 and save 6,200 billion USD in energy with the replacement of 20 percent of gasoline cars with EV. To meet 1 percent of EV's market share, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte together will need around 6,500 charging stations concentrated in around 1/3 of their territories (level 2). Brazil may likely have up to 10 percent of EV penetration by 2030, with the diffusion taking place mostly in southeastern municipality. Ethanol, lack of electric mobility public policy, non-urbanized like subnormal agglomerates, and risk areas, like flood hazard, are major obstacles for EV diffusion in Brazil

Charging the Battery Power Revolution

The goal of this project, working with La Cámara de Industrias de Costa Rica (CICR), was to analyze the current state of electric mobility in Costa Rica and develop a series of recommendations for achieving electric mobility. Through meetings with various groups promoting electric mobility, we collected and analyzed information on the current state of electric transportation as well as obstacles to implementation. These findings were used to develop recommendations for the Chamber to improve the state of electric transportation

Digitalisation and social inclusion in multi-scalar smart energy transitions

Activity generated around smart energy transitions risks undermining a basic spatial planning principle: create better places for inhabitants. The possibilities unleashed by digitalisation have enigmatic force. Stepping back from this techno-centrism, this article asks: where are the people in these visions? How can energy sector digitalisation become people-centric and inclusive? It employs a multi-scalar approach to examine social inclusion in case studies of two smart energy transitions: electricity sector digitalisation in Lisbon, and mobility sector digitalisation in Bergen. This reveals how planning and implementing sustainability transitions can exacerbate existing inequalities, but equally offers opportunities to enable inclusive smart energy transitions.publishedVersio

Perspectives on Norway’s supercharged electric vehicle policy

AbstractNorway has achieved an unprecedented breakthrough for battery electric vehicles. The market share reached 17.1% in 2015, and the total fleet passed 2.7%, some 70000 vehicles. The multilevel perspective framework demonstrate how Norwegian incentives and policies gradually developed over a 25 year period through interactions between the international landscape, national governance networks, regimes and niches. Actors have been able to utilize windows of opportunities leading to the potential establishment of a BEV regime assimilated into the ICE regime from 2016. BEV incentives, some of which have been in place since 1990, did not yield results until the traditional vehicle manufacturers manufactured BEVs based on Li-Ion batteries from 2010. Norwegian purchase incentives are large enough to make electric vehicles a competitively priced alternative for vehicle buyers. Increased selection of models, improved technology, reduced vehicle prices, and extensive marketing have spurred further sales