Demand for environmentally friendly vehicles: A review and new evidence

Although the need for more environmentally friendly vehicles was recognized some decades ago, this new market has not yet established itself. Consumer behavior needs to be studied to ascertain when people will decide to purchase hybrid or electric vehicles rather than conventional ones. An in-depth review of the state-of-the-art has identified existing deficiencies and these are addressed in this paper, proposing a new approach that is applied to the case of Santander in Spain. Emphasis is placed on the role of citizens in researching the local market and their requirements with respect to such vehicles; our model assumes variability in user preferences, an utmost requirement as concluded from the literature review. Results suggest that the highest demand for cleaner vehicles would be achieved in two ways: firstly, by penalizing conventional vehicles in terms of costs/km; secondly, by providing incentives directed at lowering the purchasing price of hybrid and electric vehicles. Finally, as demand becomes more elastic, the preferred strategy should initially focus on hybrid vehicles

Development and Early Adoption of Electric Vehicles: Understanding the tempest

Electric vehicles are one innovation that could help reduce CO2 emissions from the transportation sector and mitigate the harmful effects of climate change. However, substantial roadblocks to their adoption exist including high purchase cost, lack of charging infrastructure, and long charging time. This thesis explores factors from consumers, government policy and the auto industry which influence electric vehicle development and early adoption. It identifies that although the automotive industry has pursued a strategy of exploring EV opportunities, firms have generally stayed connected to their relative experience bases and business models. This reflects a gradual and measured approach to EV development instead of a more aggressive attitude that would be favoured by startup firms which only produce electric automobiles. Based on the above findings the primary conclusion of this thesis is that a transition to EVs will be slow if it happens at all.Transport and LogisticsTechnology, Policy and Managemen

Learning to shield – Policy learning in socio-technical transitions

The dynamics of protection in the context of socio-technical niches have remained under-researched. In this paper we conceptualise the process of policy learning in the context of transitions. We show that a variety of actors inside and outside a technological niche have to learn about the implications and effects of regulations aimed at protection of niches. We analyse this process of policy learning in two cases: high-need drugs and electric vehicles. We conclude that both regulators and the regulated need to learn about the width and depth of protection measures, their duration, the specific set of tools used, and their legitimisation. A crucial issue of implementing protective regulation is the question on what level of aggregation protection measures need to be applied. Learning is often part of the negotiation process between the protector and the protected, but in many cases learning only takes place after policies have been implemented

La Patrie : journal quotidien, politique, commercial et littéraire

29 avril 18571857/04/29 (A17,N119)