IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v194y2020ics0360544219325368.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The market case for electric mobility: Investigating electric vehicle business models for mass adoption

Author

Listed:
  • Zarazua de Rubens, Gerardo
  • Noel, Lance
  • Kester, Johannes
  • Sovacool, Benjamin K.

Abstract

Electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming the next automotive technology to be widely diffused in society. However, many structural challenges remain to be addressed around the EV socio-technical system as the technology progresses from a niche to early and late mass markets. This study investigates the challenges for electric vehicles focusing on their current and future business implications. For this purpose, we rely on a robust sample of 227 semi-structured interviews, conducted by the authors, with transportation and electricity experts from 201 institutions across seventeen cities in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. Our findings show that EVs currently face an unfavourable business case, led by the legacy of the petrol and diesel car industries, and national market conditions. This results in an unsuitable business model and supply chain that compromises EV production and market offerings. Additionally, we find that for wide diffusion in society, EVs will change the traditional automotive selling chain, directly affecting selling methods (i.e. dealerships), maintenance revenue streams and refuelling (recharging) structures. It is therefore essential to adopt new models, practices and methods of business that are suitable for EV diffusion.

Suggested Citation

  • Zarazua de Rubens, Gerardo & Noel, Lance & Kester, Johannes & Sovacool, Benjamin K., 2020. "The market case for electric mobility: Investigating electric vehicle business models for mass adoption," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:194:y:2020:i:c:s0360544219325368
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2019.116841
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544219325368
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2019.116841?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Egbue, Ona & Long, Suzanna, 2012. "Barriers to widespread adoption of electric vehicles: An analysis of consumer attitudes and perceptions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 717-729.
    2. Noel, Lance & Brodie, Joseph F. & Kempton, Willett & Archer, Cristina L. & Budischak, Cory, 2017. "Cost minimization of generation, storage, and new loads, comparing costs with and without externalities," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 110-121.
    3. Nilsson, Måns & Nykvist, Björn, 2016. "Governing the electric vehicle transition – Near term interventions to support a green energy economy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 1360-1371.
    4. Dimitropoulos, Alexandros & Rietveld, Piet & van Ommeren, Jos N., 2013. "Consumer valuation of changes in driving range: A meta-analysis," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 27-45.
    5. Sun, Lishan & Huang, Yuchen & Liu, Shuli & Chen, Yanyan & Yao, Liya & Kashyap, Anil, 2017. "A completive survey study on the feasibility and adaptation of EVs in Beijing, China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 128-139.
    6. Richardson, David B., 2013. "Electric vehicles and the electric grid: A review of modeling approaches, Impacts, and renewable energy integration," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 247-254.
    7. Willett Kempton, 2016. "Electric vehicles: Driving range," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 1(9), pages 1-2, September.
    8. Noel, Lance & Sovacool, Benjamin K., 2016. "Why Did Better Place Fail?: Range anxiety, interpretive flexibility, and electric vehicle promotion in Denmark and Israel," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 377-386.
    9. Bonges, Henry A. & Lusk, Anne C., 2016. "Addressing electric vehicle (EV) sales and range anxiety through parking layout, policy and regulation," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 63-73.
    10. Zachary A. Needell & James McNerney & Michael T. Chang & Jessika E. Trancik, 2016. "Potential for widespread electrification of personal vehicle travel in the United States," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 1(9), pages 1-7, September.
    11. Berkeley, Nigel & Bailey, David & Jones, Andrew & Jarvis, David, 2017. "Assessing the transition towards Battery Electric Vehicles: A Multi-Level Perspective on drivers of, and barriers to, take up," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 320-332.
    12. Noel, Lance & Zarazua de Rubens, Gerardo & Sovacool, Benjamin K., 2018. "Optimizing innovation, carbon and health in transport: Assessing socially optimal electric mobility and vehicle-to-grid pathways in Denmark," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 628-637.
    13. Martino Tran & David Banister & Justin D. K. Bishop & Malcolm D. McCulloch, 2012. "Realizing the electric-vehicle revolution," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 2(5), pages 328-333, May.
    14. Kester, Johannes & Noel, Lance & Zarazua de Rubens, Gerardo & Sovacool, Benjamin K., 2018. "Policy mechanisms to accelerate electric vehicle adoption: A qualitative review from the Nordic region," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 719-731.
    15. Gerardo Zarazua de Rubens & Lance Noel & Benjamin K. Sovacool, 2018. "Dismissive and deceptive car dealerships create barriers to electric vehicle adoption at the point of sale," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 3(6), pages 501-507, June.
    16. Vassileva, Iana & Campillo, Javier, 2017. "Adoption barriers for electric vehicles: Experiences from early adopters in Sweden," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 632-641.
    17. Kley, Fabian & Lerch, Christian & Dallinger, David, 2011. "New business models for electric cars--A holistic approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 3392-3403, June.
    18. C. A. Kennedy & N. Ibrahim & D. Hoornweg, 2014. "Low-carbon infrastructure strategies for cities," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 4(5), pages 343-346, May.
    19. Harrison, Gillian & Thiel, Christian, 2017. "An exploratory policy analysis of electric vehicle sales competition and sensitivity to infrastructure in Europe," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 165-178.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zarazua de Rubens, Gerardo, 2019. "Who will buy electric vehicles after early adopters? Using machine learning to identify the electric vehicle mainstream market," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 243-254.
    2. Zhang, Hong & Irfan, Muhammad & Ai, Fengyi & Al-Aiban, Khalid M. & Abbas, Shujaat, 2024. "Analyzing barriers to the adoption and development of electric vehicles: A roadmap towards sustainable transportation system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    3. Sovacool, Benjamin K. & Kester, Johannes & Noel, Lance & de Rubens, Gerardo Zarazua, 2019. "Energy Injustice and Nordic Electric Mobility: Inequality, Elitism, and Externalities in the Electrification of Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) Transport," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 205-217.
    4. LaMonaca, Sarah & Ryan, Lisa, 2022. "The state of play in electric vehicle charging services – A review of infrastructure provision, players, and policies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    5. Noel, Lance & Papu Carrone, Andrea & Jensen, Anders Fjendbo & Zarazua de Rubens, Gerardo & Kester, Johannes & Sovacool, Benjamin K., 2019. "Willingness to pay for electric vehicles and vehicle-to-grid applications: A Nordic choice experiment," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 525-534.
    6. Neaimeh, Myriam & Salisbury, Shawn D. & Hill, Graeme A. & Blythe, Philip T. & Scoffield, Don R. & Francfort, James E., 2017. "Analysing the usage and evidencing the importance of fast chargers for the adoption of battery electric vehicles," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 474-486.
    7. Alabi, Oluwafisayo & Turner, Karen & Figus, Gioele & Katris, Antonios & Calvillo, Christian, 2020. "Can spending to upgrade electricity networks to support electric vehicles (EVs) roll-outs unlock value in the wider economy?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    8. Kantapich Preedakorn & David Butler & Jörn Mehnen, 2023. "Challenges for the Adoption of Electric Vehicles in Thailand: Potential Impacts, Barriers, and Public Policy Recommendations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-21, June.
    9. Alali, Layla & Niesten, Eva & Gagliardi, Dimitri, 2022. "The impact of UK financial incentives on the adoption of electric fleets: The moderation effect of GDP change," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 200-220.
    10. Nykvist, Björn & Sprei, Frances & Nilsson, Måns, 2019. "Assessing the progress toward lower priced long range battery electric vehicles," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 144-155.
    11. Bas, Javier & Cirillo, Cinzia & Cherchi, Elisabetta, 2021. "Classification of potential electric vehicle purchasers: A machine learning approach," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    12. Trencher, Gregory & Taeihagh, Araz & Yarime, Masaru, 2020. "Overcoming barriers to developing and diffusing fuel-cell vehicles: Governance strategies and experiences in Japan," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    13. Shen, Liyin & Chen, Ziwei & Dou, Xin & Xu, Xiangrui & Cao, Zeyu & Liao, Shiju, 2024. "Restricting factors for promoting electric vehicles: Evidence from China," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 234-245.
    14. Sovacool, Benjamin K. & Kester, Johannes & Noel, Lance & de Rubens, Gerardo Zarazua, 2019. "Income, political affiliation, urbanism and geography in stated preferences for electric vehicles (EVs) and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technologies in Northern Europe," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 214-229.
    15. Zhengwei Xia & Dongming Wu & Langlang Zhang, 2022. "Economic, Functional, and Social Factors Influencing Electric Vehicles’ Adoption: An Empirical Study Based on the Diffusion of Innovation Theory," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-22, May.
    16. Sovacool, Benjamin K. & Kester, Johannes & Noel, Lance & Zarazua de Rubens, Gerardo, 2020. "Actors, business models, and innovation activity systems for vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology: A comprehensive review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    17. Madhusudhan Adhikari & Laxman Prasad Ghimire & Yeonbae Kim & Prakash Aryal & Sundar Bahadur Khadka, 2020. "Identification and Analysis of Barriers against Electric Vehicle Use," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-20, June.
    18. Patyal, Vishal Singh & Kumar, Ravi & Kushwah, Shiksha, 2021. "Modeling barriers to the adoption of electric vehicles: An Indian perspective," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 237(C).
    19. Peng, Ruoqing & Tang, Justin Hayse Chiwing G. & Yang, Xiong & Meng, Meng & Zhang, Jie & Zhuge, Chengxiang, 2024. "Investigating the factors influencing the electric vehicle market share: A comparative study of the European Union and United States," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 355(C).
    20. Wee, Sherilyn & Coffman, Makena & Allen, Scott, 2020. "EV driver characteristics: Evidence from Hawaii," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 33-40.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:194:y:2020:i:c:s0360544219325368. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.