Will Electric Vehicles Be Killed (again) or Are They the Next Mobility Killer App?
Electric vehicles (EVs) have been around for more than a hundred years. Nevertheless, their deployment has not been a sustainable success up until now. Many scientists, engineers and policymakers argue that EVs are a promising, maybe even indispensable option to achieve ambitious decarbonization goa...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-04-01
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| Series: | Energies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/7/1828 |
| _version_ | 1797571048353300480 |
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| author | Christian Thiel Anastasios Tsakalidis Arnulf Jäger-Waldau |
| author_facet | Christian Thiel Anastasios Tsakalidis Arnulf Jäger-Waldau |
| author_sort | Christian Thiel |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Electric vehicles (EVs) have been around for more than a hundred years. Nevertheless, their deployment has not been a sustainable success up until now. Many scientists, engineers and policymakers argue that EVs are a promising, maybe even indispensable option to achieve ambitious decarbonization goals, if powered by electricity from renewable energy sources. At the moment, the EVs market is gaining a lot of momentum and we may be near the point of no return for a sustained mass market deployment of electric vehicles. Many papers exist that describe future prospects of EVs. In our commentary we try to provide a bigger picture view and look at market and societal aspects. We analyze why previous generations of EVs were not successful and how current electric vehicles could become a sustainable success. We perform a semi-quantitative Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats (SWOT) analysis and find that current electric vehicle designs are technologically on par with or better than conventional alternatives. Car buyers go electric when the economics make sense to them. We conclude that incentives are needed for electric vehicles until battery costs lower—as much as to allow EVs to become cheaper—from a total cost of ownership (TCO) perspective, than other alternatives. Other policy measures are needed to overcome remaining barriers, especially in supporting the setup and operation of publicly accessible recharging points to overcome range anxiety. EVs in isolation may not be the next mobility killer app. The real next mobility killer app may emerge as an autonomous shared EV in a world where the border between public and private transport will cease to exist. The findings of our commentary are relevant for scientists, policymakers and industry. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T20:34:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-933d031f8f7742d482870f857731bb75 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1996-1073 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T20:34:04Z |
| publishDate | 2020-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Energies |
| spelling | doaj.art-933d031f8f7742d482870f857731bb752023-11-19T21:11:27ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732020-04-01137182810.3390/en13071828Will Electric Vehicles Be Killed (again) or Are They the Next Mobility Killer App?Christian Thiel0Anastasios Tsakalidis1Arnulf Jäger-Waldau2European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), 21027 Ispra, ItalyEuropean Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), 21027 Ispra, ItalyEuropean Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), 21027 Ispra, ItalyElectric vehicles (EVs) have been around for more than a hundred years. Nevertheless, their deployment has not been a sustainable success up until now. Many scientists, engineers and policymakers argue that EVs are a promising, maybe even indispensable option to achieve ambitious decarbonization goals, if powered by electricity from renewable energy sources. At the moment, the EVs market is gaining a lot of momentum and we may be near the point of no return for a sustained mass market deployment of electric vehicles. Many papers exist that describe future prospects of EVs. In our commentary we try to provide a bigger picture view and look at market and societal aspects. We analyze why previous generations of EVs were not successful and how current electric vehicles could become a sustainable success. We perform a semi-quantitative Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats (SWOT) analysis and find that current electric vehicle designs are technologically on par with or better than conventional alternatives. Car buyers go electric when the economics make sense to them. We conclude that incentives are needed for electric vehicles until battery costs lower—as much as to allow EVs to become cheaper—from a total cost of ownership (TCO) perspective, than other alternatives. Other policy measures are needed to overcome remaining barriers, especially in supporting the setup and operation of publicly accessible recharging points to overcome range anxiety. EVs in isolation may not be the next mobility killer app. The real next mobility killer app may emerge as an autonomous shared EV in a world where the border between public and private transport will cease to exist. The findings of our commentary are relevant for scientists, policymakers and industry.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/7/1828transport electrificationelectric vehiclespolicy measuresincentivestransport policyenergy policy |
| spellingShingle | Christian Thiel Anastasios Tsakalidis Arnulf Jäger-Waldau Will Electric Vehicles Be Killed (again) or Are They the Next Mobility Killer App? Energies transport electrification electric vehicles policy measures incentives transport policy energy policy |
| title | Will Electric Vehicles Be Killed (again) or Are They the Next Mobility Killer App? |
| title_full | Will Electric Vehicles Be Killed (again) or Are They the Next Mobility Killer App? |
| title_fullStr | Will Electric Vehicles Be Killed (again) or Are They the Next Mobility Killer App? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Will Electric Vehicles Be Killed (again) or Are They the Next Mobility Killer App? |
| title_short | Will Electric Vehicles Be Killed (again) or Are They the Next Mobility Killer App? |
| title_sort | will electric vehicles be killed again or are they the next mobility killer app |
| topic | transport electrification electric vehicles policy measures incentives transport policy energy policy |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/7/1828 |
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