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The EV paradox – A multilevel study of why Stockholm is not a leader in electric vehicles

This article investigates why Stockholm is not leading in battery electric vehicles innovation despite favourable conditions, using in-depth interviews and the multilevel-perspective theory on socio-technical transitions.

Måns Nilsson, Björn Nykvist / Published on 25 July 2014

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Citation

Nykvist, B., and M. Nilsson (2015). The EV paradox – A multilevel study of why Stockholm is not a leader in electric vehicles. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 14, 26–44 (online 22 July 2014).

Despite seemingly favourable conditions for alternative road-based transport technologies, progress on battery electric vehicles (BEVs) have been slow in Stockholm. This article investigates why, applying the multilevel perspective for socio-technical transitions to a local case study of Stockholm.

Using in-depth interviews with key actors, they trace processes and discuss possible explanations at niche, regime and landscape levels. The results show that niche developments are clearly lacking, resulting in limited experience and knowledge of BEVs, and enduring conceptions among both policy-makers and consumers. Regime actors are also ambivalent towards BEVs, leading to limited regime action with for example car companies moving more to Plugin Hybrid Electric Vehicles instead of BEVs.

Finally, there is uncertainty as a result of a lack of strong policy signals for BEVs, in turn driven by policy-makers’ aversion to technology-specific support. The authors outline what governance gaps need to be addressed to induce faster progress on BEV uptake.

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SEI authors

Måns Nilsson
Måns Nilsson

Executive Director

SEI Headquarters

Bjorn Nyqvist
Björn Nykvist

Team Leader: Energy and Industry Transitions; Senior Research Fellow

SEI Headquarters

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10.1016/j.eist.2014.06.003 Closed access
Topics and subtopics
Energy : Renewables, Transport / Climate : Mitigation
Regions
Sweden

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