Understanding socio-technical barriers to sustainable mobility – insights from Demonstration Program of EVs in China

It is widely accepted that EV (electric vehicles) is one of the several green technologies to address environmental issues associated with the transport sector and promote the transition to sustainable mobility. In spite of this, a number of barriers still need to be overcome before EVs achieve widespread market penetration. This paper is a contribution to understanding the key tools and strategies that might support the take-up of EVs by adopting a social-technical approach to explore the main barriers encountered in the Chinese EV Demonstration Program. The key findings of the research are that interest conflict between different stakeholders and the inaction of related actors are the key barriers inhibiting the further development of EVs. So the policies that put much pressure on the current auto regime are necessary.