Socio-technical experiences from electric vehicle utilisation in commercial fleets
Introduction
The transport sector is often considered to be a difficult sector to unleash from fossil fuel dependence. Today, transportation accounts for 27% of the world’s total energy use, contributes to 28% of the global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions and is 98% dependent on fossil fuels [1]. Compared to other stationary energy sectors, the transition to renewable fuels moves more slowly [2]. The European Commission has specifically targeted the urban transport with the goal to halve the number of fossil-fuelled cars by 2030 [3]. Electrification of the powertrain is an energy-efficiency-improving measure [4] and the number of electric vehicles in European urban areas is increasing [5]. The growth in installed capacity of non-hydro renewable power generation, i.e. geothermal, solar, wind, biofuels and renewable municipal waste, continues concurrently [6]. The high initial capital cost of the electric vehicle constrains mainstream diffusion. Several barriers may hinder the introduction of new transport technologies, for example in the work of Banister [7], but an initial deployment in commercial vehicle fleets would reduce multiple aspects of financial risk. Commercial vehicle fleets are governed by several policies, public fleets more than private. Procurement is a requirement for all public organisations but it is also a policy instrument for gaining the interest of private actors, who respond to a consumer-driven demand for greater corporate responsibility. For the European Union member states the Clean Vehicle Directive [8] and the Energy End-use Efficiency and Energy Services Directive [9] regulate public procurement of vehicles with strict energy efficiency requirements and with the aim to reduce the environmental lifecycle impact.
The European Commission emphasises the role of technology procurement to ensure rapid uptake of new energy efficient vehicle technologies in its White Paper on Transport [10]. Technology procurement aims to accelerate a market introduction of new innovative technology [11]. At this stage, consumers often perceive the market as fragmentised. During the development of the technical specifications for the procurement, existing innovative technology is inventoried and forms the foundation for concrete requirements. As the characteristics of the innovative product have been identified, actors may consider converging. Technology procurement is expected to create a market pull, by enlarging an emerging market, compared to a laissez-faire introduction [12]. Technology procurement is also recognised as an effective policy measure for reducing the electric vehicle purchase cost [13] as well as being identified as a catalyst for demand-driven expansion of charging infrastructure [14]. On a local government level, technology procurement may function as a non-market based local public policy instrument, complementary to national policies. In addition to national energy and climate policies, local public policies, such as procurement policy, are influential when it comes to the acquisition of new vehicles in public bodies and may ultimately influence the local energy and transport systems.
Public and private actors may collaborate and share framework agreement. A specific case of a public–private technology procurement of electric vehicles is the Swedish National Procurement of Electric Vehicles and Plug-in Hybrids scheme, initiated in 2010 and coordinated by the City of Stockholm and the utility company Vattenfall. The technology procurement scheme aims to facilitate market introduction and market expansion of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) in Sweden.
This paper will introduce the National Swedish Procurement of Electric Vehicles and Plug-in Hybrids and aims to present the experimental socio-technical findings from the operation of the 174 associated electric vehicles over an 18-month period. Using a socio-technical approach accounts for the effects of both technical data as well as user data. The need for a socio-technical research approach has been emphasised in other studies in order to achieve an energy and carbon-efficient transport system [15], [16]. Electric vehicle operations at Swedish, i.e. Nordic, electricity market conditions may imply significant reductions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the transport sector. Opportunities achievable for this fleet are investigated. There are many studies of potential electric vehicle users [17], [18] but little has been written about actual electric vehicle users. This paper aims to increase the understanding of the usage of electric vehicles in commercial vehicle fleets.
Section snippets
Materials and methods
A standard method for evaluating electric vehicles is using equipment to gather the technical data of interest. This approach allows the vehicle and its components to be analysed. Unlike traditional studies, this paper includes the user perspective and collects data from multiple sources to achieve an interdisciplinary socio-technical comprehension of electric vehicle operation. The user perspective is provided by the employees of organisations participating in the National Swedish Procurement
Theory
To provide an extended analysis of electric vehicle operation in commercial vehicle fleets, this paper has a socio-technical approach and considers both the technology and the users of the technology. Fig. 1 visually exemplifies a socio-technical outlook. This outlook assumes no separation between the functionality perspective, which considers the technical aspects of operation, and the notion of carrying out the task, the user perspective. This provides a more comprehensive description of the
Introduction to the Swedish National Procurement of Electric vehicles and Plug-in Hybrids
Sweden has an overall progressive climate and energy policy framework, where technology procurement is a practised policy instrument. During the Technology Procurement Programme, 1995–1998, a public–private fleet owner consortium was formed, the Swedish Electric/Hybrid Car Consortium, to procure and demonstrate electric vehicles [27], [28], [29]. The City of Stockholm has prior practical experience of procurement of electric vehicles in the 1990s, as coordinator of the EC ZEUS programme (Zero
Results and discussion
The paper presents the socio-technical findings from operating electric vehicles in commercial vehicle fleets over a period of 18 months. All electric vehicles are associated with a specific technology procurement project, the Swedish National Procurement of Electric Vehicles and Plug-in Hybrids scheme, and the discussion will first and foremost focus on the completed demonstration phase. The results will be presented in two parts. The first part will present the results from the functionality
Conclusions
This paper has demonstrated a positive correlation between practical experiences of an electric vehicle and the attitude towards the technology. The role of practical experience as an acceptance catalyst of electric vehicles has been emphasised [52]. Technology procurement is a measure for making electric vehicles available to public and private organisations. The introduction of electric vehicles in commercial vehicle fleets enables a primary large-scale familiarisation with the new
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