EV Uptake in the Transport Fleet: Consumer Choice, Policy Incentives and Consumer-Centric Business Models

This document summarises seven key takeaways from the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies’ third workshop on the impact of disruptive change in the transport sector, titled ‘EV Uptake in the Transport Fleet: Consumer Choice, Policy Incentives and Consumer-Centric Business Models’, held late last year. Participants included experts from the electricity, oil, auto, mobility, finance and technology sectors. The context for the Workshop was the importance of three key factors influencing the uptake of Electric Vehicles (EVs) in the transport fleet: government incentives, consumer choice, and consumer-centric business models. The workshop focused on specific urban transport modes (light passenger and small freight vehicles, and electric buses) in advanced and emerging economies, and a timeframe of the next 20 to 30 years. The sessions were organized to address the following questions:

• What types of government incentives are most effective and efficient in “nudging” consumers towards engaging with decarbonized transport, including EV adoption?
• How are consumers responding to policy and commercial incentives to adopt Electric Vehicles (EVs) and electric mobility? What determines consumer choice?
• What are the requirements of a consumer-centric business model for EVs? What has been the experience to date, and what are the policy or commercial barriers to the growth of consumer-centric models?
• Are there any misalignments between existing EV support policies and consumer preferences, or between EV utilization business models and consumer choice?

By: Anupama Sen