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Electric cars represent the most energy efficient technical option available for passenger cars, compared to conventional combustion engine cars and vehicles based on fuel cells. However, this requires an efficient charging infrastructure and low carbon electricity production as well. Combustion engine cars which were converted to electric cars decreased lifecycle CO₂-equivalent emissions per passenger-km travelled down to one third of before, when powered by green electricity. However, through an analysis of 78 scientific reports published since 2010 for life cycle impacts from 18 aggregated impact categories, this chapter finds that the results are mixed. Taken together, however, the reduced environmental impacts of electric cars appear advantageous over combustion engine cars, with further room for improvement as impacts generated during the production phase are addressed. When it comes to battery components, Cobalt (Co) stands out as critical. Assessing the impact of electric cars on the local air quality, they are not ‘zero emission vehicles’. They emit fine dust due to tyre and brake abrasion and to dust resuspension from the street. These remaining emissions could be easily removed by adding an active filtration system to the undercarriage of electric vehicles. If electric cars are operated with electricity from fossil power plants nearby, the emissions of these plants need to be modelled with respect to possibly worsening the local air quality.

The popularity of electric and hybrid cars has been growing worldwide, and Portugal is no exception. Companies have been offered incentives as a way to promote the transition to more sustainable transportation systems and supply chains. Celebrities and influencers are endorsing the new technology, and consumer preferences are changing. However, in Portugal, there are still consumers with misconceptions about the autonomy, cost and reliability of electric cars, which may favour the choice of a conventional car, in a new car purchase decision-making process.

In this study, we analyse whether purchase intention in the near future of an electric car varies with a pro-environmental lifestyle, perceived symbolic value of the electric car, mobility patterns, age, and place of residence, (performance, social, financial and externalities) risk avoidance, consumer perceptions, knowledge about the cost, the autonomy and the existing infrastructures. A sample of 308 Portuguese consumers was collected with an online survey. Results from survey subsample analysis of 170 consumers who unequivocally claim that would opt for an electric vehicle or not show a positive relationship between the purchase intention of an electric car, the fuel cost increase, the proximity of convenient charging places and battery lifetime perception. It was also found that age, knowledge and perceived symbolic value of the electric car, in general, have a positive influence on consumers' choice of an electric car. A negative relationship was found between the purchase intention, social and financial risk avoidance, perceived symbolic value of the electric car in particular and the number of cars each family has.

Electric vehicles are often positioned as a politically easy option for low-carbon mobility, compared to other options, such as cycling, public transit, and walkable communities. This is difficult to assess confidently, however. The rate of adoption for electric vehicles that will be necessary over the next few decades to avoid the worst consequences of climate change will bring about new political struggles. This chapter uses a political-economic analysis to discuss what these struggles might look like. Using literature on the structure of automobility, along with evidence on the ways which electric vehicles disrupt the existing systems built around private car use, it discusses how a rapid transition to electric mobility will affect the material interests of various groups. One big impact will be on production, where the radical changes necessary to re-tool the auto industry to build electric vehicles will create major risks for car companies and their workers. A second impact will be on infrastructure, where the conversion of parking space into electric vehicle charging stations could arouse local political opposition, particularly in cities. Finally, electric vehicles might conflict with the cultural and symbolic lock-in of conventional vehicles, resulting not only in slower adoption but also the potential for active resistance against electric vehicle policies and infrastructure. Taken together, this implies that electric vehicles will not be a form of low-carbon mobility that is free of political struggle. Widespread electrification of private automobility could be aggressively opposed by powerful groups who have strong economic incentives to do so.

This chapter explains how electric driving has been transforming car mobility in The Netherlands since 1990, highlighting the role of a specific Dutch policy mix as direct factor, and the conditions through which this policy mix came about as indirect factors. The analysis is based on triangulation of findings from three methods: (1) discourse analysis of national newspapers and online blogs to understand the changing meanings of car mobility as well as changing stakeholder competences; (2) interview analysis with Dutch stakeholders to understand policy effects as well as their changing competences; and (3) analysis of relevant documents that provide the numbers of vehicles sold, implemented infrastructures and policy instruments. The study describes market changes in terms of ‘reconfiguring’ (entangled) practices of Dutch motorists, vehicle manufacturers and policy-makers, constituted by the (changing) relations between meanings, materialities, competences and policy incentives. The analysis finds a gradual reconfiguration of car mobility in three stages: The hegemony of Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) mobility (1990–2008), Surge in Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) mobility (2009–2015), and Surge in full-electric mobility (2016–2020). The analysis shows that the specific Dutch policy incentives were critical to orchestrating the co-evolution of ICE-based and electric mobility towards low-carbon alternatives, that is, towards more electrification. The policy mix was adapted in three successive steps, in which inconsistencies towards electric mobility (e-mobility) were solved, entailing three distinct reconfiguration pathways in each period. The relatively strong policy incentives for e-mobility in The Netherlands can be explained by the absence of an established car industry as well as particular air quality challenges in cities (triggering local support for the provision of charging infrastructure). The conclusion includes policy recommendations for countries that seek to promote e-mobility, although further research should clarify how contextual differences require specific elements in the policy mix.

Purpose – Electric vehicles are very topical in developed countries. The breakthrough of new battery technologies and changing conditions driven by climate policy and growing fossil fuel prices has caused all major car manufacturing countries in the developed world to initiate R&D programmes to gain competitive advantage and to foster market diffusion of electric vehicles (EVs). This chapter looks at developments in China and compares them with observations from developed countries to draw conclusions about differences in their future paths of development.

Methodology – This chapter escribes the potentials and R&D approaches for different types of EVs in developing countries, using China as example, in comparison with developed countries. It looks at innovation strategies, policy framework and potential diffusion of EVs.

Findings – Market diffusion strategies in developed countries and China may differ, since, in the former manufacturers try to implement a premium strategy (i.e. offer high-price sophisticated EVs), while in the latter market, diffusion will probably appear at the lower end of vehicle types, i.e. via electric scooters and small urban vehicles. It is concluded that the market introduction strategies of EVs in developing countries and developed countries could converge because signs of downsizing of vehicles can be observed in the developed world, while upscaling from bikes and electric scooters can be expected for China, so that large-scale market introduction could occur via small city cars.

Implications for China – Instead of following the Western motorisation path, an option for China could be to develop a new one-stop-shop mobility concept integrating small EVs into such a concept.

Do social movement organizations increase the supply of a public good? We address this question by investigating the role of generalist social movement organizations and technology-focused organizations for the development of the electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure in California from 1995 until 2012. We find that increases in the membership of Electric Auto Association (EAA) chapters in the cities of California enhanced the number of EV charging stations set up in each city. Our analyses also show that the organizational diversity of the environmental movement spurred the growth of EAA membership but did not directly increase the establishment of charging stations.

The chapter draws on the key findings from across the previous chapters in this book with a view to reaching a synthesis which responds to the key question that motivated the book: ‘to what extent does a shift to electric automobility suggest a sustainable future for the passenger car?’ Across the chapters is found evidence for a clear and apparently unstoppable transition to electric mobility, but this does not mean it is harmonious and smooth; the transition itself faces potential disruption, as well as being disruptive to the status quo through creating new forms of conflict over space and material resources. Nonetheless, meanwhile internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV) sales continue to exceed electric vehicle (EV) sales, even if the margin reduces, and there is the enormous problem of inertia presented by the established global ICEV fleet.

Considering the current dynamics of consumer demand for electric cars, a complex set of factors and preferences have been shown to have influence, but the interrelated factors of range and total cost of ownership stand out as the key ones. Prospects for accelerating the rate of transition are identified, but a further important dynamic is the slow rate of turnover in an established vehicle fleet dominated by ICEs: consideration is therefore given to the potential for retrofit EV conversions.

Looking to the future, the cost and performance of battery technology remains a critical and uncertain factor in the rate and depth of the transition to EVs, but the wider context of mobility practices and policies in which that change occurs is also fundamental. The EV transition sits entwined with other novel and substantial changes to our long-established systems of automobility that are becoming visible on the horizon. Relatively expensive to buy but cheap to use, and also hard to tax, EVs will necessitate a shift away from pay-up-front to pay-as-you-go road use, while the development and full realisation of Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) systems could herald a fundamental change in the basis of owning and using cars. In conclusion, a sustainable future for the car implies not just a new way of powering it, but a different role for the car in both the economy and society.

This chapter provides a reflective commentary on how the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) may alter how society uses cars through an inspection of evidence from the studies which have examined the impact of EV adoption on trip patterns. A framework for evaluating trip patterns is applied which considers how the adoption of an EV could generate impacts for the spatial distribution of car trips, when these trips occur, the journey purpose these trips serve, and the driving style in which the trips are conducted. It is identified that the principal issue which is likely to motivate alterations in trip patterns following a transition to EVs is the technical and regulatory differences which distinguish them from conventional vehicles. Spatial trip patterns could become anchored to the burgeoning chargepoint infrastructures, with network coverage having implications for where EVs will be seen. Changing seasons could reduce the range of the battery packs, limiting the useability of EVs in winter months. Low operating costs of EVs may encourage their use for short distance trips due to a feeling of guilt-free travel. Eco-driving functions of EVs could promote sustainable driving practices by gamifying energy efficiency though the introduction of targets, medals, and leader boards. It is concluded that the exact manner in which trip patterns will be altered by the transition to EVs is difficult to predict with clarity, with many alternative futures being conceivable. In part, the impact on trip patterns will be contingent on whether or not EVs start to look and feel like conventional cars as the technology matures.