Electric Mobility

Parkhurst, Graham

Abstract

The article begins in questioning whether the electric mobility (EM) revolution amounts to a “sociotechnical transition” or merely a technological substitution. It reviews the origins of transport sector electrification in the 19th century, identifying the perennial technical challenge of energy storage as the primary explanation for EM populating only niches of the transport system in the 20th century. Nonetheless, despite limitations, rechargeable batteries are identified as the best available technology underpinning a resurgence and diversification of EM in the 21st century. In the final analysis, though, through a sustainable mobility lens, the established “political-economy” of transport emerges as robust, with powerful forces promoting a future of mobility in which the private, owned, car remains firmly as the centerpiece. In concluding that EM represents technological substitution without sociotechnical transition, it is argued that the call for regime change towards genuinely sustainable mobility must be renewed and strengthened.

• Online Publication Date: May 17, 2021
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2021
• Deposit Date: May 27, 2021
• Pages: 64-72
• Series Title: International Encyclopedia of Transportation
• Series Number: Part 6: Transport Policy and Planning
• ISBN: 9780081026724; 9780081026717
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-08-102671-7.10615-3
• Keywords: electric vehicles; sustainable mobility; sociotechnical transition; battery electric; fuel cell
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/7428866
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780081026717106153?via%3Dihub