Assessing policy interventions to stimulate the transition of electric vehicle technology in the European Union

Abstract

The European Union (EU) is taking steps to gradually reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, as well as to decarbonize the entire energy and automotive systems, with the goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2050. As such, road transportation plays a fundamental role in this process. Internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles are to be slowly decommissioned as other powertrain systems arise for multiple reasons, from greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to urban air quality. To change both the technological and consumer landscapes, governments must act through policymaking intervention. Electric vehicles (EVs) provide a significant opportunity to address this issue, and as such, the current work aims at assessing national-level policy intervention within the EU regarding the EV transition. This study employs the ELECTRE (ELimination Et Choix Traduisant la REalité - ELimination and Choice Expressing the REality) TRI-nC method to classify 27 EU Member States (MSs) regarding their governance in terms of EV technology promotion. Overall, financial incentives still have a big effect on EV deployment, since those countries with greater concern on this topic were generally better classified than the rest. Finally, charging infrastructures also play a critical role, either making or breaking the deployment of EVs, leading to the worst classification of MSs with very few charging points per 100 thousand urban inhabitants.