Digital media: A pathway technology in the electromobility transition?

Alkhalisi, Farah and Waterson, Ben (2018) Digital media: A pathway technology in the electromobility transition? 50th Annual Conference of the Universities’ Transport Study Group, , London, United Kingdom. 03 - 05 Jan 2018.

Abstract

Electric vehicles (EVs) have potential to mitigate the environmental impact of vehicular air pollution, with further technological capabilities to support renewable energy and smart-grid integration, plus suitability for integration into networked, multi-modal transport systems and car-sharing services. Digital media tools and technologies such as smartphone apps are believed to have prompted new practices and behaviours around the use of other modes of transport, and also in relation to household energy consumption. This research explores the deployment of such technologies by EV drivers and proposes that digital media can play a role in supporting EV uptake and operation - in terms of more than just a like-for-like substitution of one motive energy source for another. Evidence has been found to suggest that a significant proportion of existing EV drivers are engaging with digital media, often as part of their journey-planning and scheduling of their car’s battery-charging, and quantitative and qualitative data have been collected giving insight into how digital media engagement plays a part in ongoing driver adaptation and acclimatisation to a new vehicle type; in negotiating certain spatio-temporal elements of EV ownership such as charging at unconventional locations; dealing with perceived shortfalls in public charging infrastructure or vehicle range; or in adopting new routines such as off-peak or optimised charging. Viewed in the context of a socio-technical transition, results so far suggest that digital media (if not a sole solution) has a key role as a facilitating ‘pathway’ or ‘add-on’ technology in an automotive shift from fossil-fuelled internal combustion engines (ICEs) to electric motors; and that digital strategies could help bridge the gaps between the early innovators, a critical mass for consumer acceptance, and thereafter to mainstream EV usage in a new, convergent, networked electromobility system or configuration.

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Contributors

Author: Ben Waterson

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