Charging Infrastructure for Heavy Commercial Vehicles A study of actor roles and factors impacting diffusion of charging infrastructure in North America and Europe
Typ
Examensarbete för masterexamen
Master's Thesis
Master's Thesis
Program
Management and economics of innovation (MPMEI), MSc
Publicerad
2023
Författare
Meuller, Love
Palmströmer, Niclas
Modellbyggare
Tidskriftstitel
ISSN
Volymtitel
Utgivare
Sammanfattning
Due to climate change, the commercial vehicle industry is undergoing significant
transformations to reduce its emissions. Heavy emission regulations and targets from
governments further push the need for lowered emission forward. Electric commercial
vehicles are seen as a key solution to these changes. There is however a significant
challenge in the fact that the amount of available infrastructure for electric commercial
vehicles is close to zero. High investment costs, low grid capacity, and low utilization
rates are all significant issues that must be overcome for the deployment of widespread
charging infrastructure for commercial vehicles. By analyzing the actor groups in the
charging infrastructure industry from a technological innovation system (TIS)
perspective, the role each actor group plays in the diffusion of charging infrastructure
can be examined. Additionally, by studying what factors impact the development of the
TIS and in what way, one can gain an understanding of key drivers and barriers the
TIS is facing. This master thesis aims to investigate the current status of the heavy
commercial vehicle charging infrastructure in terms of actor ́ s roles as well as factors
influencing technology diffusion.
The study finds that the commercial vehicle charging infrastructure development is
heavily driven by electric commercial vehicle OEMs, Governmental policies, and
charging point operators (CPO). Joint ventures between OEMs, network formations
and pilot projects between OEMs, CPOs and hardware manufacturers are further
driving the development of the commercial vehicle charging infrastructure TIS.
Additionally, factors such as grid connection, low charger utilization rates, and
technical difficulties with charging temperatures were found to act as barriers for the
development of the TIS. Enabling factors were found to be the increasing product
performance seen with chargers, the decreasing relative price of chargers due to
economies of scale and diesel cost increases, and the amount of incentives available
for both commercial vehicles and charging infrastructure. The implications of the study
are that policymakers must enforce policies that lower investments costs and regulate
emissions. Additionally, actors should have an open collaborative approach to
charging infrastructure development.
Beskrivning
Ämne/nyckelord
diffusion of innovation , sustainability transitions , sociotechnical transitions , enabling factors to innovation , hindering factors to innovation , technological innovation systems , technological innovation system functions