Cited by 189Electric Vehicles and InfrastructureEnergy, Environment, and Transportation PoliciesSocial Acceptance of Renewable Energy

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 44 of the 44 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; 14 of the 43 sources its claims cite were checked for support.

Understanding the socio-technical nexus of Nordic electric vehicle (EV) barriers: A qualitative discussion of range, price, charging and knowledge

Open access
Noel, Lance, Zarazua de Rubens, Gerardo, Kester, Johannes, Sovacool, Benjamin K.·2020·Energy Policy

Abstract

Electric vehicles are perceived as a key alternate to internal combustion engine vehicles for a transition to a decarbonized society. However, this transition towards the electrification of transport has not made equal progress globally, and faced several impediments to consumer adoption of EVs across the Nordic region and beyond. While there has been a multitude of reasons provided in the literature, we aim to characterize the barriers that remain to electrification today, as well as their perceived interconnections and futures. To provide insight into this query, the authors conducted 227 semi-structured interviews with transportation and electricity experts from 201 institutions across seventeen cities in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. The qualitative results and consequent cluster analysis show that common barriers like range, price and charging infrastructure continue to persist, despite technological advancements over the recent years. At the same time, results also show that barriers are highly interconnected and are commonly connected to consumer knowledge and experience. The article concludes with a discussion of policy implications of the findings and potential future research.

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This paper uses 227 expert interviews across five Nordic countries to map electric vehicle barriers and argues that range, price, public charging, and consumer knowledge form an interconnected socio-technical nexus. It finds that technical/economic barriers persist but are often rooted in consumer knowledge and experience, so policy should address the nexus rather than single barriers.

Key findings

  • The interviews identified 53 barrier categories; the four most discussed were range (59.9% of experts), price (57.3%), public charging infrastructure (48.5%), and consumer knowledge/mental barriers (41.9%). Each expert suggested on average over 4 barriers.
  • Range was the single most discussed barrier, but 18% of experts said it was either not or soon would not be a barrier (12% soon, 6% already); many linked range anxiety to consumer knowledge rather than technical insufficiency, noting EVs can meet well over 90% of trips. Price was often seen as a capital-cost problem despite better total cost of ownership, with 12.3% saying it was not or soon would not be a barrier. Public charging was framed as a “chicken and egg” problem; 12% called it not a barrier, and over 80% of those said it was already not a barrier.
  • Barriers varied by country and expertise: Norway had much lower price concern (22%) than other Nordics (56–78%); Denmark had high concern about lack of consumer incentives (61%) and EV taxes (59%); Sweden had high concern about consumer knowledge (67%) and apartment charging (43%). Transport/city planning experts discussed consumer knowledge most (51%), while energy/electricity experts discussed it least (28%).
  • Apartment charging was discussed by 21.6% of experts and was seen as a persistent barrier, less connected to the mental-barrier nexus and harder to resolve through information alone.

Methods

  • The authors conducted 227 semi-structured interviews with participants from 201 institutions across seventeen cities in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden from September 2016 to May 2017; the methods section says 15 cities, while the abstract and appendix say 17. Experts came from government, regulators, universities, utilities, automakers/dealerships, private companies, and industry/civil society groups.
  • Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded in NVIVO using grounded theory, with themes derived from the data rather than predetermined. A cluster analysis using Jaccard’s coefficient of similarity was used to visualize coded theme connections and the proposed barrier nexus.
  • The study used qualitative analysis and did not commence with preformed hypotheses.

Limitations

  • Paper-stated: the nonrandom sample was limited by English-speaking participants, locations visited, and potential selection bias; respondents may have given socially desirable answers, deliberately tried to sway results, or suffered poor recall; qualitative responses were difficult to code. The authors attempted to mitigate these by validating with a literature review and triangulating responses.
  • Evident from the text: the study captures expert perceptions, not consumer behavior directly; the sample skews male (80.5%) and is unevenly distributed by country (Norway 26.1%, Iceland 14.0%), which may shape the reported barrier frequencies.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.enpol.2020.111292

Cites

44 of 44 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

106 Own result · 32 No basis given · 30 Own interpretation · 11 No full text of the sources · 10 Not checked yet · 10 Own method · 8 Partly supported · 6 Sources not found · 5 Supported · accuracy not yet measured

Show all 94 claims

  • It may state two separate claims as one. 52
  • Probably not a substantial claim. 94
  • The quote only partly states this claim. 1
124 of 124
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The experts' perceptions and statements about EV barriers accurately reflect the actual barriers to EV adoption in the Nordic region.

    “The qualitative results and consequent cluster analysis show that common barriers like range, price and charging infrastructure continue to persist”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The sample of 227 experts from 201 institutions is sufficiently representative of the relevant stakeholder perspectives to generalize findings to the Nordic region.

    “The authors conducted 227 semi-structured interviews with participants from 201 institutions across 15 cities in the five countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden from September 2016 to May 2017.Those interviewed were selected to represent the diverse array of stakeholders involved with transport technology, policy and practice”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The coded themes and cluster analysis validly capture the interconnections between barriers.

    “In addition to the descriptive analyses, we also utilized a cluster analysis for Fig. 2, shown below, based on the coded similarity between each of the coded themes across our interviews.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The barriers discussed by experts are the same barriers that affect consumer adoption of EVs.

    “we aim to characterize the barriers that remain to electrification today”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The connections experts draw between barriers reflect real-world interconnected barriers that EVs face, not merely patterns in expert discourse.

    “suggesting a nexus of interconnected barriers electric vehicles face as shown in Fig. 2 above.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The frequency with which experts discuss a barrier indicates that barrier's prominence or importance in the Nordic EV transition.

    “The second most common barrier discussed by experts was price, representing 57% of experts.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Denmark had recently removed the exemption to EVs, increasing the registration tax to 40%.

    “who had recently removed the exemption to EVs, increasing the registration tax to 40%.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The Norwegian government has taken substantial steps to address the barriers to EVs.

    “where the government has taken substantial steps to address the barriers to EVs.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    EV range is less than ICEV range.

    “the range is certainly less than an ICEV”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    EV price tends to be higher than ICEV when looking only at the sticker price.

    “the price tends to be higher looking only at the sticker”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    There are far more gas stations than public charging infrastructure.

    “there are far more gas stations than public charging infrastructure.”
11 of 11

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

2 of 2

Citations

Cites

Show all 41 references

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Lambert, 2017, Denmark to relaunch its electric vehicel market with incentives after a year with almost No sales, Electrek, 2017
  2. Yin, 2003, vol. 5

Cited by

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Metadata

Authors
Noel, L., Zarazua de Rubens, G., Kester, J., & Sovacool, B. K.
Affiliations
  • University of Sussex (GB)
  • Aarhus University (DK)
Corresponding author
Noel, Lance
Venue
Energy Policy
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2020-03
Volume
138
Pages
111292
ISSN
0301-4215 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3003271674
Cited by
189
References
41
Citations by year
2026: 26 · 2025: 40 · 2024: 40 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 29 · 2021: 26 · 2020: 6
FWCI
7.00
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Energy Policy (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Sussex Research Online (University of Sussex) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
Danmarks Frie Forskningsfond (4182-00033B)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Electrical and Electronic Engineering › Electric Vehicles and Infrastructure
  • Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › Energy, Environment, and Transportation Policies
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social Acceptance of Renewable Energy
Keywords
electric vehicles, barriers to adoption, electric mobility, driving range, vehicle price, charging infrastructure, consumer knowledge, Nordic countries, decarbonization, transport policy

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