Cited by 203Electric Vehicles and InfrastructureElectric and Hybrid Vehicle TechnologiesTransportation and Mobility Innovations

Identification and Analysis of Barriers against Electric Vehicle Use

Open access
Adhikari, Madhusudhan, Ghimire, Laxman Prasad, Kim, Yeonbae, Aryal, Prakash, Khadka, Sundar Bahadur·2020·Sustainability

Abstract

Electric vehicles (EVs) can be considered an alternative technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector. However, numerous barriers need to be overcome in this regard. This study is aimed at presenting the framework for the identification and analysis of barriers against the use of EVs. Then, the framework was applied to identify the challenges and rank them in order of importance against the diffusion of EVs in Nepal. Seventeen barriers were identified from previous studies, reports, policy documents, and interactions with experts. The identified barriers were classified into five categories: technical, policy, economic, infrastructure, and social. Then, a comparative survey was performed to obtain experts’ opinions on the identified barriers and the analytical hierarchical process was used to analyze and rank them. The results revealed that infrastructure, policy, economic, and technical barriers pose more pressing concerns than social barriers. The lack of charging stations, relatively higher purchase price of EVs compared to internal combustion vehicles, and poor long-term planning and goal setting on the part of the government were ranked as the top three barriers against EV uptake in Nepal. This framework can be applied to replicate the study in other countries, taking their inherent relevant factors into account.

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  • Limited driving range per charge and associated range anxiety are one of the biggest barriers for customers against adopting BEVs.

    “In the particular case of battery electric vehicles (BEVs), the limited driving range per charge, coupled with the associated range anxiety, is one of the biggest barriers for customers today against adopting EVs [5][6][7][8][9].”

    From Effect of Low Temperature on Electric Vehicle Range (2021) · cites this paper as [7]

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Authors
Adhikari, M., Ghimire, L. P., Kim, Y., Aryal, P., & Khadka, S. B.
Affiliations
  • Tribhuvan University (NP)
  • Seoul National University (KR)
  • Monash University (AU)
Corresponding author
Ghimire, Laxman Prasad
Venue
Sustainability
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2020-06-14
Volume
12
Issue
12
Pages
4850
ISSN
2071-1050 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3034729907
Cited by
203
References
70
Citations by year
2026: 13 · 2025: 34 · 2024: 45 · 2023: 43 · 2022: 33 · 2021: 29 · 2020: 5 · 2013: 1
FWCI
9.45
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Sustainability (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Electrical and Electronic Engineering › Electric Vehicles and Infrastructure
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Automotive Engineering › Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Technologies
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Automotive Engineering › Transportation and Mobility Innovations
Keywords
electric vehicles, barriers to adoption, technology diffusion, charging infrastructure, charging stations, purchase price, transport policy, greenhouse gas emissions reduction, expert opinion, barrier ranking, Nepal

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