The exploration of the reverse salient of electric vehicle systems for urban mobility

Electrification transportation for urban mobility is a hot topic around the world. Many types of electric vehicles could be employed for urban mobility, but both the EVs’ adoption rate and the deployment of their dependent infrastructures are either in the nascent stage or have not been commercialized. No study has studied the drawbacks of EV systems for urban areas in order to improve their performance. A methodology is needed to indicate the reverse salient, which represents the technical drawbacks and social barriers within a large scale technological system, that are hindering the EV diffusion. This paper employed morphological analysis to thoroughly explore all possible designs of electric vehicle systems for urban mobility. Based on the 45 explored electric vehicle configurations, the RS for each type of EV system are identified by consulting four automotive industry experts. The results are validated by confronting with the results from reviewing 34 previous literatures. Multiple technical and social RS are indicated with suggested strategies to overcome the RS. At last, the RS of China’s EV market are analyzed and identified as government policies, consumer cultures and product diversity and market positioning. Multiple policy suggestions are given to the central government of China. Future studies can focus on analyzing RS for longer range applications; customer psychology and behavior towards EV; customer classifications for difference types of EVs; and analysis of policy incentives for EV adoption and charging behaviors.

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