Barriers and Strategies for The Market Diffusion of Solar Electric Vehicles in India

Abstract

The transportation sector is a major contributor to global emissions, with road transportation responsible for a significant part of these emissions. Electric mobility, particularly Solar Electric Vehicles (SEVs), offers a solution to deal with the challenges encountered by traditional electric vehicles ultimately contributing to reducing emissions, which is especially relevant for countries like India. This thesis investigates the socio-technical conditions influencing the market diffusion of SEVs in India using the Technological Innovation Systems (TIS) framework. It involves qualitative research methods, including expert interviews, to explore barriers, opportunities, strategies, and stakeholders involved. This is investigated further by raising the (research) question

“What are the socio-technical conditions that affect the market diffusion of Solar Electric Vehicles in the Indian market?”

This study is conducted through four different phases. It begins by examining the current status of Electric Vehicles (EVs) and their technological similarities with SEVs. While SEVs have the potential to offer a dual power source with solar panels, they are yet to enter the Indian market. Also, various relevant frameworks are reviewed to understand the conditions affecting SEV diffusion, including the TIS framework by Ortt and Kamp (2022). SEVs are classified as disruptive technology, and the possibility of large-scale diffusion of SEVs in India is explored by evaluating the completeness of certain TIS building blocks.

During the second phase, the barriers, their underlying conditions, and the affected TIS building blocks are linked using the guidelines provided in the literature. Upon identifying the links, the status of TIS building blocks is evaluated for SEVs in India. It is evaluated by understanding the level of threat these barriers pose to the diffusion of SEVs in India, based on the validation from expert interviews. Additionally, the opportunities for SEV technology in the Indian market are also discussed highlighting their potential to solve the problems in India.

In order to address the barriers identified in phase two, using the Niche strategy framework proposed by Ortt et al. (2013), the strategies relevant to the market diffusion of SEVs are explored and validated. These strategies are clearly divided into the ones tailored for the government, industry, and customers. Expert interviews reveal the feasibility of the implementation of these strategies based on the current market conditions and also that of the future.

After identifying the barriers, and the strategies, in phase four, the links between them are formulated based on the guidelines provided in the literature. These guidelines are used to first, formulate all the possible strategy links circumventing each barrier. Secondly, based on the expert opinions the procedure to select the most important strategy (per barrier) from the list of possible all the possible strategies is provided.

Ultimately, upon forming the links, the immediate threats to the market diffusion of SEVs in India are discovered, and the possible measures to circumvent those threats are recommended to the stakeholders involved.