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Electric Vehicles (EVs) which\u00a0<\/span>mimic<\/em>\u00a0the current car-based system, are not the answer to the epochal challenge of decarbonising transport. In his mobility justice critique of EV, Henderson<\/span>[i]<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>highlights three reasons for this:<\/span><\/p>\n Add to this the fact that producing enough electric vehicles to replace fossil fuelled cars would result in the UK failing to meet the Paris carbon targets even before they take to the road.<\/p>\n While mobile elites now aspire to electric minis or\u00a0Teslas[ii]<\/a>, a growing precariat can barely afford the journey from suburban estates to the job centre or the food bank, and environmental impacts are felt most by those trapped in poverty elsewhere.<\/p>\n The wholesale turn to\u00a0electrification of the\u00a0existing<\/em>\u00a0mobility system is a form of solutionism \u2013 a technological fix for a complex socio-technical challenge that is bound to fail.<\/p>\n For the reasons outlined above,\u00a0EVs score low on Societal Readiness\u00a0Levels.\u00a0Although an increasing number of people are using the technology as a convenient way to \u2018green\u2019 a car-based lifestyle, EVs fall short on their ability to deliver on carbon targets or to contribute to the public good.<\/p>\n EVs are\u00a0currently\u00a0predominantly thought of as replacements for existing\u00a0vehicles, or\u00a0even as\u00a0enabling an increase in private vehicles.\u00a0Yet, EVs\u00a0are a technology with potential for transformative change. Electrification\u00a0of shared mobility, via car clubs and lift-share, for example, could\u00a0support new forms of multi-modal transport, and\u00a0capitalise on\u00a0trends\u00a0to leave automobility behind.\u00a0<\/p>\n While some studies\u00a0suggest an increased turn to the car motivated by fears of Covid19 infection, others document\u00a0\u2018strong behavioural changes in physical and virtual mobility associated with the pandemic\u2019 and argue that these changes constitute\u00a0\u2018a \u2018living lab\u2019 in which to explore the possibilities for\u00a0disintegrating the boundaries of the automobility system\u2019.[iii]<\/a><\/p>\n A\u00a0more proactive and creative consideration of\u00a0the\u00a0societal readiness\u00a0of EV\u00a0could be\u00a0used to inspire a more\u00a0systemic\u00a0socio-technical approach to innovation.<\/p>\n Mobility\u00a0service models\u00a0which\u00a0could positively\u00a0disrupt\u00a0include:\u00a0<\/p>\n In the early 1990s, sustainable transport policy was concerned with a broad set of issues.\u00a0These included: road congestion, the loss of countryside, and the disturbance of rural and semi-rural areas due to road building or the reallocation of land for\u00a0parking.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now\u00a0the problem is debated only in terms of emissions targets. National policy in relation to all forms of transport is heavily focused on vehicle technology to the detriment of other possibilities.<\/p>\n These policies\u00a0and the focus on private EVs\u00a0actually reinforce\u00a0current patterns of consumption, tying us to a future in which the use of private cars continues to dominate and increase. This is reflected in the substantial road building programme which comes part and parcel with low-emissions vehicle policy.[iv]<\/a><\/p>\n Covid19 and responses to climate change have shown that societies are\u00a0ready and uniquely positioned for a system change to our mobility systems. Now is the time to have vision and implement it.\u00a0EVs can certainly play a part, but as a positive disruption to the current system, rather than a substitute for it.\u00a0<\/p>\n [i]<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>Henderson, J. (2020) EVs are not the answer: A mobility justice critique of Electric Vehicle\u00a0transitions,\u00a0Annals of the American Association of Geographers<\/em>, vol. 110, no. 6, pp.\u00a01993-2010.\u00a0<\/p>\n [ii]<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>Taffel, S. (2018)\u00a0Hopeful\u00a0Extinctions? Tesla, Technological Solutionism and the\u00a0Anthropocene\u2019,\u00a0Culture Unbound Journal of Current Cultural Research<\/em>, vol. 10, no. 2, pp.\u00a0163-184\u00a0<\/p>\n [iii]<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>Wang, L.; Wells, P. Automobilities after SARS-CoV-2: A Socio-Technical Perspective. Sustainability 2020, 12, 5978.\u00a0<\/p>\n [iv]<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>Spurling, N. (2014) Tesla\u2019s\u00a0Technocars\u00a0are the Right Answer to the Wrong Question,\u00a0The Conversation,\u00a0<\/em>https:\/\/theconversation.com\/teslas-techno-cars-are-the-right-answer-to-the-wrong-question-27652<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n <\/a><\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0First published at <\/span>https:\/\/decarbon8.org.uk\/moving-evs-beyond-automobility-culture\/<\/a>\u00a0, written by Monika Buscher and Nicola Spurling\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n
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