A System Approach to Electrification of Transportation : An International Comparison

Globally, the transportation system is transforming from a fossil-based to an electrification system. Some countries are leading in the transformation process. Some countries are rapidly catching up to become market leaders in developing and introducing new techniques and equipment that support the transformation process in their countries. In contrast, others are still relying on their old fossil-based system or could not have enough understanding of how to deal with this complex transformation of the transportation system. The electrification of the transportation system is not an isolated system that can be handled as a single technological element. It is a group of multiple technologies, political, societal, and economic sub-systems each of these sub-systems is embedded in each other, forming the whole system. Therefore, it is important to see and manage the system from a holistic perspective to transform the transportation electrification system efficiently. We have selected eight countries from three different continents – Asia (China, India), Australia, which is a country and continent, and Europe (Germany, Norway, Slovenia, Sweden, and the UK) to explore the transformational process of transportation electrification based on each countries’ conditions. We have chosen these continents as they are diversified in adopting transportation electrification system solutions. Our main conclusions are that the political processes and political decisiveness are the most important, followed by the societal and economic, with technology as the fourth. The other three are difficult to obtain without dedicated and determined political decision-makers. Political decision-makers need to use economic means to support the transformation in society and industry to balance the economic disadvantage of electric systems until they pass the cost disadvantage turning point. Technology is no longer a significant barrier as it was about 20 years ago. Now, technology is available, although it can be improved. The important part is to understand how to utilize the existing technology efficiently to transform the old fossil-based transportation system into new electrification of the transportation system. Without clear and strong political support, the industry cannot be expected to initiate, finance, take risks, and take the lead in this global societal transformation.Collaborative Academic Platform for the Electrification of Transportation System