Grants and residencies

Research

The Emerging Electric Vehicle Market In Finland–Managing The Uncertainties In The Finnish Electric Vehicle Ecosystem

Application summary

The Electric Vehicle industry has been witnessing a surge in demand due to technological advancements and increased focus on reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which is one of the main causes of climate change. Finland has aimed to raise the number of Electric Vehicles on its roads to 250,000 by year 2030 (from 2,250 in year 2016). In January 2018, the number of electric cars and hybrid Electric Vehicles in Finland was 7,000. Unfortunately, there are several problems, such as, high price of Electric Vehicle, dearth of charging stations, and long waiting period for charging. In this doctoral thesis, the AIM is to analyse the uncertainties faced by the Finnish Electric Vehicle ecosystem, and its resilience. The novelty is that this thesis evaluates the impact of the process of transitioning to Electric Vehicles on the ecosystem, and, managing the uncertainties faced by the stakeholders of the Electric Vehicle ecosystem. In addition, this thesis analyses the ecosystem in pre- and post-transition phases. The research questions are presented in the three stages of adoption of Electric Vehicles, namely, pre-transition (before year 2020), during transition (years 2020 - 2050), and post-transition (after year 2050). The primary ontological question of this dissertation is, ‘How is the Electric Vehicle ecosystem managing transition uncertainties?’. The research material will be obtained from companies (related to Electric Vehicles, its charging & infrastructure), organizations (such as, VTT), government and municipality, customers etc. The research methods will be of mixed-methods design, combining literature review, qualitative interview study, case study and a survey as well as graphical simulations. For analysing the research questions, ecosystem mapping, relationship matrix building, scenario building, Delphi method, PESTEL, SWOT, Porter's Five Forces Framework and uncertainty analysis will be conducted.

The Electric Vehicle industry has been witnessing a surge in demand due to technological advancements and increased focus on reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which is one of the main causes of climate change. By year 2050, Finland aims to increase use of renewable energy, having near-zero emission roads and increase the number of vehicles compatible with alternative fuels. The target is to have 700,000 EVs on the road by the year 2030, off which at least half should be battery electric vehicles (BEVs) (Ministry of Transport and Communications 2021). In December 2022, the number of BEVs was 37,000 (Statistics Finland 2023a). Unfortunately, it is due to several challenges (such as, high price, lack of charging stations, long queues for charging, etc.) that the EV adoption rates are low. In this doctoral thesis, my Aim is to analyze the uncertainties faced by the Finnish Electric Vehicle ecosystem, and its resilience during this transformative period. The Novelty is that this thesis evaluates the impact of the process of transitioning to Electric Vehicles on the ecosystem, and managing the challenges faced by the stakeholders of the Electric Vehicle ecosystem. This research is relevant, because it is important to understand the trends and the effects of the changes in the EV industry, and reasons for different EV adoption rates in different countries. For example, there is a need to know the reasons for the low uptake of EVs in Finland (for example, lack of information on tax rebates, incentives, etc.). During the grant period, I will complete the remaining number articles (1) and write the doctoral thesis. My research will be implemented by publishing in premier scientific journals and by presenting at conferences.

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