Social & Regulatory Context

Electrification is driven by regulations and state policies: without CO2 regulations OEMs do not increase the sales of EVs; without subsidies for consumers there is no market for EVs; and without ambitious industrial policies there is no battery industry to make EVs. Papers in this stream could analyse these policies and regulations and how they transform the automotive industry towards decarbonised mobility, but also how they raise new challenges and issues in terms of social disruptions, uneven development and contradictory outcomes. They could explore the processes that shape the emergence and implementation of these policies and regulations, such as the role of lobbies, of different types of expert knowledge, and the changes in political coalitions. The could investigate the concrete outcomes of these policies and regulations on CO2 emissions, transport and mobility patterns, market structures, competition between companies and countries, trade and value chains. Of particular interest will be contributions on the topic of “just transition” and how the potential negative consequences of fast electrification on labour, on communities and territories threatened by deindustrialisation, and on different social groups are taken into account by these policies and regulations.

Public policies and regulations also play a central role in promoting new mobility services that can be part of the process of electrification. We welcome papers that analyse the development of Mobility as a Service (ride-hailing, ridesharing, carsharing, bikesharing, scooter-sharing) and the role played by cities and regions in shaping the transition from ownership to usership.