Is the strategy for sustainable transition of automobility through electric shared automated vehicles realistic? An analysis of key actors’ purposes and motivations

Abstract

Electric shared automated vehicles (AVs) are presented as the silver bullet for the sustainable transition of automobility by the automotive manufacturers, tech industry, and the public authorities. If electric automated vehicles are shared, they are expected to reduce vehicle ownership and congestion, enhance energy efficiency through right-sizing and allow urban space reclaiming through reduced parking needs. Based on a literature synthesis, this paper argues that AVs will likely be mostly privately owned than shared significantly limiting the potential synergistic benefits of the so-called three revolutions of automobility (electric-shared-automated). The paper identifies three key actors showing resistance towards the shared AVs transition and analyzes the reasons motivating it. First, for automobile manufacturers shared electric AVs seem to offer lower profit potential because of low car utilization rates due to the need for charging, faster battery degradation, faster depletion of range from on-board tech, limited public charging infrastructure and most importantly low users demand. Second, users appear to prefer owning than sharing cars for reasons of lower waiting times, higher reliability, increased convenience, aversion of sharing, perception of increased safety, ease of use, path dependencies of automobility (e.g. familiarity with driver assisted systems) as well as ideological and symbolic aspects of car ownership. Third, for public authorities shared AVs translate into lower public revenues (e.g. license plate fees, fuel taxes, parking tickets and traffic fines).