The emergence of electromobility: Comparing technological pathways in France, Germany, China and India

State‐Led Innovation at the City Level: Policy Measures to Promote New Energy Vehicles in Shenzhen, China

“…An important argument in favor of promoting early stage technological development, innovation, and application stems from the discussion on technology evolution and dominant designs (Anderson and Tushman ; Murmann and Frenken ; Altenburg and others ). In a newly emerging technology field, it is normal that several applications of new technologies as well as products and processes based thereon are simultaneously developed by different firms and in different regions.…”

“…In the situation of emerging economies, however, the chance to establish a dominant design in times of technological discontinuities is also connected to the debates on leapfrogging and reverse innovation (Soete ; Christensen and Ruggles ). In the context of this paper, it is important to recognize that the transition from internal combustion engines to NEVs is a period of technological discontinuity during which new dominant designs in the NEV industry will be established (Altenburg and others ; Tyfield and Zuev ). This will provide those companies that own the particular technological solution first with a significant competitive advantage, to the benefit of that firm and its region.…”

“…This could eventually allow China's firms to capture larger parts of the automotive value chains and increase market share and employment. Hence, NEV was selected in 2009 as a field of priority by the national government as well as by provincial and municipal governments (Altenburg and others ; Tyfield and Zuev ). A fast transition towards NEV might yield other important results as well, such as a reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, a reduction of pollution and thus improved air quality, and decreasing dependence on imports of crude oil.…”

“…However, there is a broad discussion about the policy approaches that governments may choose when it comes to fostering innovation (Johansson and others ; Borrás and Edquist ). In the case of NEV, it seems most promising to speed up the application and use of existing technologies, thus increasing the size of the market, involving more users and producers, and increasing the opportunity for economies of scale to arise and for learning by using and learning by interacting (Anderson and Tushman ; Murmann and Frenken ; Altenburg and others ). Product and process innovation is still the domain of companies.…”

E‐Mobility and the Energy Transition

“…These numbers show that e‐mobility offers no appreciable contribution to environmental protection in the intermediate term. After nuclear energy is cut out of the energy mix, the inclusion of power production for mobility would actually mean an increase in emissions compared to the continued use of the internal combustion engine . A point of uncertainty is the potential of e‐mobility for cargo transport for which as there are not enough data.…”