Identifying barriers in a technologicalshift : The introduction of battery- electric buses in Swedish publictransport

Sammanfattning: Concern regarding sustainability and climate change is increasing, which is forcing countries world-wide to take action. The Swedish government has set a goal of fossil-free tra_c until 2030. Battery Electric Buses (BEB) might be one of the solutions needed in order to reach this goal. However, currently its prevalence is at an early stage.   The purpose of this study is to investigate how the technological transition towards BEBs in Sweden a_ects the public transport operators (PTOs). Moreover, to investigate how a third party service provider of Fleet Management System (FMS) services can support the PTOs in this transition.   The research has been carried out in co-operation with a PTO and a FMS service provider. The research contributes to their current understanding of how they will be a_ected by the emerging technological transition. This thesis also contributes with new empirical data of the technological transition towards electric vehicles within public bus transport, seen as a Large Technical System. Conceptually it contributes, by exploring how external companies can support the technological transition towards BEBs, with the application of Technological Transitions theory and the Multi Layer Perspective framework.   The methodology used is a case study of the technological transition towards BEBs in Sweden. Data was collected through twelve semi-structured interviews with researchers, PTOs, public transport authorities (PTA), a BEB manufacturer and a FMS-service company. Parallel to this a questionnaire was distributed to the twenty largest PTOs in Sweden. Moreover data was collected from company visits, pilot-project results and internal documentation.   Our findings show that there are thirteen perceived barriers present among the PTOs, in the process of BEB adoption. Six of these barriers relate to component aspects of BEBs, and seven relate to managerial aspects. Perceived barriers linked to component aspects of BEBs are; Variation in solutions and lack of technical standards, the Charging infrastructure, Shorter range or decreased load capacity, Unknown functionality in cold climate, Reliability and Durability. Perceived barriers linked to managerial aspects of BEBs are; Lack of knowledge and experience, Behavioral change, Economy, Maintenance, Ownership of infrastructure and buses, Business models and Varying requirements from PTAs. The barriers FMS-service providers can address are primarily, due to the technological nature of the services, present at niche level. PTOs together with FMS-service providers are encouraged to together strive towards gaining deeper knowledge about the new emerging echnologies. Through this, PTOs could be enabled to overcome the aforementioned barriers. Three reverse salients were also identi_ed, linked to the aforementioned barriers. If the everse salients are assessed, BEB acceptance among PTOs could be increased. The three identi_ed reverse salients are, the battery technology, the charging infrastructure and the contracts/ownership. The co-operation with the commissioning PTO and FMS-service provider has led to valuable access to Swedish public transport actors, and has aided in a deeper understanding of the phenomena. Although, this co-operation might have exposed us to a risk of being influenced.