Modeling barriers to the adoption of electric vehicles: An Indian perspective

Highlights: • The recent policy Initiatives and subsidies offered by both central and state governments for promoting EVs in India. • Explore and determine the distinct barriers that directly or indirectly affect EV adoption in India. • Find out the interaction among identified barriers of EV adoption using the ISM approach. • Identify the levels of these barriers in the conceptual framework. • Analyze the driving and dependence power of the barriers associated with EV adoption by using MICMAC analysis. Transportation is among the top energy-consuming industries facing critical issues such as emissions, congestion, and environmental challenges. To overcome these environmental challenges, electric vehicles (EVs) have been introduced to replace conventional vehicles (CVs). EVs are widely considered as eco-friendly and alternative renewable energy technology that can speed up the transition to a low-carbon transportation system without any negative influence on natural resources. However, despite several benefits of the technology and subsequent incentives offered by the government, its consumer demand is still not increasing. Thus, it indicates the presence of certain barriers to its mainstream adoption. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify and examine the relationship between barriers affecting the adoption of EVs in India. Thirteen barriers to adopting EVs are identified through a literature review and further validated by involving a group of experts from industry and academia. Additionally, to study the relationship among the identified barriers and model them, ISM (Interpretive Structure Modeling) and MICMAC (Matriced' Impacts Croisés Appliquéeá un Classement) are applied. The developed model would help policymakers in devising a sustainable energy and transportation policy. Also, the findings would support the EV manufacturers consider these constraints at the designing stage of EVs.