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© The Author(s) 2020
S. Sareen (ed.), Enabling Sustainable Energy Transitions,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26891-6_7
CHAPTER 7
Governance and Legitimation
in the Transition to Nordic Electric Mobility
Benjamin Sovacool
Abstract The chapter draws from empirical data collected across
Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden to examine some of the
differing policy regimes and electric mobility pathways in the Nordic
region, especially for electric vehicles (EVs). The chapter identifies emerging crises of contestation, accountability, and participation, and it considers whether electric mobility entrenches or challenges automobility. This
last point is not a given, with EVs in some situations leading to greater
amounts of driving and shifting mobility practices towards automobility,
yet in others, EVs seem to promote more sustainable patterns of transport
as well as shifts in values. The chapter lastly offers possible policy suggestions for a more just and equitable transition.
Keywords Electric vehicles • Electric mobility • Sociotechnical
transitions • Social acceptance • Automobility
B. Sovacool (*)
Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex, Falmer, UK
e-mail: b.sovacool@sussex.ac.uk