Title: Institutional framework and the advance of electromobility: the case of South America

Authors: Altair Aparecido De Oliveira Filho; Tatiana Bermúdez-Rodríguez; Anna Carolina Navarro; Flávia L. Consoni; Edgar Barassa; Eduardo Lacusta Jr.

Addresses: Federal Institute of São Paulo (IFSP), 105 Tenente Miguel Délia Street, São Paulo, Brazil ' Department of Science and Technology Policy, Institute of Geosciences, UNICAMP, 250 Carlos Gomes Street, Campinas, Brazil ' Department of Science and Technology Policy, Institute of Geosciences, UNICAMP, 250 Carlos Gomes Street, Campinas, Brazil ' Department of Science and Technology Policy, Institute of Geosciences, UNICAMP, 250 Carlos Gomes Street, Campinas, Brazil ' Department of Science and Technology Policy, Institute of Geosciences, UNICAMP, 250 Carlos Gomes Street, Campinas, Brazil ' CPFL Energia, 1632 Jorge de Figueiredo Corrêa Street, Campinas, Brazil

Abstract: This article describes the types of policies deployed for the advancement of electromobility in South America: Argentina-Buenos Aires, Brazil-São Paulo, Chile-Santiago, and Colombia-Bogotá. The selected cases validate the importance of institutional thickness to transition initiatives of sustainability. Thus, we have active and reactive territories about electromobility transition. It enabled us to highlight the pathways that have been taken so far in South America, namely: 1) the electric bus segment stands out in the regions, concentrating on private initiatives and public policy support, giving rise to new businesses and projects of technological experimentation; 2) a political glimpse of insertion in the lithium production chain for batteries; 3) technological dependence of the light vehicles and two wheelers segment. Thus, this research dialogues with the geography of transitions literature by emphasising the importance of the territorial context for the advancement or lethargy of socio-technical change.

Keywords: transitions in the Global South; sustainability transitions; e-mobility; low-emission mobility; geography of sustainability transitions.

DOI: 10.1504/IJATM.2022.124830

International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management, 2022 Vol.22 No.3, pp.277 - 304

Received: 10 Sep 2021
Accepted: 02 Mar 2022
Published online: 09 Aug 2022 *

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