System Inertia – An obstacle to electrified and circular transport and construction vehicle business models

To accelerate electrification towards a fossil-free and more circular Sweden by 2040, many research projects are underway with a focus on technology, products and processes. By 2030, the transport sector will have reduced its climate impact by 70%. This transition, however, requires more than just electrified vehicles.

Miedzinski et al. (2019) describe how innovations with a transformative effect often are system innovations.

Our and others’ previous research has shown several obstacles in connection with electrification and circular business models (CBMs) that can cause system inertia (Alderton and Winchester, 2002, Curtis and Lehner, 2019, Olaniyi et al., 2018, Rivas-Hermann et al., 2015, Kellgren and Karlsson, 2020).

These obstacles, in many cases legal and financial, negatively affect the ability to implement and scale up electrified transport and construction vehicle CBMs in our society.Based on the above, this this project focuses on the legal and financial aspects that can cause system inertia and prevent a smooth and swift transition to electrified transport and construction vehicle CBMs.

The aim is to find solutions for how to mitigate these.