The Electric Vehicle beyond Transport: Ideas for Features, Meanings and Services Related To Batteries on Wheels

This paper explores the potential meanings of a movable large scale battery, commonly called Battery Electric Vehicle (Battery EV). Relevant questions and ideas were collated through facilitated exchange of explicated and tacit knowledge, realized by individual essay preparation and a facilitated seminar workshop. Three additional classifications and clustering by the author lead to the following principal results: the EV as a power source and -buffer forms the foundation for most meanings beyond transport. EVs can act both in the context of “shelters” for individuals as well as “community vehicles” with a focus on, e.g., local renewable energy production integration and mobility as a service offers. Reduced to a simple product, EVs can also be designed to make sense in Third World environments. However, contrary to prevalent market rhetoric, many features associated to EVs, such as telematics, internet access, entertainment etc. will be – or are already – available also for combustion engine vehicles and thus do provide only necessary, but not unique added value to EVs. As a conclusion, EVs will gain larger market share from traditional vehicles only if they satisfy human needs beyond mobility.