Technology Evolution and Innovation of Electric Vehicles: Survey and Analysis of Electric Powertrain Cases of Major Automakers

Issues on sustainability, such as fossil fuel dependency, climate change, and air pollution, are driving the transition from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to electric vehicles (EVs). However, EVs penetration into the market has not been as fast as anticipated, despite many forms of government support. Most previous studies on EVs investigated barriers to EV diffusion fromthe consumer s or perspective or in the context of government policies. Technological evolution is the outcome of interactions with producers, users, and institutions (Kaplan and Tripsas, 2008). In this paper, we approach technology evolution and innovation of EVs from the producers perspective. The survey and analysis of core EV component supply chains of major automakers suggest that the major automakers, who have played a central role in developing the industry, seemto strategically attempt to control the core EV value chain and limit rather than drive EV transition. This means that that institutions need to focus more on increasing innovation pressure on the incumbent automakers, while encouraging newentrants to participate in newvalue chains so the technology advancement combinedwith innovative businessmodelsmay trigger a virtuous cycle of economic development and EV difusion.