Creating transitions to electric road transport in Norway: The role of user imaginaries

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to study the role of user imaginaries in relation to electric cars and the role these imaginaries play in the ongoing transition towards electrification of the transport sector. We conducted interviews with a diverse group of stakeholders to explore how imaginaries of the public are constructed and how the shared expectations of a user trajectory shaped by user groups with different concerns and different expected technology developments influence policy. We identified a range of implications and influences of this shared imagination for different aspects of the development of strategies and policies related to electrification of the transport sector in Norway. Finally, we discuss how these user imaginaries, that we call imagined publics, appear to have become part of the process of sociotechnical changes and what the consequences may be for a transformation to sustainable mobility.