New BTH Report Shows Sweden Stands in Last Place on Incentives for Electric Vehicles

According to a new report, Sweden is in last place among eight countries when it comes to incentives for electric vehicles. The report is carried out by researchers at Blekinge Institute of Technology, BTH, in collaboration with researchers at Copenhagen Business School and the company Innoventum.

According to the report, Norway ends up in first place, while Sweden is in last place. The report also shows that there is a clear correlation between the strength of the instrument operations and the number of electric vehicles on the roads in the countries studied.

The report has been made by BTH, together with researchers at Copenhagen Business School and Innoventum, and compares incentives for electric vehicles in eight countries. The study selected countries that were reknowned for being at the forefront of policy instruments for electric vehicles, such as Norway, the Netherlands and China, but also countries that have been more cautious like Sweden, Germany, France, Britain and Denmark.

For Sigvald Harryson, who led the compilation of the report, the result is both surprising and disturbing:

• We already knew beforehand that Sweden is far ahead when it comes to installed renewable energy but that the potential for improvement was so great when it comes to incentives for electric vehicles was a surprise. This has already consequences for the industry in Sweden. The growing market for electric vehicles is now capitalized by big companies such as Nissan, Renault and Tesla rather than by the Swedish automotive cluster around Volvo Cars, says Sigvald Harryson at Copenhagen Business School and Innoventum.
• The report is an important contribution to our research on a roadmap for how the Swedish vehicle fleet could be able to become fossil free by 2030. The transition to electric vehicles is sometimes seen as a threat to existing jobs in traditional industries, but our research suggests that electric vehicles and renewable energy can bring more jobs, says Henrik Ny, at BTH.

Both agree that Sweden now has a great opportunity to maintain its leading position in renewable energy and to broaden it by introducing powerful incentives also for electric vehicles.

• Without an effort Sweden risks being stuck in an increasingly expensive fossil transport systems that will cost a lot more in emissions and fuel costs when the oil eventually will inevitably become more expensive, they say.