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The deployment of electric vehicles has attracted growing attention and is now seen as a possible pathway for a transition towards sustainable transportation. This paper provides insight into the commercialization of electric vehicles in Shenzhen focusing on business innovation and the regulatory context in which it occurs. Using the business model canvas framework, this paper analyzes interactions between enterprises and governments along the value chain of electric vehicles in the bus and taxi fleets. It also discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the Shenzhen model both in business innovation and government regulation for promoting electric vehicle use. This paper finds that Shenzhen has succeeded in fostering a distinct government-enterprise cooperation model that not only reduces the financial pressure on the local government to promote electric vehicle use, but also gives enterprises significant leeway to experiment with various innovative business models. The joint result of these efforts is that the commercialization of electric vehicles has become feasible for delivering the public transport service (buses and taxis) in Shenzhen. Still, this paper argues that the current model of Shenzhen can be further enhanced by: 1) encouraging private investment in charging infrastructures by means of public–private-partnerships; and 2) standardizing electric-vehicle technologies and production to break down the local protectionism in the electric vehicle market. The Shenzhen model acts as a source of inspiration by pointing out the significance of integrating business innovations and government regulations to facilitate the deployment of electric vehicles, which provides practical lessons for industrial players and policy makers in other cities. Furthermore, this work offers theoretical references regarding the application of the multi-actor perspective and the business model canvas framework to analyze the actors and interactions along the value chain of innovative technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In China, the power sector is currently the largest carbon emitter and the transportation sector is the fastest-growing carbon emitter. This paper proposes a model of solar-powered charging stations for electric vehicles to mitigate problems encountered in China's renewable energy utilization processes and to cope with the increasing power demand by electric vehicles for the near future. This study applies the proposed model to Shenzhen City to verify its technical and economic feasibility. Modeling results showed that the total net present value of a photovoltaic power charging station that meets the daily electricity demand of 4500 kWh is $3,579,236 and that the cost of energy of the combined energy system is $0.098/kWh. In addition, the photovoltaic powered electric vehicle model has pollutant reduction potentials of 99.8%, 99.7% and 100% for carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides, respectively, compared with a traditional gasoline-fueled car. Sensitivity analysis results indicated that interest rate has a relatively strong influence on COE (Cost of Energy). An increase in the interest rate from 0% to 6% increases COE from $0.027/kWh to $0.097/kWh. This analysis also suggests that carbon pricing promotes renewable energy only when the price of carbon is above $20/t. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Renewable energy is one of the possible solutions when addressing climate change. Today, large-scale renewable energy integration needs to include the experience to balance the discrepancy between electricity demand and supply. The electrification of transportation may have the potential to deal with this imbalance and to reduce its high dependence on oil production. For this reason, it is interesting to analyse the extent to which transport electrification can further the renewable energy integration. This paper quantifies this issue in Inner Mongolia, where the share of wind power in the electricity supply was 6.5% in 2009 and which has the plan to develop large-scale wind power. The results show that electric vehicles (EVs) have the ability to balance the electricity demand and supply and to further the wind power integration. In the best case, the energy system with EV can increase wind power integration by 8%. The application of EVs benefits from saving both energy system cost and fuel cost. However, the negative consequences of decreasing energy system efficiency and increasing the CO2 emission should be noted when applying the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (HFCV). The results also indicate that developing renewable energy is crucial for transportation electrification. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]