Towards a Sustainable Electric Vehicle Ecosystem: Challenges and Innovations
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Sustainability".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2026 | Viewed by 3816
Editors
Interests: sustainable mobility; transport electrification; charging behaviour; discrete choice models; non-parametric random effects models
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The global transition toward low-carbon mobility has placed transport electrification at the core of climate and energy strategies. As transport-related emissions continue to increase, a wide range of measures at both national and local levels has been introduced to accelerate the widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EVs). EVs are widely regarded as the most viable alternative to internal combustion engine vehicles, with the potential to improve urban air quality, decrease noise pollution, enhance energy independence, and lessen our long-standing reliance on fossil-fuels. Nonetheless, as the EV adoption accelerates, so does the need for a more reliable infrastructure capable of adequately supporting the demand for these alternative-fuel vehicles. At the same time, it is important that policymakers and stakeholders recognize the interplay between transportation electrification and other economic sectors—especially energy, urban planning, and manufacturing—to ensure a coordinated and effective transition towards the use of EVs.
This Special Issue seeks to advance our understanding of EV uptake from a more holistic point of view. Considering its interdisciplinary nature, the goal of this Special Issue is to promote empirical approaches and critical perspectives that capture the full complexity of EVs’ impacts across environmental, social, and economic dimensions. We particularly encourage research that provides cross-cutting insights and fosters dialogue between disciplines, helping to inform effective policy and planning strategies.
Suggested themes include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Economic analyses of EV adoption, incentives, and total cost of ownership across diverse contexts;
- Methodological advances in sustainability assessment (e.g., hybrid LCA, integrated modelling);
- Policy frameworks for sustainable EV transitions in both developed and emerging economies;
- Social sustainability of EV supply chains, including labour practices and community impacts;
- Lifecycle assessment (LCA) of EVs;
- Distributional and equity effects of EV policies and infrastructure deployment;
- Community preferences for transport electrification;
- The role of EVs in multimodal and low-carbon transport systems;
- Long-term environmental impact assessments of EV adoption, considering lifecycle emissions, battery production and disposal, and electricity generation sources;
- Policy frameworks for a sustainable EV transition in both developed and emerging economies.
We invite theoretical, empirical, and methodological contributions that engage with these themes so as to enhance our general understanding of how the penetration of EVs can be effectively facilitated.
We look forward to receiving your contributions.
Dr. Andrea Pellegrini
Dr. Shobhit Saxena
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- electric vehicle uptake
- transport electrification
- clean transportation
- infrastructure planning
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