Abstract:

Many EU countries have used financial incentives to promote electric light commercial vehicles and decarbonise urban freight transport. However, the high costs of electric light commercial vehicles still pose a significant adoption barrier. This paper evaluates the impact of financial incentives on the total cost of ownership of electric light commercial vehicles in the European Union and their role in achieving the cost-competitiveness of electric vehicles. A pairwise comparison is performed for three weight categories of electric and diesel vehicles in twelve countries. The study reveals that financial incentives significantly impact the cost of ownership for electric vehicles, making them cost-competitive. However, in some cases, these incentives may not be necessary as the cost of electric vehicles would be lower without them. The paper emphasizes the need for government incentives to avoid unnecessary funding allocations and promote decarbonisation of light commercial vehicles, as the number of incentives does not directly correlate with electric vehicle penetration.