This paper investigates the drivers, benefits and barriers of battery electric vehicle (BEV) development and an ongoing BEV transition in Iceland from a sociotechnical perspective. We focus on the following research questions: 1) What are the most promising driving forces behind BEV growth? 2) Why are BEVs restricted mostly to the niche level? 3) What are the possible opportunities for BEV future development? and 4) How viable are BEVs as a solution to harnessing low-carbon renewable sources in Iceland? The study uses original qualitative data comprising 29 research interviews involving experts from a wide range of sectors. The conceptual framework of multi-mode interaction, or “inter-niche competition”, is incorporated into the MLP to illustrate the interaction between BEVs and other technologies, in particular, plugin hybrid electric vehicles. We find that BEVs may take de-alignment and re-alignment pathway or reconfiguration pathway depending on the multi-technology interaction modes.

本文从社会技术的角度研究了冰岛电动汽车（BEV）的发展动力，收益和障碍以及正在进行的BEV过渡。我们关注以下研究问题：1）BEV增长背后最有希望的驱动力是什么？2）为什么电动汽车大多只限于利基水平？3）BEV未来发展有哪些机会？和4）BEV作为解决冰岛利用低碳可再生能源的解决方案的可行性如何？这项研究使用了原始的定性数据，包括来自各行各业的专家进行的29次研究访谈。多模式交互或“小众竞争”的概念框架已合并到MLP中，以说明BEV和其他技术（尤其是插电式混合动力汽车）之间的交互。