Barriers to Electric Vehicle Adoption: A Framework to Accelerate the Transition to Sustainable Mobility

Andressa Rosa Mesquita (), Victor Hugo Souza de Abreu, Cátia Nunes Poyares and Andréa Souza Santos
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Andressa Rosa Mesquita: Postgraduate Program in Transport Engineering, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-914, RJ, Brazil
Victor Hugo Souza de Abreu: Postgraduate Program in Transport Engineering, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-914, RJ, Brazil
Cátia Nunes Poyares: Postgraduate Program in Transport Engineering, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-914, RJ, Brazil
Andréa Souza Santos: Postgraduate Program in Transport Engineering, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-914, RJ, Brazil

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 18, 1-20

Abstract: The increasing demand for transportation has created economic, social, and environmental challenges that sustainable mobility solutions can help address. Electric vehicles (EVs) represent a promising alternative by lowering greenhouse gas emissions and improving energy efficiency. However, EV adoption remains limited due to barriers such as high costs, insufficient charging infrastructure, technological constraints, and low consumer awareness. This study aims to identify and classify the main barriers to EV adoption and propose a prioritization framework to guide decision-makers in resource allocation and policy design. A systematic literature review was conducted to identify barriers to EV adoption, which were grouped into six thematic categories: vehicle-related, battery-related, charging infrastructure, energy supply, personal and behavioral, and governance and policy. A degree of impact (DI) metric was developed to quantify each barrier’s influence, allowing hierarchical classification. The results highlight that inadequate charging infrastructure, high purchase and maintenance costs, limited public knowledge, and long charging times are the most critical issues. The proposed framework will help policymakers, industry leaders, and energy providers focus their efforts on the most impactful barriers. This research supports the global shift toward sustainable mobility and contributes to the literature by introducing a quantitative method for ranking barriers, addressing a gap in previous studies that lacked prioritization.

Keywords: electric vehicles; adoption barriers; impact assessment; policy prioritization; sustainable mobility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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