In a new research paper prepared by our transport team as part of the H2020 INNOPATHS project, we assess how different policy options affect the roll-out of electric vehicles in Greece and the extent to which the private sector engages in the deployment of the necessary infrastructure.

A key barrier to the penetration of electric vehicles is the lack of charging infrastructure. At the same time, investors feel reluctant to build this infrastructure, since doing so entails high investment with uncertain returns during the early years.

To address investor reluctance and reflect the interaction between the different actors of the EV charging ecosystem, we propose a mathematical programming model and apply it in Greece until 2030. Greece is the typical example of a country with ambitious targets for the penetration of electric vehicles by 2030 (10% of total stock) but with little progress in reaching that target so far.

The modelling results show that in the early years it is challenging to engage private investors, even with the use of subsidies. Thus, publicly funded infrastructure deployment is crucial in the beginning. In the medium term the costs of charging points need to be subsidized to incentivize private investments. The latter are channeled into EV charging infrastructure development from 2025 onwards, after a critical mass of EVs and infrastructure has already been deployed .

The paper is published in Energies, a peer-reviewed, open access scientific journal and can be downloaded here.