Abstract

In this paper, we present an initial analysis of work that seeks to understand, through a novel combination of concepts, the processes that are driving the UKs decarbonisation strategy for the automotive sector. We undertake extensive fieldwork interviews and documentary analyses that allow us to explore, in fine-grained detail, the interlinkages in a context where policymakers seek to create a significant, sustainable new market (cars with zero tailpipe emissions) via policy incentives, where the basic technology exists (e.g. batteries), but where investment in technological development must come from the private sector, indeed from several related industries within the automotive ecosystem. Moreover, those private sector actors have considerable self-interest in the shape of that policy. We draw upon, notably, the multiple streams framework and the multi-level perspective, to understand how technology, market and policy factors have worked jointly to put the UK automotive industry on a specific trajectory. Adopting a grounded theory approach, we find this has come about through the interplay of different groups of actors: technology innovators, policy entrepreneurs, problem brokers, political and executive entrepreneurs. They all have agency in different parts of the ecosystem whilst operating across and interacting within different fields of specialism – technology, market and policy. Moreover, our research reveals multiple distinct types of windows of opportunity, with different actors operating in different windows, to achieve the ultimate goal of a functioning market for electric vehicles. This paper aims to answer three interrelated research questions. What is the relationship between technological, policy and market windows of opportunity with industry trajectories and multiple streams? Who are the key agents that are in play inside each WoO? What does it mean for the relevant actors and their interrelations within a particular ‘window?