Determining the Social, Economic, Political and Technical Factors Significant to the Success of Dynamic Wireless Charging Systems through a Process of Stakeholder Engagement

Globally and regionally, there is an increasing impetus to electrify the road transport system. The diversity and complexity of the road transport system pose several challenges to electrification in sectors that have higher energy usage requirements. Electric road systems (ERS) have the potential for a balancing solution. An ERS is not only an engineering project, but it is also an innovation system that is complex and composed of multiple stakeholders, requiring an interdisciplinary means of aligning problems, relations, and solutions. This study looked to determine the political, economic, social, and technical (PEST) factors by actively engaging UK stakeholders through online in-depth and semi-structured discussions. The focus is on dynamic wireless power transfer (DWPT) due to its wider market reach and on the basis that a comprehensive review of the literature indicated that the current focus is on the technical challenges and hence there is a gap in the knowledge around application requirements, which is necessary if society is to achieve its goals of electrification and GHG reduction. Qualitative analysis was undertaken to identify factors that are critical to the success of a DWPT system. The outcome of this study is knowledge of the factors that determine the function and market acceptance of DWPT. These factors can be grouped into six categories: vehicle, journey, infrastructure, economic, traffic and behaviour. These factors, the associated probability distributions attributable to these factors and the relations between them (logic functions), will form the basis for decision making when implementing DWPT as part of the wider UK electric vehicle charging infrastructure and hence support the ambition to electrify all road transport. The results will make a significant contribution to the emerging knowledge base on ERS and specifically DWPT.