The electric mobility business ecosystem

The electric mobility business ecosystem (EMBE) is a typical innovation ecosystem. Participating companies can succeed only through (disruptive) innovation, and only through entering industrial fields which are either new as such or new to the participants. Consequently, on supply level, car manufacturers have teamed up with battery-, electric motor- and power electronics manufacturers, as well as with electricity utilities and charging infrastructure suppliers. On operational level, ICT services providers, charging providers and parking services providers have started collaboration. However, the integration of electric vehicles into smart grids and smart cities is slow, even if most desirable from an environmental point of view. Meanwhile, high procurement costs and a lack of range continue to cripple the growth of electric car sales. Thus, from a business point of view, the most urgent research questions are (1) what actually is the EMBE, which actors are involved already and which will be involved in the future; (2) what challenges keep the EMBE from growing; and (3) which scientific theories are at researchers' disposal for studying the various challenges? In this paper I sketch an initial EMBE and - based on a review of various organisation theories and frameworks - propose an initial agenda addressing research needs that may have been missed in the ongoing scientific discourse on electric mobility. In conclusion, organisation theory can be used to model the EMBE and also to study why disruptive innovations are needed and which mechanisms prevent them.