Three-level Perspective for Analyzing Changes in Socio-technical Regimes – Case Electric Mobility Pekka Malinen, Veikka Pirhonen BIT Research Centre Aalto University School of Science Espoo, Finland pekka.malinen@aalto.fi Iisakki Kosonen, Antero Alku Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Aalto University School of Engineering Espoo, Finland iisakki.kosonen@aalto.fi Abstract—When talking about changes caused by new emerging technologies, the focus is often very strongly on technology itself. Depending on the novelty of the technology and its transitions, its effects on the society and the societal functions are taken into minor account. A model of socio-technical change, developed by Frank W. Geels takes into account these socio-technical configurations in a multi-level framework. Electric mobility is a current example of an on-going socio- technical transition. The socio-technical framework well describes the electric mobility as a socio-technical change with multidimensional interactions. This transition will have effects on many societal functions related to personal transportation and the transport of goods. The change is in a very early phase, and that is why it is vitally important to increase the understanding of the phenomenon, dimensions affecting it and mechanisms for controlling the change. This paper describes a three-level perspective for analyzing the changes in case of electric mobility. Because the changes are slow and complex having a lot of uncertainties, new business and collaboration models are needed. Keywords—socio-technical change; socio-technical regime; electric mobility I. INTRODUCTION The introduction of electric mobility has varied a lot in different countries and has been strongly based on the amount of public support from local governments. Electric vehicles (EV) have been far more expensive than comparable conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles due to the high prices of recent technologies, especially battery technologies. In addition, the low production volumes of vehicles and the lack of a charging infrastructure have not been accelerating the market growth and business opportunities for this area. The big auto manufacturers have not introduced a mass-produced EV designed originally as an electric vehicle, but the platforms for EVs are from existent ICE cars, and EVs are produced on ICE vehicle production lines. This has effects on the technology itself and also explains the production volumes and price. The SIMBe project (2010 – 3/2012) was the first high volume project in Finland focusing on electric mobility in built environments. SIMBe had a holistic approach in trying to understand the big picture of electric mobility in the capital area of Helsinki. SIMBe was very active in open discussions with different stakeholders, both public and private organizations, and by these transactions created a shared understanding between them. However, during SIMBe the introduction of electric mobility did not progress in practice due to the lack of EVs and the required infrastructure. In the spring of 2011, Tekes (the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation) started the EVE programme (Electric Vehicle Systems Programme 2011 – 2015) and opened a call for test pilots for electric vehicles. In connection with the EVE funding, the ministry of employment and the economy decided to grant the energy investment support for electric vehicles and charging infrastructure investments. This support combination has been a very strategic signal from the government in support of the electric mobility in Finland. The SIMBe research work continues in the eSINi research project, where the results of SIMBe can be better applied in practice when the number of electric vehicles is increasing and the infrastructure is starting to grow in Finland. This paper describes the results of the above mentioned projects and illustrates the on-going development in Finland in the field of electric mobility. The inspection of results is focused on the future changes in sociotechnical regimes. II. SOCIO-TECHNICAL CHANGE Considering changes caused by new emerging technologies, the focus has often been strongly on technology itself. In practice this means what kinds of new features and possibilities the technology is going to offer for its users or for products and applications where it will be utilized. Depending on the novelty of the technology and its transitions, its effects on the society and the societal functions are taken into minor account. Technological transitions are defined as major long-term technological transformations in the way societal functions are fulfilled. Technological transitions do not only involve changes in technology, but also changes in user practices, regulations, industrial networks, infrastructure, and symbolic meanings or culture. This means that technology fulfills functions, not just alone, but in association with human agency, social structures and organizations [1]. Frank W. Geels has developed a model for socio-technical change that is a multi-level framework for describing The authors would like to acknowledge the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation and other participating companies and organizations in the SIMBe (www.simbe.fi) and eSINi (www.sahkoinenliikenne.fi/esini-project/) projects for providing funding for this study. 2013 Eighth International Conference and Exhibition on Ecological Vehicles and Renewable Energies (EVER) 978-1-4673-5271-0/13/$31.00 ©2013 IEEE