Addressing the Barriers to Regional Electric Vehicle Projects through Stakeholder Engagement

Abstract: The transport sector is making slow progress towards sustainability, particularly given the urgency and scale of the sustainability challenges associated with the sector and the number of solutions that exist. This thesis uses a three-phase research methodology to identify and provide guidance to help address the barriers preventing the expansion of one of the most rapidly growing transportation alternatives: electric vehicles. The engagement of stakeholders can act as a strategic point of intervention to address these barriers and facilitate the regional market introduction of the technology. A process was therefore developed to help project management in the pre-project planning phase to address the key challenges to engagement that are commonly experienced on electric vehicle projects. The process combines a Strategic Sustainable Development approach with Best Practice for Engagement. Information was sourced from literature and interviews with experts in electric vehicles, stakeholder engagement and Strategic Sustainable Development. Initial feedback from testing the process on an electric vehicle project indicates that this guidance is timely and likely to become widely applicable on similar projects in the future.