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Identification and prioritization urban E-vehicles barriers toward sustainable cities: A spherical fuzzy decision-making approach

Author

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  • Tanveer, Arsalan
  • Song, Huaming
  • Daud, Abdul
  • Irfan, Muhammad
  • Faheem, Muhammad

Abstract

The increasing worldwide apprehension about climate change triggered by the emanation of greenhouse gases from transportation has inspired global economies to embrace alternative fuel technologies. However, the conventional transportation mechanism highly consumes fossil energy and heavily deteriorate the environment. Fossil fuel vehicles pose several challenges for Pakistan, affecting energy security, economic stability, and environmental health. Dependence on obsolete and inefficient vehicles results in increased fuel consumption and import expenditures, burdening the national economy. Therefore, electric vehicles (EVs) are promoted as a realistic, environmentally friendly technology that can transform a sustainable transportation system. Furthermore, a critical gap exists in evaluating the key barriers to adopting EVs through technological transformation. Hence, this investigation intends to implement the multi-criteria decision-making approach to assess the challenges in the adoption of EVs aligned with sustainable development goals (SDG-11 & SDG-13). The research strategy begins with a comprehensive examination of existing literature and consultations with specialists to identify potential hindrances. Thus, a novel Spherical Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchical Process was employed to prioritize the main and sub-barriers. This study evaluated the four key obstacles related to EVs in emerging economies like Pakistan. The expert's evaluation indicated that the infrastructure barrier (34.99 %) ranked first, the financial barrier (27.92 %) was prioritized second, and technology was the third main barrier (20.99 %). Furthermore, public infrastructure, the effect on the electricity grid, and the lack of maintenance workshops are the top three sub-barriers. Hence, the government of Pakistan needs urgent action to enhance the technological and financial capability for the implementation of EVs.

Suggested Citation

  • Tanveer, Arsalan & Song, Huaming & Daud, Abdul & Irfan, Muhammad & Faheem, Muhammad, 2025. "Identification and prioritization urban E-vehicles barriers toward sustainable cities: A spherical fuzzy decision-making approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 315(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:315:y:2025:i:c:s0360544224041197
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2024.134341
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