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Innovation ecosystems evolve and adapt to crises, but what are the factors that stimulate ecosystem growth in spite of dire circumstances? We study the arduous path forward of the electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem and analyse in depth those factors that influence ecosystem growth in general and during the pandemic in particular. For the EV ecosystem, growth implies outcompeting the less sustainable internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, thus achieving a transition towards sustainable transportation. New mobility patterns provide a strategic opportunity for such a shift to green mobility and for EV ecosystem growth. For innovation ecosystems in general, we suggest that a crisis can serve as an opportunity for new innovations to break through by disrupting prior behavioural patterns. For the EV ecosystem in particular, it remains to be seen if the ecosystem will be able to capitalize on the opportunity provided by the unfortunate disruption generated by the pandemic.

The social construction of gender through the design of technological artefacts, such as automobiles, motorcycles and domestic technologies, has received growing interest within feminist technology studies (FTS). Building on the extant FTS literature, in this research we explore how design of public transport (bus, minibus, metro) as a sociotechnical system shapes women's experiences of commute in their everyday lives. Drawing on empirical data that comes from interviews with 32 women, we focus on the complex entanglements of the women’s interactions (1) within the vehicle as a technological artefact with its layout, interior elements and technologies such as cameras, and (2) with other passengers (both men and women) and the driver. These entanglements constitute gendered experiences in public transport. Our findings specify the strategies women develop with concerns of (physical and social) personal space, safety, and travel hours in public transport; some of which have gained more prominence during the Covid-19 pandemic. We underline the diversity of these strategies depending on vehicle types, routes, and time of travel within which women negotiate the material and social interactions. We argue that such interactions can, and should, inspire all stakeholders for responsible innovation for inclusive and egalitarian public transport design.

The on-going COVID-19 pandemic and consequent lockdowns cast significant impacts on global economy in the short run. Their impact on stability of global electric vehicles (EVs) supply chain and thus our climate ambition in the long run, however, remains hitherto largely unexplored. We aim to address this gap based on an integrated model framework, including assessing supply risks of 17 selected core commodities throughout the EV supply chain and further applying the supply constraints to project future EV sales until 2030. Our model results under three pandemic development scenarios indicate that if the pandemic is effectively contained before 2024, the global EV industry will recover without fundamentally scathed and thus can maintain the same growth trend as in the no-pandemic scenario by 2030. We suggest that fiscal stimulus in the postpandemic era should be directed more toward upgrading the quality of battery products, rather than expanding the production capacity.