How Do We Go from Here? the Consumption of the Car and the Pursuit of a Low Carbon Automobility
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Coventry University DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY How do we go from here? The consumption of the car and the pursuit of a low carbon automobility Kershaw, Jonathan Edward Award date: 2015 Awarding institution: Coventry University Link to publication General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of this thesis for personal non-commercial research or study • This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission from the copyright holder(s) • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 10. Oct. 2021 How do we go from here? The consumption of the car and the pursuit of a low carbon automobility Jonathan Edward Kershaw PhD October 2015 How do we go from here? The consumption of the car and the pursuit of a low carbon automobility Jonathan Edward Kershaw A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the University’s requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy October 2015 Abstract Although the environmental imperative compels us to search for a low carbon system of mobility, contemporary society seemingly necessitates a low carbon automobility. The costs and impracticalities of low carbon vehicles are well documented, and although the cultural and semiotic nature of the car means that it has always been more than just a means of transport, less is known about how socio-cultural mores regarding the car might impact upon the transition to low carbon motoring. Because cars carry people, then they inevitably carry experiences and meanings too. However, a shift from conventional internal combustion-engined vehicles to more low carbon forms of propulsion, such as electric or hybrid vehicles, suggests that the nature – et ergo our experiences and perceptions – of the car will necessarily change. It is therefore desirable to investigate the contemporary ‘consumption’ of the car, not only as personal transport but also as status symbol, cultural artefact and experience, to assess how such a socio-cultural consumption might apply to low carbon vehicles and so ascertain the subsequent potential for a holistic low carbon automobility as part of a sustainable transport policy. A suite of methods was employed to investigate if or how contemporary automobilities can aspire to a low carbon automobility, or whether the everyday socio-cultural ‘consumption’ of the car might preclude a transition to low carbon vehicles. The notions of affect and/or non-representational theory were appropriated as a philosophical framework to look beyond a seemingly default postmodern ‘car-as- representation’ approach to the consumption of the car and so begin to explore a deeper, perhaps even subconscious, regard for the car. In addition, opinion was sought from stakeholders within the low carbon vehicle sector as to the technologies within, the prospects for, and the efficacy of, UK low carbon vehicle policy and its facilitation thereon, and also with a sample of EV drivers as to their experiences of electric cars. Responses to an initial online questionnaire appeared to deny any status or regard for the car beyond its utility. However, subsequent semi-structured interviews with i motorists conducted (mostly) in their cars contradicted these findings, with a variety of expressed feelings – pride, empowerment, fortune – suggesting a deeper, subconscious regard for, reading of, and connection with, the car than is immediately apparent. Similarly, the utility of the electric car was transcended, this time by feelings of ‘greenness’ and ‘calm’ expressed by EV drivers. A stated amenability and aspiration by those interviewed for low carbon vehicles contrasted with an aspiration for sporty and prestige cars, suggesting an ingrained or innate idea as to what constitutes a truly desirable car. The more cultural facets of the car explored during focus group discussions established a connection between a car’s cultural representation and its meaning. Interviews with low carbon vehicle stakeholders suggest that while UK low carbon vehicle policy is broadly effective, is not as efficacious as it could be, in that itinerate market-led aspirations lack the fixity and certainty, in terms of both infrastructure and policy, that investors and consumers require, especially given a high entry price, the promise of lower running costs notwithstanding. In establishing where ‘here’ is regarding the consumption of the car and the implementation of a low carbon vehicle policy, this research provides a new perspective upon the appetite and potential for a transition to a future low carbon automobility, and shows the efficacy of appropriating the notions of affect and non- representational theory to a more holistic consumption of the car. ii Acknowledgements I would like to thank all those who took part in this research, especially those from Coventry City Council and Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council who agreed to take part in the semi-structured interviews and the focus group sessions. I would especially like to thank Alex Dickson at Coventry City Council and Barney Fryer at Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council for facilitating not only initial access and the hosting of the online questionnaire at their respective councils, but also securing venues for the focus group sessions. I would also like to thank the stakeholder representatives from Coventry City Council, Nudge Advisory, POD Point, Renault UK, Tata UK, Toyota Europe and Transport for Greater Manchester for taking the time to take part in my interviews. Thanks also to my supervisory team Professor Nigel Berkeley, Dr David Jarvis and Dr Jason Begley for their all their help, encouragement and guidance in many aspects of this research – perhaps more difficult from a distance – from providing industry contacts to nudging me back on course when I threatened to go off on a tangent. I would also like to thank my parents for their unstinting support and my sister Sarah for her help, guidance, proofreading, criticism, reassurance, encouragement and for inspiring me to pursue PhD candidacy in the first place. iii Contents Abstract i Acknowledgements iii Contents iv Figures ix 1. Introduction 1 2. Literature review 5 2.1 Introduction 5 2.2 What is automobility? 7 2.3 Carrying more than people – the car and sociology 9 2.4 Knowing it all – acquiring automotive knowledges 23 2.5 Leave only tyreprints? The environmental impact of the car 27 2.6 Low carbon automobility – technologies, fuels and fixes 32 2.6.1 Fuel cells and alternative fuels 32 2.6.2 Hybrid vehicles 34 2.6.3 The electric car – battery electric vehicles 35 2.6.4 Breaking the ICE 38 2.7 Counting the cost – the price of low carbon automobility 40 2.8 Going from here? 42 3. Ontology and epistemology 44 3.1 Introduction 44 3.2 Postmodernism is dead – long live postmodernism 47 3.3 Postmodernism, the automobile and the environment 55 3.4 Affect and non-representational theory – feeling and performing the consumption of the car 62 3.4.1 Affect – innate ordinary intimacies 62 3.4.1.1 Embodied practices, outer linings 65 3.4.1.2 A driven authenticity 66 3.4.1.3 Ephemeral encounters 67 iv 3.4.1.4 Ready, steady… 67 3.4.1.5 More-than-human affects 68 3.4.2 Non-representational theory 68 3.4.2.1 Cognitive reactions 70 3.4.2.2 Perceptual encounters 70 3.4.2.3 Permutable practices? 71 3.4.2.4 Sensory perceptions 71 3.4.2.5 Sensory experiences 72 3.4.2.6 ‘Doing’ in the moment 73 3.4.2.7 ‘Being’ in the moment 73 3.4.2.8 Animating the car 74 3.5 Reflexivity 74 3.6 An environmental geography – bridging the human/physical geography divide 78 4. Method and data collection 80 4.1 Introduction 80 4.2 Data collection strategy 82 4.2.1 Online questionnaire 85 4.2.2 Motorist semi-structured interviews 90 4.2.3 Focus groups 96 4.2.4 Stakeholder interviews 99 4.2.4.1 Car manufacturers 100 4.2.4.2 Policymakers/local authorities/infrastructure providers 101 4.2.4.3 Stakeholder participants 101 4.2.4.4 EV drivers 102 4.2.5 Content analysis 104 4.3 In summary 106 5. Low carbon vehicles: the here and know 109 5.1 Introduction 109 5.2 Low carbon automobility – whys unto the event 111 5.2.1 Driving low carbon automobility 111 5.2.2 Back seat drivers 112 5.3 Low carbon vehicle policy – the good, the bad and the ugly 115 v 5.3.1 Policy as a back seat driver 115 5.3.2 Policy perceptions 116 5.3.3 Going the distance 117 5.3.4 Improving policy initiatives 118 5.3.5 Public perceptions of policy 120 5.3.6 Policy pitfalls 122 5.4 Low carbon vehicle technologies – ways of doing and knowing 123 5.4.1 Mixed e-notions 123 5.4.2 Ways and means 125 5.4.3 Tech-knowledges 126 5.4.3.1 Hybrid knowledges 127 5.4.3.2 EV knowledges 129 5.4.4 Media matters 131 5.4.5 Facilitating a low carbon auto/mobility 141 5.4.5.1 Green for go? 143 5.5 Doing and being – the social and the cultural 148 5.5.1 Mobility issues 148 5.5.2 Socio-cultural issues 152 5.5.3 Signs and wonders – eco auto-semiotics 158 5.6 EV or not EV? 163 5.6.1 Ownership and use – questionnaire pointers 163 5.6.2 An appetite for low carbon automobility? 167 5.7 Low carbon vehicle knowledges and opinions – where is here? 168 6.