Urban freight vehicles significantly impact the urban environment due mainly to traffic congestion, reduction in
road capacity and pollutant emissions. Introducing low emission vehicles is one of the major measures foreseen
in alleviating negative externalities. In this context, city logistics may represent a market niche for the deployment
of electric vehicles.
This paper introduces a methodology based on the Systems of Innovation approach to examine the process by
which electric vehicles may be introduced in city logistics. The proposed methodology considers the complex interactions
between actors and institutions and proposes a Systems' of Innovation Framework,which combines in
a matrix the actors, the mechanisms and market conditions providing an instrument by which to qualitatively
assess the current status and estimate future requirements and preconditions for innovation uptake.
Applied to the case of electric vehicles in city logistics, the proposed framework is used to examine “who” should
act, “how to act”, “what to act upon” and “when” to intervene. Findings indicate the need to transfer leadership
from central authorities to municipal authorities in order to move from the initiation stage to the implementation
stage. The importance of strong networks between innovation actors and respective building of capacities is
considered of importance.