The four business models described in this article
have been designed with this in mind. They have
potential to be perceived as more attractive by
potential customers and to be profitable for their
operators. The financial robustness seems
however fragile and dependent on contextual
factors that neither the business operator nor its
customers can influence.
These contextual factors, the price tag gap, the
battery warranty, the technology improvement
speed, and the energy cost gap for all-electric
cars versus ICE cars can mainly be influenced by
governments and car manufacturers.
Therefore, we conclude that alternative business
models can be important tools for a faster
commercialization of all-electric vehicles, but
their long-term viability requires the price tag
gap to shrink, the energy cost gap to remain or increase, the battery lifetime to improve and the
technology improvement speed to be offset