Abstract

Electrification of road transport is of decisive importance in order to be able to curb CO2 emissions. Transition to electric road transport is well ahead in Norway compared to most other countries and may therefore be seen as a success. Thus, it is interesting to see what we can learn from the changing of practices related to driving electric vehicles (EV) in Norway. In this paper we look deeper into the way user patterns are generated, how new knowledge about EVs is appropriated and how meaning related to buying and driving EVs is constructed and affecting other practices. In other words we look at the practical, cognitive and symbolic dimensions of electric car use drawing upon social practice and ‘domestication’ theory. The goal of the study is to provide knowledge about how to make transformations happen. The study is based on individual and focus group interviews with electric car users in Norway. The study reveals that the practice of EV driving has spillovers to other domains. We argue that a) the embodied qualities of Ev driving is linked to a strong emphasis on comfort, that b) the material agency of electric car driving transforms driving style and make transportation needs and habits more visible and c) that EV driving is a strong social performance of environmental behavior that creates normality and refigures the architecture of choice for others. The study also suggests that that practices may transform attitudes and choices (in this case related to energy use) and not the other way around as normally anticipa

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