Knowledge Structure of New Energy Vehicle Policy Research: Mapping Analysis and Future Research Agenda

Globally, transport is responsible for 23% of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, and 80% of these emissions are attributable to road transport. Significant transformations - including extensive electrification of the sector - are necessary to achieve the climate change goals. To understand the new energy vehicle (NEV) policy research, we explore the status, knowledge base, and research frontiers of NEV policy research by studying 355 papers collected from the Web of Science Core Collection database. We map NEV policy research trends and knowledge structure development using knowledge domain technology and bibliometric techniques. The knowledge base analysis shows that (1) NEV policy formation and evaluation, (2) policy incentives and consumer adoption, and (3) consumer preferences towards NEV adoption are all essential knowledge foundations in NEV policy research and development. The efficiency of NEV policy, cost-effectiveness of alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs), consumer preferences for NEV adoption, hydrogen energy and fuel cell vehicles, climate policy and CO2 emissions are five main lines of research in NEV policy studies. With the highest publications from Tsinghua University, China is the most active country in NEV policy research. Energy Policy, Sustainability, and Journal of Cleaner Production are the core journals, and energy and fuels and environmental sciences are the core disciplines of NEV policy research. The findings of this analysis help policymakers and researchers to navigate the literature on NEV, provide a clear map of existing works, identify the gaps and recommend promising avenues for future studies.