4. Conclusions and policy implications
There are a number of actors and stakeholders who are involved or affected by these kinds of transformative innovations and each one of them has their own interests and motivations. The government must be like a conductor who puts these sometimes conflicting interests under one roof, so that eventually everybody in the society would benefit from it. The role of the government is also to find those interest groups who are motivated enough to carry on with the projects even if at some point the financial incentives will cease. In addition to the direct incentives, the important role of the government is to guide public opinion and therefore marketing campaigns have also been an important part of the Estonian pilot programme. However, a powerful way to spread positive user experience is ‘word-of-mouth’ marketing by the first users. We believe this would be most efficient to help overcome the persisting misconceptions; however, it will take some time. Despite the fact that the Estonian subsidy for purchasing an electric car was among the most generous in Europe, at the beginning the actual demand was not as high as expected and it took time to build consumers’ trust. Today we can make first conclusions about the experiences from the Estonian pilot programme. Firstly, it is clear that thanks to the data collected throughout the pilot programme, the battery and car manufacturers will gain important input to improve their products. The Estonian climate is suitable for testing electric cars in quite extreme winter conditions, the weaknesses of technical solutions should be easily identifiable. Thus, when using it as a test bed, these technical solutions that work here should most likely also work elsewhere. Secondly, due to the fact that Estonia has a low population density, charging network planners can get valuable insights for building optimal cross-national networks. Thirdly, the learning aspect also comes out from testing the policy instruments for fostering radical environmental innovations. Additionally, from an entrepreneur’s perspective it is also a unique opportunity for validating new business models, with or withoutthe governmental support. In conclusion, the main lessons from the Estonian electromobility pilot programme can be summarised as follows: For fast market uptake of radical (eco) innovations the active role of government is crucial; Radical innovations that involve multiple regimes require a systemic approach in order to avoid the ‘chicken and egg’ problem; Together with creating the incentives, the protection phase-out process should be planned as well; New business models that offer experience with new technologies, without requiring immediate ownership, should also be supported in order to enhance consumer acceptance; Participating in market pilot projects gives valuable feedback for companies before heading to export markets.
