Technological disruptions and industrial dynamics, the case of the Electric Vehicle

Interview with Marc ALOCHET, doctoral student at i3-CRG and supervised by Christophe MIDLER.

After 35 years of professional activity, including 30 in the automotive industry within the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, I decided to write a thesis to extend and enrich work on the industrialization of EVs. Given the reputation of i3-CRG's work in the automotive industry and, more particularly, in Renault's field, it seemed natural to me to present my project in this context; this is how I became a doctoral student in September 2017.

What project are you currently working on? 

The existence of a new paradigm of sustainable and shared mobility is widely accepted; the EV (connected and autonomous) plays a central role as a means of urban mobility. Furthermore, manufacturers have increased the autonomy of existing vehicles (doubled for ZOE in four years) and announce significant autonomy (around 600 km) for vehicles launched in the coming years. Finally, the concept of a low-cost EV remains largely to be built. While all these elements indicate that the EV could leave the zone of eternally emerging technologies, the industrialization of EVs has not yet been the subject of significant research. After describing the dominant design of vehicle industrialization (including the value chain), we want to identify, through empirical studies of vehicles already on the market, scenarios for the industrialization of EVs. It will then be a question of describing the performance criteria and then deducing a metric to extend the comparative study to other vehicles, other projects. We will also look for differentiated industrialization strategies between companies according to their product strategy and/or status (historical manufacturer, new entrant). An in-depth study of business models, EV concepts and knowledge of automotive design (C-K method) will make it possible to identify future disruptions and assess their impacts on industrial systems. Finally, not all the impacts on the value chain of EV production are yet visible, this will be the subject of a specific study.

What developments do you see for this project?

The subject has been identified as a "research gap" and opens the way to a new field of research. Being closely linked to the industrial reality of the development of future EVs, it will be easy to verify and enrich the conclusions. Finally, the launch of a thesis dedicated to the business model of the autonomous vehicle as well as post-doctoral work on the hydrogen sector strengthen the activities related to the automobile and allow for highly interesting cross-disciplinary work within the CRG and i3.

Interview by Marie Claude Cléon