Low-carbon innovation from a hydroelectric base: The case of electric vehicles in Québec

This article explores the transformative potential of hydroelectricity by examining interactions with electric vehicle (EV) technologies in Québec, Canada. It finds that structural features of Québec's hydroelectric regime enabled Québec's EV technological innovation system. Organizational and institutional characteristics of the socio-technical environment shaped by Québec's history of hydroelectric development played a particularly important role in promoting political legitimacy and early-stage EV innovation processes, such as knowledge development and exchange. While the technical complements between hydro and EV could lead to significant GHG reductions, technical overlaps between the two technologies were less responsible for initiating the momentum needed to build an EV innovation system. Québec's social history of hydroelectricity development provides actors with important resources for the development of EV technologies.