Towards a just transition in electromobility: citizen perceptions, institutional gaps, and policy implications from Chile

Electromobility has become a central strategy in global decarbonisation, yet its social and political dimensions remain insufficiently examined, particularly in Global South contexts. This paper analyses Chile’s experience through a mixed-methods approach, combining a survey of 1,781 residents of the Metropolitan Region of Santiago with a multi-stakeholder workshop. The findings indicate strong public support for electromobility, particularly in relation to environmental and collective benefits: 96% of respondents positively evaluate electric buses and 91.8% support their expansion beyond Santiago. However, this support coexists with persistent barriers, including high upfront costs, limited charging infrastructure, and low levels of awareness of the National Electromobility Strategy. Gender-disaggregated results also reveal descriptive differences within the sample, with women reporting lower levels of knowledge and direct experience with electric vehicles, despite expressing slightly higher support for the expansion of electric buses.The results further reveal territorial inequalities in access and experience, although the electrification of Santiago’s public bus system appears to extend some of the benefits of electromobility to lower-income groups. When situated in an international context, the Chilean case reflects broader patterns observed elsewhere, while providing empirical evidence on how public perceptions, policy awareness, and socio-territorial inequalities interact in shaping electromobility transitions. The study contributes to the literature by highlighting the importance of integrating social, institutional, and perceptual dimensions into the analysis of electromobility. It suggests that transitions depend not only on technological deployment but also on how different social groups access, understand, and engage with emerging mobility systems.