Proceedings of the 2025 5th International Conference on Culture, Design and Social Development (CDSD 2025)

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Electric Vehicles, Energy Security, and Geopolitics: A 21st‑Century Nexus

Authors
Xing Li1, 2, *
1ENV00043M – Environment, Politics, and Society, University College London, London, UK
2Room 102, Unit 2, Building 3, Jinse Shu’an Longyuan, Pingcheng District, Datong City, Shanxi Province, China
*Corresponding author. Email: sly4346@gmail.com
Corresponding Author
Xing Li
Available Online 26 February 2026.
DOI
10.2991/978-2-38476-541-6_91How to use a DOI?
Keywords
Electric vehicles; sustainability; geopolitics
Abstract

Electric vehicles (EVs) play a crucial role in reducing transport-related emissions— a key driver of global climate change—and enhancing national energy security by lessening dependence on imported fossil fuels. Notably, they also reshape global geopolitical dynamics, altering how nations interact in energy and industrial sectors. This paper analyzes EVs from three core perspectives: economic impacts, political implications, and issues of justice. It further contextualizes global EV adoption within the broader landscape of energy security initiatives and the intricate patterns of international energy flows. Our findings show that in the short term, EVs effectively cut greenhouse gas emissions and spur the growth of new industries, such as battery production. However, achieving long-term sustainability remains difficult under the current economic growth model, which often overlooks circularity. Politically, while cross-border sharing of EV technology has increased, weak mutual trust, fiercer competition for critical minerals, and growing protectionism hinder progress, leading to uneven global EV development.

Copyright
© 2026 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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Volume Title
Proceedings of the 2025 5th International Conference on Culture, Design and Social Development (CDSD 2025)
Series
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research
Publication Date
26 February 2026
ISBN
978-2-38476-541-6
ISSN
2352-5398
DOI
10.2991/978-2-38476-541-6_91How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2026 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Cite this article

risenwbib
TY  - CONF
AU  - Xing Li
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/02/26
TI  - Electric Vehicles, Energy Security, and Geopolitics: A 21st‑Century Nexus
BT  - Proceedings of the 2025 5th International Conference on Culture, Design and Social Development (CDSD 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 813
EP  - 826
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-541-6_91
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-541-6_91
ID  - Li2026
ER  -