Jonn Axsen, PhD Student, TTP Program
Jonn Axsen PhD Student, Transportation Technology and Policy, UC Davis Graduate Researcher, Plug-In Hybrid-Electric Vehicle (PHEV) Center jaxsen@ucdavis.edu
Education:
BBA - Bachelor's in Business Administration (First Class Honors), Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada, 2004
MRM - Master's in Resource Management (MRM), Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada, 2006
Research Interests:
Jonn is currently exploring the early market for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), including the opportunities and constraints of existing infrastructure, consumer perceptions of electric-drive technology, and potential demand for specific PHEV designs. Jonn is also investigating the "diffusion" of environmentally-friendly vehicle technologies, including the "neighbor effect", as well as the potential to shift markets to emphasize the "social" benefits of vehicle purchase (e.g. environmental and political attributes).
Current Projects:
2007 Survey: Anticipating the Plug-In Hybrid Vehicle Market – Working with Ken Kurani and Tom Turrentine, Jonn designed and implemented an online survey of over 4000 U.S. vehicle buyers. The survey consisted of three parts:
1. Knowledge and perceptions of energy use and alternative-fuel vehicles,
2. A 24-hour diary of vehicle driving, parking, and potential access to electric outlets.
3. PHEV design games: attributes tradeoffs and purchase scenarios
The data is still being analyzed, and findings will be presented at the upcoming Plug-in 2008 Conference (July 22-24, 2008, http://plugin2008.com).
Confusion of Innovations: Exploring the Adoption of “Green Cars” - The question of how and why consumers buy new products is central to the successful deployment of alternatively fueled and propelled vehicles. Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) provides the dominant conceptualization of new product adoption, emphasizing the role of information diffusing from a central core of innovators and early adopters to remaining majority. However, Jonn feels that the DOI approach is insufficient to explain the complex shifts in perceptions, values and behavior that may underlie the popularity of environmentally-friendly technologies like the hybrid-electric vehicle. Jonn is currently investigating alternative approaches to “diffusion”.
Presentations:
Consumer Preferences for Hybrid-Electric
Vehicles: Understanding the Neighbor Effect, Presented at the 23rd
International Electric Vehicle Symposium (EVS-23), Anaheim, CA,
December 2-5, 2007.
Market Research for Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs), Poster Presentation), Presented at the Behavior, Energy & Climate Change (BECC) Conference, Sacramento, CA, November 7-9, 2007.
Past Research:
Axsen, J. (2006). Combining Stated and Revealed Choice Research to Inform Energy System Simulation Models: The Case of Hybrid Electric Vehicles, Master’s Thesis, Simon Fraser University.
Axsen, J., J. Nyboer and C. Bataille (2005). Goods-Producing Small to Medium-Sized Enterprises: Energy End Use and Efficiency Potentials, Prepared for Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Industrial Energy End-Use Data and Analysis Centre (CIEEDAC), March 2005.
Hobbies:
Jonn enjoys backpacking, hiking, cycling, and occasionally climbing in whatever wilderness he can get access to. Actually...he is just happy to be in the wilderness once in a while.
Five students graduate from STEPS Program