Jonn Axsen

Assistant Professor
Energy and Materials Research Group
B.B.A. (Business Administration, First class honours, Simon Fraser University)
M.R.M. (Resource Management, Simon Fraser University)
Ph.D. (Transportation Technology and Policy, University of California, Davis)

Dr. Jonn Axsen explores transitions to sustainable energy systems. He draws from disciplines of economics, psychology, sociology and engineering to investigate the nexus of technology, environmental policy, and consumer behaviour. Jonn’s study of consumers’ social valuation of plug-in electric vehicles has earned him recognition as “Young Researcher of the Year” at the OECD’s 2011 International Transportation Forum. His specific research interests include:

• Energy and transportation modeling
• Electric-mobility and alternative fuels and energy
• Consumer attitudes, values and behaviour
• Technology innovation and diffusion
• Social networks and social influence.

In particular, Jonn strives to bring attention to the importance of “human” aspects of sustainable systems—understanding the attitudes, values and lifestyles of individual consumers, and how these can change. His research methods include large-scale consumer surveys, in-depth interviews and focus groups, energy-economy modeling, social network observation and analysis, discrete choice modeling, statistical analysis, factor and cluster analysis, technology assessment, and life-cycle impact analysis. His research has been funded by public and private organizations such as the California Air Resources Board, the California Energy Commission, Natural Resources Canada, and BMW. Current projects include: consumer valuation of electric-mobility and green electricity, the social transmission of information and valuation of advanced vehicle technology, individual engagement in pro-environmental lifestyle practices, and regional characterizations of electric-mobility readiness.

Click here for full CV (PDF).

Forthcoming contributions include:

• Axsen, J, and K.S. Kurani (Submitted). Social influence and sustainable consumption: Integrating diffusion, translation and reflexivity processes. Submitted to Environment and Planning B.
• Axsen, J, and K.S. Kurani (Submitted). Developing sustainability-oriented values and practices. Submitted to Global Environmental Change.
• Axsen, J, and K.S. Kurani (Submitted). Social influence, behavior and low-carbon energy transitions. Invited contribution to Annual Review of Environment and Resources, for Volume 37 (2012).
• Axsen, J, J. TyreeHageman, and A. Lentz (Submitted). Lifestyle practices and pro-environmental technology. Submitted to Ecological Economics.
• Axsen, J, and K.S. Kurani (Submitted). Who can recharge a plug-in electric vehicle at home? Submitted to Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment.

Jonn’s publications include:

• Axsen, J, and K.S. Kurani (In Press). Interpersonal influence within car buyers’ social networks: Applying five perspectives to plug-in hybrid vehicle drivers, Environment and Planning A, accepted November 2010.
• Axsen, J., C. Yang, R. McCarthy, A. Burke, K. Kurani, and T. Turrentine (2011), The Plug-in Electric Vehicle Pathway, in Sustainable Transportation Energy Pathways: A Research Summary for Decisionmakers, Eds. Joan Ogden and Lorraine Anderson, 38-63.
• Axsen, J., K.S. Kurani, R. McCarthy and C. Yang (2011). Plug-in hybrid vehicle GHG impacts in California: Integrating consumer-informed recharge profiles with an electricity-dispatch model, Energy Policy, 39(3), 1617-1629.
• Axsen, J., and K.S. Kurani (2011). Interpersonal influence in the early plug-in hybrid market: Observing social interactions with an exploratory multi-method approach, Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 16(2), 150-159.
• Axsen, J, and K.S. Kurani (2010). Anticipating plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV) energy impacts in California: Constructing consumer-informed recharge profiles, Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 15(4), 212-219.
• Axsen, J, K.S. Kurani, and A. Burke (2010). Are batteries ready for plug-in hybrids buyers? Transport Policy, 17 (3), 173-182.
• Axsen, J, A. Burke, and K.S. Kurani (2010). Batteries for PHEVs: Comparing Goals and the State of Technology, in Electric and Hybrid Vehicles: Power Sources, Models, Sustainability, Infrastructures and the Market, Ed. Gianfranco Pistoia, Elsevier, ISBN 978-0-444-53565-8.
• Axsen, J., and K.S. Kurani (2009). Early U.S. market for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles: Anticipating consumer recharge potential and design priorities, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2139, 64-72.
• Axsen, J., D. Mountain, and M. Jaccard (2009). Combining stated and revealed choice research to simulate the “neighbor effect”: The case of hybrid-electric vehicles, Resource and Energy Economics, 31 (3), 221-238.

Jonn joined REM in 2011 and teaches Ecological Economics (REM/ENV-321) and Energy and Materials Systems Modeling (REM-658).