Research
I lead interdisciplinary research that explores relationships between technological change and factors that shape it, such as consumer behavior, market dynamics, and policy. I apply a systems engineering perspective to better understand these relationships and to inform policy, with an emphasis on accelerating transitions to cleaner technologies. I have expertise in choice modeling, survey design, programming in R, China, and the global electric vehicle industry.
Google Scholar ORCID Research Gate
Underline indicates advisee; * graduate student, **undergraduate student
Refereed (Peer-Reviewed) Journal Articles
- Hardman, S., Chakraborty, A., Hoogland, K., Sugihara, C., Helveston, J.P., Jensen, A.F., Jenn, A., Joche, P., Plötz, P., Sprei, F., Williams, B., Axsen, J., Figenbaum, E., Pontes, J., Tal, G., Refa, N. (2024) “Demand-side challenges and research needs on the road to 100% zero-emissions vehicle sales” Progress in Energy.
- *Kaplan, Leah, **Nurullaeva, L., & Helveston, J.P. (2024) “Modeling the Operational and Labor Costs of Autonomous Robotaxi Services” Transport Policy. DOI: 10.1016/j.tranpol.2024.10.010
- *Roberson, Laura A., *Pantha, S., & Helveston, J.P. (2024) “Battery-Powered Bargains? Assessing Electric Vehicle Resale Value in the United States” Environmental Research Letters. DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/ad3fce
- *Kaplan, Leah R. & Helveston, John P. (2023) “Undercutting Transit? Exploring potential competition between autonomous vehicles and public transportation in the U.S.” Transportation Research Record. DOI: 10.1177/03611981231208976
- *Zhao, L., **Ottinger, E., Yip, A., & Helveston, J.P. (2023) “Quantifying electric vehicle mileage in the United States” Joule. 7, 1–15. DOI: 10.1016/j.joule.2023.09.015
- *Zhao, L., Szajnfarber, Z., Broniatowski, D.A., & Helveston, J.P. (2023) “Using conjoint analysis to incorporate heterogeneous preferences into multimodal transit trip simulations” Systems Engineering. DOI: 10.1002/sys.21670
- Helveston, John P. (2023) “
logitr
: Fast Estimation of Multinomial and Mixed Logit Models with Preference Space and Willingness to Pay Space Utility Parameterizations” Journal of Statistical Software. 105(10), 1-37. DOI: 10.18637/jss.v105.i10
- Helveston, J.P., He, G., & Davidson, M.R. (2022) “Quantifying the cost savings of global solar photovoltaic supply chains” Nature. 612 (7938), pg. 83-87. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05316-6
- *Roberson, Laura A. & Helveston, John P. (2022) “Not all subsidies are equal: Measuring preferences for electric vehicle financial incentives” Environmental Research Letters. 17(084003). DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/ac7df3
- Szajnfarber, Z., **Groover, J.A., Wei, Z., Broniatowski, D.A., Chernicoff, W., & Helveston, J.P. (2021) “Evolvability Analysis Framework: Adding Transition Path and Stakeholder Diversity to Infrastructure Investment Decisions” Systems Engineering. 25(1):35-50. DOI: 10.1002/sys.21600
- Feinberg, F., Bruch, E., Braun, M., Hemenway Falk, B., Fefferman, N., Feit, E.M., Helveston, J.P., Larremore, D., McShane, B.B., Patania, A., & Small, M.L. (2020) “Choices in networks: a research framework” Marketing Letters. 31(4), 349-359. DOI: 10.1007/s11002-020-09541-9
- *Roberson, Laura A. & Helveston, John P. (2020) “Electric vehicle adoption: can short experiences lead to big change?” Environmental Research Letters. 15(0940c3). DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/aba715
- Helveston, John P. & Nahm, Jonas (2019) “China’s key role in scaling low-carbon energy technologies” Science. 366(6467), pg. 794-796. DOI: 10.1126/science.aaz1014
- Helveston, J.P., Seki, S., Min, J., **Fairman, E., Boni, A.A., Michalek, J.J., & Azevedo, I. (2019) “Choice at the Pump: Measuring Preferences for Lower-Carbon Combustion Fuels” Environmental Research Letters. 14(8). DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/ab2bd2
- Helveston, J.P., Wang, Y., Karplus, V.J., & Fuchs, E.R.H. (2019) “Institutional Complementarities: The Origins of Experimentation in China’s Plug-in Electric Vehicle Industry” Research Policy. 48(1), pg. 206-222. DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2018.08.006
- Helveston, J.P., Feit, E.M., & Michalek, J.J. (2018) “Pooling Stated and Revealed Preference Data in the Presence of Endogeneity” Transportation Research Part B: Methodological. 109, pg. 70-89. DOI: 10.1016/j.trb.2018.01.010
- Helveston, J.P., Liu, Y., Feit, E.M., Fuchs, E.R.H., Klampfl, E., & Michalek, J.J. (2015) “Will subsidies drive electric vehicle adoption? Measuring consumer preferences in the U.S. and China” Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice. 73, 96–112. DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2015.01.002
Refereed Articles in Conference Proceedings
- *Kaplan, Leah, Szajnfarber, Z., & Helveston, John P. (2023) “Shifting, Not Shrinking? Exploring Labor Roles in Traditional and Automated Door-to-Door Transportation Service” Proceedings of the IISE Annual Conference & Expo 2023. New Orleans, LA, USA, May 20-23, 2023, 3125.
- *Kaplan, Leah & Helveston, John P. (2023) “Undercutting Transit? Exploring potential competition between autonomous vehicles and public transportation in the U.S.” National Academies Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting. Washington, D.C. Jan. 09.
- Helveston, John P. (2022) “The Rise of Chinese Leadership in the Plug-in Electric Vehicle Industry” Chinese Industrial Policy: Sectors and Resources. UCSD Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, San Diego, CA. Sep. 30.
- Helveston, John P. (2022) “The cbcTools Package: Tools for Designing and Testing Choice-Based Conjoint Surveys in R” Sawtooth Software Conference. Orlando, FL. May 6.
- Helveston, John P. (2021) “Obtaining Willingness to Pay Estimates from Preference Space and Willingness to Pay Space Utility Models” Sawtooth Software Conference. San Antonio, TX. Apr. 19.
- Liang, Z., Li, D., Fu, X., Beltekian, D., Helveston, J.P. (2018) “Why is Siemens establishing its robotics R&D centers in China? A case study on the Siemens industrial robot project” IEEE International Symposium on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (TEMS-ISIE). Beijing, PRC, pp. 1-9. DOI: 10.1109/TEMS-ISIE.2018.8478558
- Helveston, J.P., Wang, Y., Karplus, V.J., & Fuchs, E.R.H. (2016) “Up, Down, and Sideways: Innovation in China and the Case of Plug-in Electric Vehicles” Academy of Management Annual Meeting. Anaheim, CA. Aug. 5.
- Helveston, J.P., Liu, Y., Feit, E.M., Fuchs, E.R.H., Klampfl, E., & Michalek, J.J. (2014) “Will subsidies drive electric vehicle adoption? Measuring consumer preferences in the U.S. and China” National Academies Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting. Washington, D.C. Jan. 13.
Working Papers & Papers Under Review
- Forsythe, Connor R., Arteaga, C., & Helveston, J.P. (2024) “The Mixed Integrated Learning Logit (MILL) Model: A Machine Learning Approach to Modeling Unobserved Heterogeneity in Discrete Choice Analysis” Working paper.
- *Kaplan, Leah, Szajnfarber, Z., & Helveston, John P. (2024) “Mapping the AI-Enabled Transformation of Labor in Autonomous Vehicle Taxi Services” Under review.
- Jenn, A., Chakraborty, A., Hardman, S., Hoogland, K., Sugihara, C., Helveston, J.P., Rich, J., Jochem, P., Plötz, P., Sprei, F., Williams, B., Axsen, J., Figenbaum, E., Pontes, J., Refa, N. (2024) “Supply-side challenges and research needs on the road to 100% zero-emissions vehicle sales” Progress in Energy.
- *Zhao, Lujin & Helveston, J.P. (2024) “Spatial Distributions of Plug-in Electric Vehicle Supply in the United States” Working paper.
- *Hu, Pingfan, Tarroja, B., Dean, M., Forrest, K., Hittinger, E., Jenn, A. & Helveston, J.P. (2024) “Measuring Consumer Willingness to Participate in BEV Smart Charging Programs” Working paper.
- Murphree, M., Helveston, J.P., & Breznitz, D. (2024) “Intellectual Property as a Production Input: Expanding Theories of Institutional Change and Profiting from Innovation” Under review.
Magazine Publications
- *Kaplan, Leah, Szajnfarber, Z., & Helveston, John P. (2023) “Driverless – but not humanless – vehicle systems” IISE Magazine. November.
- Helveston, John P. (2021) “Why the US Trails the World in Electric Vehicles” Issues in Science and Technology. 37, no. 2 (Winter 2021).
Books and Book Chapters
- Helveston, John P. and **Lola Nurullaeva (2024) “Yet Another R Dataviz (YARD) Book”
- Helveston, John P. (2022) “Programming for Analytics in R.”
- Ren, Justin Z. & Helveston, John P. (2019) “Measuring Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Among Cities: A Multi-Dimensional Approach” Melting the ICE: Lessons from China and the West in the Transition from the Internal Combustion Engine to Electric Vehicles. Ed. Fox-Penner, P., Ren, Z.J., & Jermain, D.O.. Harvard University Press.
- Hatch, Jennifer & Helveston, J.P. (2019) “Brookline, MA: A Small Town seeking to lead in a Broader EV Charging Network” Melting the ICE: Lessons from China and the West in the Transition from the Internal Combustion Engine to Electric Vehicles. Ed. Fox-Penner, P., Ren, Z.J., & Jermain, D.O.. Harvard University Press.
Magazine Publications
- *Kaplan, Leah, Szajnfarber, Z., & Helveston, John P. (2023) “Driverless – but not humanless – vehicle systems” IISE Magazine. November.
- Helveston, John P. (2021) “Why the US Trails the World in Electric Vehicles” Issues in Science and Technology. 37, no. 2 (Winter 2021).
Opinion Editorials
- Helveston, John P., Triolo, P., & Nahm, J. (2024) “The Problem With “Overcapacity” in China’s Automotive Industry” The Wire China.
- Helveston, John P. (2023) “Electric Vehicle Owners Are Not Driving Enough—And That’s Bad” Scientific American.
- Helveston, J.P., He, G., & Davidson, M.R. (2022) “The Cost of Going Solo in Solar” New Security Beat.
- Helveston, John P. (2022) “To boost solar, the US should use more carrots and fewer sticks” The Hill.
Other
- Helveston, John P. (2019) “Podcast: GWU Professor John Helveston on EVs in China” The Future Car: A Siemens Podcast. May 13, 2019.
- Helveston, John P. (2019) “China’s looser rules may usher in a new era for EV and AV companies” Axios. February 1, 2019.
Theses
- Helveston, John P. (2016) “Development and Adoption of Plug-in Electric Vehicles in China: Markets, Policy, and Innovation” Ph.D. Dissertation. Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA.
Student Theses
Software
- Helveston, John P. (aut, cre, cph), *Pingfan Hu (aut, cre), **Bogdan Bunea (aut, cre) (2024) “
surveydown
: Markdown-Based Surveys Using Quarto Shiny Documents” R package.
- Helveston, John P. (aut, cre, cph) (2021) “
logitr
: Fast Estimation of Multinomial and Mixed Logit Models with Preference Space and Willingness to Pay Space Utility Parameterizations” R package.
- Helveston, John P. (aut, cre, cph) & Aden-Buie, Garrick (aut) (2021) “
renderthis
: Render Slides To Different Formats” R package.
- Helveston, John P. (aut, cre, cph) (2022) “
cbcTools
: Tools For Designing Choice-Based Conjoint Survey Experiments” R package.
Media Coverage
- Aug 13, 2024 - Politico: Quoted in article “Your next car might come with a battery passport”
- Aug 08, 2024 - Voice of America: Quoted in article “China reaches new EV milestone in July”
- Jul 29, 2024 - New York Times: Study featured in article “Electric Cars Help the Climate. But Are They Good Value?”
- Jul 01, 2024 - The World and stuff: Hour-long podcast interview: “China, Trade, and Green Energy”
- Jun 19, 2024 - Xataka: Quoted in article “The EU and China have started a tariff war over Chinese electric cars. And Spain has a lot to lose”
- Jun 18, 2024 - NPR Marketplace: Featured in radio segment on the US EV market
- Jun 03, 2024 - Sustainability at the Frontier: Study featured and quoted in article “Do Electric Cars Depreciate Faster than Gas-Powered Cars?”
- May 14, 2024 - Wired: Quoted in article “Biden Is Trying to Buy EVs Time With New Tariffs on China. It Might Not Work”
- May 05, 2024 - Xataka: Quoted in article “Xiaomi ha conseguido fabricar un coche masivamente en menos de tres años. Así es como lo ha conseguido”
- Apr 27, 2024 - Washington Post: Study featured and quoted in article “You can now get a $7,500 upfront discount for buying an EV”
- Apr 19, 2024 - Climatewire: Study featured in article “Want a used EV? Prices are rising.”
- Mar 28, 2024 - Issues in Science and Technology: Research referenced in article “Lessons From a Decade of Philanthropy for Interdisciplinary Energy Research”
- Mar 21, 2024 - Climatewire: Quoted in article “The future of driving is electric. Sort of.”
- Mar 19, 2024 - New York Times: Quoted in article “Tesla’s Troubles Raise Questions About Its Invincibility”
- Mar 18, 2024 - GW Engineering: PhD student Leah Kaplan wins first place in the 2024 3 Minute Thesis competition at GWU
- Mar 04, 2024 - Vox: Quoted in article “Why is Biden blocking the cheapest, most popular EVs in the world?”
- Feb 03, 2024 - Business Insider: Quoted in article “Battery swapping is taking off in China — and it could help rescue the EV revolution in the US”
- Jan 17, 2024 - New York Times: Study featured in article “Are You a Super Driver? Some States Want to Help You Go Electric.”
- Dec 04, 2023 - CNN: Study featured in article “New US rules on Chinese batteries could push up price of electric cars”
- Nov 17, 2023 - GW Engineering: Study featured in GW Engineering post “Systems Engineering Team Reveals How Automated Vehicles Are Transforming Labor in Taxi Services”
- Nov 13, 2023 - cleantechnica.com: Study featured in article “New Study Finds Electric Vehicles Are Driven Less Than Gas Cars”
- Nov 08, 2023 - GW Today: Study featured in article “New Study Finds Electric Vehicles Are Driven Less Than Gas Cars”
- Nov 07, 2023 - Scientific American: Study featured in article “Electric Vehicles Might Not Yet Have Replaced as Much Car Mileage as Hoped”
- Nov 07, 2023 - Axios: Study featured in article “EVs are driven less than gas-powered models: study”
- Nov 07, 2023 - Climatewire: Study featured in article “EVs are driven less than gas cars. That’s an issue for climate policy.”
- Nov 06, 2023 - Watt’s Up With That: Study featured in article “Study: EV’s are Cars for People Who Don’t Need to Drive (as much)”
- Nov 06, 2023 - Politico: Study featured in article “Three questions for Gavin Newsom’s climate guru”
- Oct 06, 2023 - Politico: Study featured in article “Treasury lays out rules for instant EV rebate”
- Oct 06, 2023 - U.S. Dept of Treasury: Study featured in U.S. Department of the Treasury Press Release: “IRS Release Guidance to Expand Access to Clean Vehicle Tax Credits, Help Car Dealers Grow Businesses”
- Oct 06, 2023 - CNN: Study featured in article “Car buyers can get their EV tax credits up front at the dealership starting in January”
- Oct 06, 2023 - Forbes: Study featured in article “Electric Vehicle Buyers Can Soon Get Rebates At The Dealer”
- Oct 06, 2023 - Politico: Study featured in article “Will an instant tax credit spark more EV sales?”
- Oct 06, 2023 - E&E News: Study featured in article “Treasury lays out rules for instant EV rebate”
- Sep 20, 2023 - Fox 5 DC: Helveston interviewed on Fox 5 DC TV story “Demand for charging stations rises across DMV as more EVs hit the road”
- Apr 26, 2023 - Boston Globe: Quoted in article “Why killing the Chevy Bolt was the right move for GM — but it still hurts”
- Apr 13, 2023 - Hearst TV: Helveston interviewed on Hearst TV on EPA’s new vehicle pollution standards.
- Nov 11, 2022 - Chinese Academy of Sciences: Study featured in article “全球化生产有望降低太阳能成本”
- Nov 07, 2022 - GW Hatchet: Study featured in article “Solar panel costs drop with global trading, SEAS professor finds”
- Oct 27, 2022 - E&E News: Study featured in article “How Biden’s made-in-America solar strategy may backfire”
- Oct 26, 2022 - Bloomberg: Study featured in article “Tariffs Threaten to Undermine Global Shift to Clean Energy”
- Oct 26, 2022 - PV Magazine: Study featured in article “Globalized supply chains saved $67 billion in solar panel production costs”
- Oct 26, 2022 - Times of San Diego: Study featured in article “Open Trade Saves Billions Worldwide on Solar Panels, Study Involving UCSD Finds”
- Oct 26, 2022 - GW Today: Study featured in article “Global Collaboration Saved Countries $67 Billion in Solar Panel Production Costs”
- Oct 26, 2022 - UCSD News: Study featured in article “Open Trade Saves Countries Billions in Solar Panel Production”
- Oct 26, 2022 - Stonybrook U News: Study featured in article “Global Collaboration is Key to Saving Billions for Solar Module Production”
- Sep 12, 2022 - Nasdaq: Study featured in article “A ‘Tale of Two Cities’ and the Energy Crisis”
- Aug 19, 2022 - NA: Study featured in article “Inflation Reduction Act seeks to jumpstart electric vehicle market: Substantial tax credits and other incentives for renewable energy and EVs”
- Aug 12, 2022 - Time: Quoted in “What Experts Say About How Valuable The Inflation Reduction Act’s Green Subsidies Will Be”
- Aug 11, 2022 - NPR: Featured in “All Things Considered” segment
- Aug 11, 2022 - NPR: Quoted in article “3 ways the Inflation Reduction Act would pay you to help fight climate change”
- Jul 29, 2022 - Green Car Reports: Study featured in article “EV tax credit extension with $7,500 point-of-sale rebate, $4,000 for used EVs could pass Senate soon”
- Jul 12, 2022 - Green Car Reports: Study feature article: “Study: Point-of-sale EV rebates buyers prefer could have saved $2 billion vs. tax credits”
- Jul 14, 2022 - dotLA: Study featured in Electric Vehicle Tax Rebates Favor the Wealthy
- Jul 11, 2022 - The Drive: Study featured in The Drive
- Jul 07, 2022 - Politico: Quoted in The Manchin show: What’s in, what’s out?
- Apr 29, 2022 - CGTN: Long form interview with CGTN Full Frame: Going Green
- Apr 26, 2022 - GW Today: EMSE Student Eliese Ottinger highlighted in GW Today article on SEAS research showcase
- Mar 25, 2022 - Reuters: Quoted in Inside China’s electric drive for swappable car batteries
- Jan 26, 2022 - Intelligencer: Quoted in To Fight Climate Change, Bring Back State Planning
- Oct 27, 2021 - RWeekly: Blog post on simulating the Squid Game bridge scene showcased on the RWeekly podcast.
- May 30, 2021 - The Wire China: Quoted in “The Competition Conundrum”
- Apr 23, 2021 - CNN Climate Town Hall: Asked question to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (Watch)
- Mar 21, 2021 - Market Scale: Interview: Can Geely Join the Ranks of Luxury EV Brands?
- Mar 03, 2020 - Associated Press: TV interview: “China’s emissions drop amid coronavirus outbreak.”
- Jul 25, 2020 - Forbes: Quoted in “This Is A Big Reason Electric Cars Still Aren’t Popular With Americans: Study”
- Nov 21, 2019 - NPR Climate Cast: Quoted in “Trade dispute with China could slow transition to low-carbon power”
- Nov 15, 2019 - Xinhua News: Quoted in “美能源专家呼吁美加强与中国合作以实现减排目标”
- Nov 15, 2019 - GW Today: Interview, “Collaboration with China Is Critical to Achieving Climate Goals”
- Oct 28, 2019 - Physics World: Interview, “US motorists prepared to pay more for fuel to lower emissions”
- May 19, 2015 - CMU Engineering: Interivew, “What do American and Chinese consumers want in an electric vehicle?”