Associate Professor of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering John Helveston’s op-ed in The Conversation titled “Americans want electric cars – they just can’t find them” explores the surge in demand across the U.S. in early 2026 for electric vehicles (EVs) due to climbing gasoline prices. In the piece, he argues that the stall in EV purchases as the year progressed is not due to decreased customer demand but rather changes in policy and decreased EV production.
Here is an excerpt from the article: “As long as gas stays expensive, the gap between the electric vehicles Americans want and the electric vehicles dealers can sell them is likely to remain. Decisions such as ending the tax credit, rolling back fuel economy standards and banning Chinese technology all make it harder to build them, which means Americans will continue to have fewer affordable electric vehicles to choose from.”
Read the full article on The Conversation.