Gavin and Colleagues Feature as The Conversation UK Lead Story on the EV Transition

The Conversation UK ran an article by Gavin and colleagues as its lead story on 16 April 2026, under the title "Is this the EV 'moment' or just another false start?". The authors are Gavin, Robert Elliott (University of Birmingham) and Viet Nguyen-Tien of the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics.

The piece argues that the current shift to electric vehicles, which followed the closure of the Strait of Hormuz in March and a spike in oil prices, differs from earlier boom-and-bust episodes because it is driven by falling battery costs rather than oil-price volatility. It also presents EVs as an economic platform, shaped by charging networks, grid services and software, and warns that new mineral dependencies are replacing old oil ones.

It draws on the authors' discussion paper for the Centre for Economic Performance. A French translation appeared on The Conversation France the following day, 17 April 2026. Gavin's work on lithium-ion batteries is funded by the Faraday Institution through the ReLiB Project.