High Gas Prices Drive High Demand For Electric Vehicles, TrueCar Says

High gas prices tied to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are fueling a spike in demand for electric vehicles and hybrids, according to shopping data from TrueCar Inc.

Prospects looking online for EVs on the TrueCar site have increased 280% in the last month vs. a year ago — the biggest year-over-year increase TrueCar has ever seen, according to Nick Woolard, lead industry analyst at TrueCar. Shopping for hybrids also jumped 83%, TrueCar said.

Granted, the increase in prospects for EVs was from a low base. In March 2022, about 6.1% of prospects were looking at EVs, up from about 1.6% a year ago. For hybrids, it was about 16% of prospects in March 2022, up from 8.7% a year ago, Woolard said.

Meanwhile, AAA reported the national average price for a gallon of gas was $4.24 on March 28, up $1.38, or about 48% vs. a year ago. AAA cited volatility in the global oil market, caused by the war in Ukraine.

At the same time, a lot more automotive brands, and more mainstream brands, are adding EVs and plug-in hybrids to their U.S. lineups. New EVs include the most popular product segments: pickups, SUVs and crossovers, such as the Ford F-150 Lightning battery powered pickup (see photo).

To date, EVs are typically compact and subcompact cars, or high-priced luxury cars.

At the J.D. Power Auto Summit conference in Las Vegas earlier this month, Stewart Stropp of J.D. Power said that from 2011 to 2021, starting with the Nissan Leaf, auto manufacturers introduced 18 EV models in the U.S. market. Those included zero pickups, and two mid-size SUVs.

In 2022, he said automakers plan to launch 24 EV models. Those include four pickups and five mid- to full-size SUVs, with a similar forecast for 2023, as well. Stropp is managing director for the J.D. Power Electric Vehicle Consideration Study.

The J.D. Power Summit was held in conjunction with the NADA Show, the annual convention and trade show of the National Automobile Dealers Association.

With so many new EVs in the pipeline, “We’ve come a long way since the Nissan Leaf, creating mass-market buyers,” said Mike Dovorany, vice president, Automotive & Mobility for research and data analysis firm Escalent, in a separate presentation at the NADA Show.

So, even without high gas prices, consideration for EVs was bound to increase, along with the increase in new models, more popular product segments, and a big increase in marketing and advertising for EVs. But high gas prices have definitely heightened interest.