Online searches for electric and hybrid cars increase as war-linked fuel prices hit highest levels in nearly three years
US car buyers are showing a surge in interest in electric vehicles after Donald Trump’s decision to attack Iran helped cause a major jump in gasoline prices.
The cost to refuel a vehicle in the US is at its highest level in nearly three years, with the average national price of gas standing at $3.90 a gallon on Friday.
This increase has been driven by the rising global cost of oil in the wake of the US and Israel’s bombing of Iran, a major oil producer. The conflict has resulted in the strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway that conveys around a fifth of the world’s oil, being shut off by Iran.
I remember this cause I was living in a place where gas topped $5 a gallon. The federal minimum wage was $5.85 for the first half of that year. Basically my first and last hour of work was really just paying the gas to get to/from work. Running $5 through an inflation calc and that would be about $7.59 today.
My parents bought a Lincoln Navigator during that time…🤯 The dealer understandably was super motivated to get rid of it. It gets ~12 mpg around town. A bit after those price hikes they started pumping oil like crazy though and prices hit rock bottom around $1.60 though. That likely caused the mass purchasing of giant SUV’s again.