By Christopher Otts and Patrick George
Skyrocketing gas prices cemented Eric Janney's decision in March to go electric for good.
The IT worker in Aliquippa, Pa., bought a lightly used Kia EV6, after trying the same vehicle on a cheap lease for the past couple of years.
"Knowing that we can go out and do what we need to do at any time and not have to worry about how much we're gonna be able to put fuel in the tank has been incredibly beneficial," said Janney, 43, whose wife is a homemaker.
Car-shopping platforms such as Cars.com and Edmunds say they have seen an uptick in EV interest as Americans adjust to life with gas over $4 a gallon, while auto executives say a renewed focus on fuel efficiency could mark the bottom of the EV meltdown. Edmunds said shopper consideration of EVs on its website has risen nearly to what it was before tax incentives ended last year.
"In the short term, a lot of Americans -- and this has nothing to do with regulations -- are coming back to EVs because of the cost of ownership," Hyundai Motor Chief Executive José Muñoz told The Wall Street Journal. "Basically, the fuel costs are making them change their decision."
Muñoz added that in states such as California, EVs are finding a place in multiple-vehicle households for commuting, while longer trips are reserved for gas-powered cars.
He suggested that their mindset is: "I have one car from Monday to Friday, another car for the weekend."
Overall, new electric vehicle sales remain depressed in the second Trump administration. The $7,500 federal EV tax credit ended last September, and automakers no longer face the stricter fuel-economy regulations that once drove the development of more electric models.
Even with higher gas prices resulting from the Iran war, automakers have shown little interest in shifting back to battery-powered vehicles after scaling back their production plans.
Still, there are signs of life again: Used EV sales jumped 12% in the first quarter, according to data from Cox Automotive. The market is seeing a surge of off-lease EVs going for much lower prices than when they were new.
While analysts say it will take longer than a couple of months of elevated gas prices to swing the pendulum completely to favor EVs, pain at the pump already has some buyers thinking differently.
The average price of gas in the U.S. is about $4.16 a gallon, compared with just under $3 a gallon immediately before the attacks on Iran in late February. On the West Coast, drivers regularly pay much more. From Seattle to Las Vegas, gas is going for more than $5 a gallon and is more than $6 in San Francisco and Los Angeles -- with no signs of coming down soon.
Earlier this week, the U.S. agreed to a two-week cease-fire with Iran to complete a potential end to the war, contingent on Iran reopening the Strait of Hormuz to shipping traffic. That process has been slow-going, however, and the U.S. Energy Information Administration reports that the full restoration of the oil flow could take months -- likely leaving fuel prices high meanwhile.
The potential savings from switching to an EV aren't immediate. A home charging system can cost thousands of dollars if significant electrical upgrades are needed. However, they are felt over time with lower maintenance costs and home electricity's providing cheaper fuel. At the same time, EVs generally cost more to insure and their resale value diminishes faster, limiting owners' options to sell or trade them in.
Electric models made up 6.2% of new-car sales in March, up from 6% in February but still down from 6.5% in January, according to data from Edmunds. EV sales hit their highest level of overall U.S. market share in September, right before tax credits expired, reaching 11.5% of sales.
General Motors, which has the widest lineup of EVs in the U.S., said earlier this month that the market is showing "early signs of stabilizing" at around 5% to 6% of industry sales.
Stephanie Valdez Streaty, director of industry insights at Cox Automotive, said gas prices have led to "an uptick in consideration" of EVs. Habits are hard to change, however; American buyers still shifted toward larger vehicles, such as SUVs and full-size trucks, and away from compact and subcompact cars in March, according to Cox's Kelley Blue Book.
Even so, Toyota U.S. sales chief David Christ said at the New York Auto Show that the automaker has seen more EV interest in Texas, Florida and West Coast states, which already have sizable electric markets. Fewer EVs might be stocked in states with less demand, he said.
Toyota is betting on some electric growth as other automakers cancel models. It recently debuted three new EVs in the U.S., including a forthcoming three-row SUV built in Kentucky, and its updated Toyota bZ crossover has gained traction. The bZ was the top-selling EV in America after Tesla's models in the first quarter. "Obviously, the consumer has responded," Christ said.
A Toyota spokesman added that sales of the bZ are slightly higher in California. "But looking around the country, they seem to be selling well everywhere, including regions slower to adopt EVs historically," he said, adding that the bZ has about the same days' supply on dealer lots -- a general measurement of demand -- as the popular hybrid Camry sedan.
Hyundai's Muñoz also sees some momentum for EVs. Sales of its Ioniq 5 crossover rose 13% year-over-year in March, though the automaker used generous discounts to help dealers sell them. He added that while hybrid sales are rising much faster for Hyundai, not writing down its EV investments as other automakers have done has kept it in the game as gas prices stay high. "We can offer a product which all the competitors don't have," Muñoz said.
Aaron Booker, who lives in Bellingham, Wash., said that his family owns multiple EVs, save for a gas-powered Suzuki that his college-aged son primarily drives -- and which cost almost $47 to fill recently. Booker's lease is ending soon on his electric Hyundai, and he said the choice is clear: "We will never go back" to gas, he said.
For years, he said, friends and neighbors would tell him that they weren't ready to switch to an electric car. That has changed recently, he said. He is now getting more questions about what it is like to live with one.
"Smart people are looking at it long-term," Booker said. Now that energy prices are so unpredictable, he said, "I do think that Trump, unfortunately for him, has probably done the single best thing for green energy in the last 15 years."
Write to Christopher Otts at christopher.otts@wsj.com and Patrick George at patrick.george@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 11, 2026 05:30 ET (09:30 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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