--- title: The Iran War Is Driving a Global Surge of Interest in Electric Vehicles description: From the U.S. and Europe to Malaysia, high gas prices are creating a new wave of demand for electric vehicles. canonical: https://time.com/article/2026/04/08/how-the-iran-war-is-pushing-more-people-to-buy-evs/ author: Simmone Shah article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-04-09T20:50:46.667Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-13T06:52:18.372Z article:section: Climate og:title: The Iran War Is Driving a Global Surge of Interest in Electric Vehicles og:description: From the U.S. and Europe to Malaysia, high gas prices are creating a new wave of demand for electric vehicles. og:url: https://time.com/article/2026/04/08/how-the-iran-war-is-pushing-more-people-to-buy-evs/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt51bb0e33d32ae7f2/69d699e447096d3cf6acacbc/ev-sales.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: ev-sales.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Iran War Is Driving a Global Surge of Interest in Electric Vehicles twitter:description: From the U.S. and Europe to Malaysia, high gas prices are creating a new wave of demand for electric vehicles. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt51bb0e33d32ae7f2/69d699e447096d3cf6acacbc/ev-sales.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Iran War Is Driving a Global Surge of Interest in Electric Vehicles > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=120b00ca-4897-41c4-92a9-fcdc782decaa&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1)  by [Simmone Shah](https://time.com/author/simmone-shah/)  ## Simmone Shah Reporter Apr 9, 2026 8:50 PM UTC  Brand new unregistered BYD electric cars are displayed for sale outside a BYD dealership, on February 25, 2026 in Southampton, England. Brand new unregistered BYD electric cars are displayed for sale outside a BYD dealership, on February 25, 2026 in Southampton, England. Anna Barclay—Getty Images  by [Simmone Shah](https://time.com/author/simmone-shah/)  ## Simmone Shah Reporter Apr 9, 2026 8:50 PM UTC Before the [war in Iran](https://time.com/article/2026/03/11/war-trump-iran-gulf-oil-gas-economy/) broke out, the global adoption of [electric vehicles](https://time.com/7288660/shift-east-china-electric-vehicles-economy-technology-trump-tariffs-ai/) was largely being driven by a number of emerging economies, including India, Mexico and Brazil, who were [reporting](https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/the-ev-leapfrog-how-emerging-markets-are-driving-a-global-ev-boom/) higher EV sales than developed economies like the U.S. and Japan. Now, the surge in global [oil prices](https://time.com/article/2026/03/31/gas-prices-us-iran-war/) triggered by the [Strait of Hormuz](https://time.com/article/2026/04/07/strait-of-hormuz-countries-pass-deals-iran-us-war-trump/) closure, appears to have brought an unexpected boon to the EV market—with increased interest and sales reported in a number of countries. ## United States At the start of the year, it seemed as though the EV revolution in the U.S. was dead in the water—sales in the final quarter of 2025 were at the lowest point since the end of 2022 as Biden-era government [EV subsidies expired](https://time.com/7258269/trump-climate-policies-executive-orders/) and domestic automakers [pulled back](https://www.wired.com/story/list-of-new-evs-canceled-by-automakers/) on their investments in electric vehicle production. But first-quarter data for 2026 shows that [used EV sales](https://electrek.co/2026/04/07/used-evs-just-hit-a-sales-record-a-much-bigger-wave-is-coming/) were 12% higher than the same time last year and 17% higher than the previous quarter. One factor likely helping push buyers toward these cars is high gas prices, which recently topped $4.00 a gallon for the first time in four years. ## U.K. & Europe In the U.K., electric car sales reached a record high, with 86,120 vehicles [sold](https://www.smmt.co.uk/vehicle-data/car-registrations/) in March. U.K.-based EV specialist Octopus Electric Vehicles said on March 25 it had seen EV leasing inquiries [rise 36%](https://octopus.energy/press/interest-in-ev-leasing-jumps-36-as-drivers-seek-relief-from-soaring-fuel-costs/) since the start of the conflict. The French online used-car retailer Aramisauto reported its share of EV sales nearly [doubled](https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/used-ev-sales-jump-europe-iran-war-drives-up-petrol-prices-2026-03-26/) from Feb. ​16 to March 9, rising to 12.7% from 6.5%, while sales of fueled models dropped to 28% of sales from 34%, and sales of diesel models dropped to 10% from 14%. Germany's largest online car market, [mobile.de](http://mobile.de), told [_Reuters_](https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/used-ev-sales-jump-europe-iran-war-drives-up-petrol-prices-2026-03-26/) that the share of EV searches on ⁠its website has ​tripled since the start of March—from 12% to 36%, with car dealers receiving 66% more ​enquiries for used EVs than in February. ## Asia Asia receives 80% of the crude oil that passes through the Strait of Hormuz. This has left the region hard hit by the shutdown. The uncertainty is causing an uptick in EV adoption in many countries. ​​South Korea reported that registrations for electric vehicles more than doubled in March compared to the prior year, due in part to rising fuel prices and government subsidies. In Malaysia, Chinese EV company BYD’s distributor told [_Reuters_](https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/fuel-crisis-powers-surge-ev-interest-asia-pacific-region-2026-04-01/) that it observed an uptick in enquiries and customer interest in March compared with the first two months of the year. In Pakistan, electric rickshaws have been selling out, according to [_Bloomberg_](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2026-03-26/iran-war-is-boosting-evs-solar-panels-heat-pumps-and-electric-stoves). Nepal, on the other hand, has stood out for its above average EV adoption rates. This pre-war trend has helped shield many people from the impact of the spike in oil prices. EVs made up 76% of new car sales in 2024, according to the most recent data from the energy think tank [Ember](https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/12/The-EV-leapfrog-PDF.pdf). ## New Zealand & Australia In New Zealand, more than 1,000 EVs were registered in the ‌week that ended ⁠on March 22, close to double the week before, making it the country’s biggest week for electric vehicle registrations since the end of 2023, according to the country’s [Transport Minister](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWXYjqnGobj/), Chris Bishop. Australia, meanwhile, has already been experiencing rising EV sales in recent years, but saw a surge in new [interest](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-aDFpq4EWc) as consumers face rising fuel costs. As Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese [said](https://electricvehiclecouncil.com.au/media-releases/evc-welcomes-prime-ministers-defence-of-ev-support-as-a-cost-of-living-measure/) at the end of March: "I don't think there's anyone out there today who has bought an electric vehicle who's regretting the decision at this point in time." ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/04/08/how-the-iran-war-is-pushing-more-people-to-buy-evs/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/04/08/how-the-iran-war-is-pushing-more-people-to-buy-evs/"},"headline":"The Iran War Is Driving a Global Surge of Interest in Electric Vehicles","datePublished":"2026-04-09T20:50:46.667Z","dateModified":"2026-05-13T06:52:18.372Z","description":"High gas prices are pushing more people to consider electric vehicles.","url":"https://time.com/article/2026/04/08/how-the-iran-war-is-pushing-more-people-to-buy-evs/","keywords":["electric vehicles"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt51bb0e33d32ae7f2/69d699e447096d3cf6acacbc/ev-sales.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Simmone Shah","jobTitle":"Reporter","url":"https://time.com/author/simmone-shah/"}],"articleSection":"Climate","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt51bb0e33d32ae7f2/69d699e447096d3cf6acacbc/ev-sales.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"ev-sales.jpg","caption":"","creditText":"Anna Barclay—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/climate/","name":"Climate"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/electric-vehicles/","name":"electric vehicles"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/04/08/how-the-iran-war-is-pushing-more-people-to-buy-evs/","name":"The Iran War Is Driving a Global Surge of Interest in Electric Vehicles"}}]}] ```