Switching from gas to electricity has never been more popular. According to Edmunds, the car shopping site, the number of persons looking for hybrid, plug-in hybrid, or electric vehicles, increased by 39% from February to March, and by 18% in the last week.
With petrol costs approaching $4 per gallon, electric vehicles are becoming increasingly appealing to automobile consumers. However, a combination of supply chain bottlenecks, a global chip scarcity, higher-than-average pricing, and insufficient dealership inventory will keep EVs out of reach for the majority of people.
Given the shortage of new electric vehicles on the market, most customers will find it difficult to follow through on their purchases, reports say. The available EVs are more expensive than their gas-powered counterparts, and inventory is highly limited.
The same may be said for hybrids and small to medium cars, which are often in short supply. So, if anyone is looking for a way to save money on gas, the advice would be either wait, as more EVs are on the way, or drive less.
When petrol costs reached $4 per gallon during the 2008 financial crisis, demand for large automobiles plummeted. More people opted for fuel-efficient vehicles, and some have stopped looking for a car entirely.
This time, the dynamics seem different. The combination of high petrol prices, vehicle shortages, supply chain bottlenecks, and a global semiconductor shortage has created a perfect storm of misery for automobile consumers.
Small, fuel-efficient, or even electric cars would have been their first choice, but they are not accessible. Huge trucks and SUVs, such as the Ram 1500 and Jeep Grand Cherokee, are available, according to Cox Automotive, and are the most commonly available new vehicles right now. To make matters worse, most new EVs are being sold at exorbitant prices.
On top of that, the cost of raw materials is rising. Steel, nickel, and palladium, used in body panels, exhaust-purifying catalytic converters, and electric vehicle batteries, are all rising in price as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Additionally, President Joe Biden imposed a restriction on imported Russian oil earlier this week, conceding that it will likely raise petrol prices much further. Biden stated that he was dedicated to alleviating the burden on car owners by releasing more oil from emergency stocks to assist offset the expense.
Carpooling may become more popular in the future. A simple change in driving behavior may sometimes assist to alleviate the discomfort. Among the “standard gas-saving measures,” auto market expert Michelle Krebs has suggested decreasing one’s driving speeds and condensing errands into fewer trips. Traveling by bus should also be considered.
