Electric cars look tempting as gas prices skyrocket from the Iran war. Should you switch to an EV or wait it out?

At the same time, consumers have been hesitant to make the switch to EVs because of high costs, range anxiety (the fear of running out of battery life before reaching your destination) and the lack of robust EV charging infrastructure across the country.

But now, as gas prices rise, some car owners are wondering if they should swap in their gas guzzler for an EV instead.

Since the Iran war began on February 28, Autotrader saw a 28% jump in inquiries about buying a new EV and a 15% jump in inquiries about used EVs. The online vehicle marketplace said that, while fuel prices are still below 2022 extremes, “surging interest suggests concerns about future energy security/instability/price shocks are driving behavior (4).”

The rising cost of oil and gas

At the start of the Iran war, it was widely assumed that higher oil prices would be temporary.

The Middle East produces about 30% of the world’s total oil, led by Saudi Arabia and Iran (5). At the same time, about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquified natural gas (LNG) is transported through the Strait of Hormuz (6).

Iran has effectively closed the Strait to commercial shipping, which is restricting shipments, squeezing supply and driving up prices.

That could be reversed, if it was simply a matter of reopening the Strait. But gas fields and production facilities are also targets in this war.

Israel bombed Iran’s South Pars natural gas field on March 18 (7) and again on April 6 targeting the Jam and Damavand petrochemical facilities in the complex (8). Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps responded to the March 18 strikes by launching drones and missiles at energy hubs across the Gulf Arab states (9).

QatarEnergy CEO and state minister for energy affairs Saad al-Kaabi told Reuters that Iranian attacks have destroyed 17% of Qatar’s LNG export capacity. He also said this will set the region back 10 to 20 years (10).

Damage to infrastructure could take years to repair — which could, in turn, lead to elevated prices (and volatility) for years.

“A week ago or certainly two weeks ago, I would have said: If the war stopped that day, the long-term implications would be pretty small,” Christopher Knittel, an energy economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told The Associated Press. “But what we’re seeing is infrastructure actually being destroyed, which means the ramifications of this war are going to be long-lived (11).”

Could an EV save you money?

So, should you switch to an EV or wait it out and see if gas prices at the pump start to drop?

As of February 2026, the average transaction price for a new EV in the U.S. cost about $55,300, while a gas-powered car cost $49,353, according to Cox Automotive (12).

But, over the long term, buying an EV could provide consumers with cost savings — and a certain level of energy independence. An analysis by Transport & Environment in March found that gas-powered cars were five times more affected by energy crises than EVs (13).