This week I took an opportunity to visit a friend’s home, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover that he’d recently purchased a used Nissan Leaf at an absolute bargain price. He reasoned that the $4,500 he spent on the car would quickly be made up by his daily local trips. He was offloading his low-mileage used AWD Dodge Charger. Rising operating costs for the Dodge, including insurance rates, oil changes, and tires (on top of mounting Stellantis maintenance bills), plus the extra set of winter tires and L2 wall charger that came with the Nissan meant the car would pay for itself in short order.
This friend is a dyed-in-the-wool car nut. He has a collection of hot rods and a self-built shop space with several times more square footage than my home. When I need help tuning a carburetor or fabricating fender flares, he’s the guy I call. The fact that he’s been converted to the merits of electric vehicles in these trying times is, anecdotally at least, indicative of changing trends in the car market. This friend is no luddite, but he’s not the sort to adopt the latest technology without good reason.
Last weekend, I asked Jalopnik readers if the bombing in Iran had begun to change their mind about their gasoline-powered vehicles, specifically as it relates to the recent (and ongoing) price increases. As you might suspect, the topic can be a touchy one, and the comment section was buzzing with energy. We got replies from people who have been on the EV train for years, many who are looking to make the jump, and others who have gasoline in their veins. Let’s dig into the answers from the Jalopnik commentariat — why don’t we?
Way Ahead of You, Pal
Selling my beloved R33 GT-R after 3 years and buying an Ionic 5 N (or 6).
Suggested by W.M. Rees
This is maybe the saddest thing I’ve ever seen on the internet. Good luck and Godspeed.
Maybe the question needs to be reset to the following: What would you do if we were plunged back into gas rationing, with limited purchase days per week? How would you get to work? School? The market? Your doctor?
Suggested by Rick C.
We’re getting pretty innovative in the U.S. We’re cutting jobs so people don’t have to drive. Fewer people are having children so they don’t have to drive to school. Nobody can afford groceries, so they don’t go to the market. Everyone just deals with their illnesses because they can’t afford a doctor, even with insurance. It’s kind of a win-win for everyone involved!
The long term assessment on volatility and the damage to society was a foregone conclusion and decision back in 2018. I’m never going back.
Suggested by Former Autoblog
You have read the tea leaves and seen the darkness coming. How will I meet my end, soothsayer?
No gas for me in 22 years (unless you count methane or hydrogen). Compared to the EV1, which I drove, today’s electrics are dream vehicles. This rate of improvement will continue for range, efficiency, comfort, safety, etc. Not a question of if they will dominate the market, just when. Still, I ogle gas cars all day long, which is why I’m on this site!
Suggested by Phil Klemmer
I have ultimate respect for GM’s EV1 project. I wish they’d had the strength to keep the flame alive and continue developing electric vehicles from that point forward. We might be already 10 years further into the development.
My EV daily driver just turned 8 years old a couple weeks ago and still feels like new. My wife replaced her only car with an EV 3 years ago and we exclusively use hers for our road trips.
I feel like at this point so far into mainstream EV adoption, if it’s not the gas prices that will make people switch, they’re just too stuck in their ways afraid of the future and will just eventually die out. Being in the EV world for so long, I’ve heard every excuse in the book as to why people won’t get them, and it almost always comes from a misunderstanding of how they work and what their capabilities actually are.
Suggested by StalePhish
I have long said that the best way to sell electric vehicles is to get butts in seats. I think that is actually the second best way to sell electric vehicles, as we are now in a time of unprecedented ignorance. If manufacturers actually want to sell these things, they need to mandate training and understanding for dealership staff. The customer should not be expected to know more than the salesperson in order to buy an EV, which seems to be the case right now.
Considering It
I’ve wanted to get an EV for a long time now. By the time I’m able to, the technology will be much better than it was.
I’ve got solar panels and my electric bill is negative $375.
Suggested by Yowza
Solar is magnificent, isn’t it? It feels like magic, being able to conjure energy out of thin air.
Not completely because of gas prices but also back injury, but been eyeing off lease Ioniq 5s. Love the GRC but I don’t know how long my body can handle it.
Suggested by Minivanman
The GR Corolla is one of the best cars on the market right now, but feeding that ripper three-cylinder high test is getting pretty pricey. I’m sorry to hear about your injury — I hope you recover well enough in time. An Ioniq 5 is a pretty good consolation prize, however.
We are not planning on buying a new car now, but whenever we talk about getting a new car, my wife and I only discuss electric cars. That’s the future.
Suggested by a Jalopnik reader
That kind of quiet consensus — where the conversation shifts without a formal decision — may be exactly how the broader market moves as well. The readers who weighed in this week span the full spectrum, from committed EV veterans to curious fence-sitters, and their collective reasoning suggests that rising gas prices are accelerating a conversation that was already well underway.
