Fuel Shortage Has Increased Interest In EVs

After the country goes crazy for fuel, many Brits start looking into electric cars.

As so-called fuel shortages continue, the impact of having to queue for much longer than usual for fuel seems to have increased interest in electric cars.

Although the drama of it all is dwindling now, this time a week ago was a very different story. With some queues lasting over an hour, backing traffic up causing disruption for hundreds of meters and inconveniencing those that don’t even need fuel but simply need to drive past a fuel station, the fuel ‘crisis’ was very far from ideal.

Now, as queues begin to decrease in size and wait time, we can look back at this defining event and analyse it. One such analysis comes from Electrifying.com, a specialist motoring blog site focussing on electric vehicles.

According to our friends over at Electrifying, the recent fuel panic neatly correlates to an increase in searches for electric cars online. According to their own metrics, a 75% increase in searches on their website occurred on the weekend of the fuel panic (last weekend).

Also, a 300% increase in Google searches for terms like ‘electric car’ has been observed according to Electrifying, marking a significant spike in interest around electric cars.

Ginny Buckley, founder of Electrifying.com, said “It is only natural that even staunch advocates of petrol and diesel vehicles are probably considering making the switch to an electric car. Our website is certainly seeing a significant surge in interest.”

It’s easy to assume that those who have had to face the stress of running out of fuel on the side of the road or spending too much precious time sitting in a queue for something that usually takes 5 minutes would then go on to do some quick research into electric cars. Seeing the smug look on the faces of EV drivers as they pass you with their green number plates is enough to make you think ‘could I get an EV?’.

After a weekend of having to pay inflated fuel prices after queueing unnecessarily, it’s no wonder why people en masse are looking up EVs because after all, it must be nice to wake up each morning with a full tank!

Let us know if the fuel panic has you considering electric cars, in the comments.

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