Surge in oil prices pushes consumers to electric cars in Asian economies

The sales of electric vehicles have jumped in Asia as cost-conscious buyers have poured into dealerships looking to dodge the fuel price spikes driven by the Middle East war.

Many Asian nations have been particularly hard hit due to a sharp fall in the crude shipments they rely on — and have few alternatives to replace them.

Yet, the energy crisis has been a windfall for electric vehicle manufacturers.

Do Thi Lan, an employee at a Vietnamese company, explained the simple math about the electric cars' appeal at a showroom of Vinfast, a Vietnamese electric carmaker.

"We have to calculate our monthly expenses, as the money we spend on petroleum has been on the rise," she said.

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She said her family owns a car that runs on gas but was considering buying an electric vehicle to save money.

Dao Thi Hue, also at the showroom, was looking to go electric too.

"Driving an EV is so much better than driving a petrol vehicle, in terms of costs and also in terms of saving fuel, queuing to fill up," the schoolteacher said.

Crude oil prices have soared by around 50 percent since the start of the Middle East war and again exceeded $100 per barrel on Monday, driving up the cost at the pump.

Asia was already making inroads with EVs before the war in Iran drove oil prices to multiyear highs. Vietnam doubled its share of EV car sales last year, overtaking the United Kingdom, according to energy think tank Ember.

Thailand's sales share reached 20 percent, up from just 1 percent in 2019, and Indonesia overtook the US in EV penetration. Southeast Asian EV sales rose to 55,000 vehicles a month in the last quarter of 2025, up from 32,000 monthly sales a year earlier.

'Game changer'

Global consultancy Wood Mackenzie said, as quoted by E&E News by Politico, the war could be a "game changer" for EVs. It estimates that roughly 80 million new passenger EVs could enter the global market by 2030 as a result.

In a separate analysis, the consulting firm said the disruption to oil and gas flows caused by the conflict could cut global oil demand by 20 percent by 2050 as countries reduce dependence on imported fuels and prioritize electrification.

Vinfast, listed on the Nasdaq, saw a 127 percent surge in annual sales in Vietnam in March, reaching 27,600 cars.

"At this point in time, clients consider fuel costs a lot when making a decision on which cars to buy," said Pham Minh Hai, deputy head of sales at a Vinfast showroom.

"In March, we sold 300 to 400 cars," he said, noting that the showroom normally sells between 200 and 250 cars a month.

Hai said more than 50 percent of his clients switched from gasoline to electric cars last month, while the number of customers at the showroom was up by around 30 percent.

He said the closing hours had been extended to deal with the rush.

Outside Vietnam, Chinese EV manufacturers are booming.

The biggest Chinese automakers, including BYD and Geely Auto, have been increasing their efforts in boosting sales abroad, including expanding production facilities outside China.

At the Bangkok International Motor Show earlier this month, BYD secured most orders for any manufacturer, surpassing Japan's Toyota for the first time.

"I drive a lot, nearly 100 kilometers a day … with the current fuel situation and no idea how long it will last, it's become a major factor pushing me to make the switch," said Pleng Nawintham, a 36-year-old pharmacist from Thailand.

BYD was also seeing increased sales in the Philippines.

Mae Anne Clarisse Bacquiano, manager of a BYD showroom in the suburbs of Manila, said foot traffic at the dealership was "at another level".

"It was all because of the rise in fuel prices," she said. "Earlier today, I had a customer, a doctor who was ranting about how he is being punished by gas prices … He was in a hurry to go full electric. There'd be a huge difference in expenses."

"I don't expect the gas (prices) to go back down over the next couple of months," said Arlone Abello, an entrepreneur who was checking out BYD models at the showroom.

Boosting sales

Chinese car brands have made inroads over the past months in regions such as Europe, Latin America and Southeast Asia.

Exports of Chinese electric vehicles — for which Southeast Asia is a major market — doubled in March, compared with the same month last year across all manufacturers, according to the China Passenger Car Association.

BYD told analysts it expects its vehicle exports to exceed 1.5 million in 2026, well above the 1.3 million target announced in January.

Economic factors are at the forefront of the increased demand for greener vehicles.

"You have the individual consumer response to what they are seeing in terms of the price of petrol or diesel suddenly surging," said Euan Graham, an electricity and data analyst at Ember.

"The impact of the Iran conflict hasn't fully shown up in March data yet, but it can act as a trigger," said Chris Liu, a Shanghai-based senior analyst at advisory group Omdia, as quoted by the Washington Post.

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"In many markets that are structurally well suited for EVs, adoption has been slow simply because consumers lacked urgency," he said. "A sharp rise in fuel prices changes that."

The installation of charging stations in the region is also growing rapidly.

Jakarta promised last week to take "more serious steps to accelerate the development of a national electric vehicle ecosystem" to combat its "high level of energy consumption".

Electric vehicles are gaining momentum beyond Southeast Asia.

"There are signs that global demand has already picked up substantially," Capital Economics, a research firm, said, adding that registrations of electric vehicles in Japan, South Korea and New Zealand more than doubled in March, and rose by over 50 percent in India and Australia.