The US military action in Iran may have an unintended secondary effect – ending the cultural dominance of the internal combustion engine and ushering in the age of electric vehicles.
Back in the 1970s, a sudden increase in the price of oil led to the public embracing smaller and more fuel efficient cars; similarly, the choking of the Strait of Hormuz, and the resultant high cost of oil, is driving a historic surge of interest in electric vehicles.
Google Trends data shows that almost three times as many Australians searched for “electric vehicles” on March 23 when compared to February 27, the day before the US started to bomb Iran and the cost of oil (and fuel) started to skyrocket. The increase in RSV (Relative Search Volume) represents a 278% increase in Australians searching for “electric vehicles”.
