Oil Price Shock Drives 140% Surge In China’s EV Exports To Record High

By Michael Kern of OilPrice.com,

Chinese electric vehicle exports soared by 140% to a record high in March as the fuel price shock drove consumers back to EVs.

BYD electric vehicles bound for export in China.Source: AFP/Getty Images

China exported as many as 349,000 electric vehicles last month, a record high number of any month ever, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association cited by Bloomberg.

Drivers in Asia Pacific, Europe, and the United States started searching for EVs and hybrid options amid soaring fuel prices, following the war in the Middle East. The conflict has trapped more than 10 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude supply at the Strait of Hormuz and hiked international oil prices to $100 per barrel and above, up from $70 before the conflict began.

As a result of the rapidly rising fuel prices, consumers are increasingly exploring EV options.

Showrooms across Asia, where the fuel crisis was first felt, are bustling with interest from consumers willing to buy EVs.

In Australia, the wait times for EVs have soared to by several months, the Australian Financial Review reports.

BYD, China’s biggest EV manufacturer and top exporter, has said that the average wait time for its top-selling Sealion 7 and Atto 2 models has blown out to between two and three months, up from two to three weeks.

Autotrader, the UK’s largest automotive marketplace, reported a surge in EV interest since the first bombing on Iran on February 28.

“Our data shows a sharp rise in both new and used EV leads since the war began at the end of February, with used EV enquiries hitting record levels on the Autotrader marketplace,” Ian Plummer, Chief Customer Officer at Autotrader, said at the end of March.

“When people feel that traditional fuel is vulnerable to global events, the appeal of electric becomes far stronger so the conflict is acting as a significant catalyst for EV interest across the UK market.”

Interest in EVs in the United States is also rising, as gasoline prices topped $4 per gallon nationwide. Yet, Morgan Stanley expects that an actual increased demand for EVs and hybrids in the U.S. could take place after about six consecutive months of high gasoline prices.