High gas prices drive up demand for electric vehicles

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With demand for electric vehicles higher than ever, Garry Rogowski and his wife are taking an EV for a test drive.

“I have a Dodge Ram for a truck and it costs me over $200 to fill it up now, so ouch!” Rogowski laughs.

The pain at the pump is accelerating demand for electric vehicles — big time.

“Right now, it’s hyper-intense,” says Brad Ostermann of KIA Victoria. “The interest and demand in electric is hyper-intense.”

At Kia Victoria, customers interested in electric or hybrid vehicles used to make up about 40 to 50 per cent of their overall traffic, but that’s now revving up closer to 75 per cent.

“Victoria’s always had a very high demand for electric vehicles, we seem to have a great market for it,” Ostermann says. “Obviously, with the price of gas over $2 a litre, that’s certainly increased the demand we’re seeing.”

It’s a similar situation at Motorize Electric Vehicles in Colwood.

“We’ve probably seen a doubling in the number of people that are inquiring on a day-to-day basis, either by phone, in-person visit or by email,” says dealer principal  Julian Sale of Motorize Electric Vehicles. “It’s a massive increase.”

Demand for second-hand EVs has always been high on Vancouver Island, but they’re now even harder to come by.

Motorize has about 20 on the lot at any given time, and they usually sell within a week.

“I’m always communicating with our past customers to see if we can buy back inventory we’ve sold them,” Sale says.

At Kia., second-hand electric vehicles also usually only last a few days and you’ll have to wait if you want a new one.

“Depending on vehicle, make, model, colour and trim, wait times can be anywhere from a month or two months and as much as a year or 18 months,” Ostermann says.

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