Amid high gas prices, more customers are turning to hybrid cars and electric vehicles to save money.
Gas prices first rose in February following the U.S. getting involved in the war in Iran. According to AAA, in Bloomington, a gallon of gas now costs an average of $4.36 a gallon, nearly $1.50 more than it was two months ago. And that doesn’t include the nearly 60 cents in state gas taxes suspended by Governor Mike Braun.
Joseph Yoon, consumer insights analyst for Edmunds, a website providing resources for car shoppers, said normally about 20 percent of consumers look at electric vehicles on the site. Now, 25 percent are considering purchasing an EV, which Yoon says is significant.
The last time Edmunds’ consideration data reflected more people spending time looking at EVs was during the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, when gas prices across the country rose to an average of $5.03 a gallon.
Read more: Gas prices continue to rise in Indiana after start of Iran war
“They're not just reading an article on a new site. They're not just looking at an ad somewhere,” Yoon said. “You know, they came to our website and intentionally drilled down to look at these vehicles because XYZ, and I think right now that XYZ is, why am I paying so much money per gallon?”
John Shassberger purchased a Ford F150 Lighting EV right as gas prices started to increase. Since he teaches at Butler University twice a week and Indiana University twice a week, he drives nearly 250 miles a week for work alone and was spending hundreds of dollars on gas a month.
But so far for the month of May, he’s spent under $30 on charging his EV. He charges his vehicle at night, when the rate to pay per kilowatt hour is lower. Now, he pays 11 cents per kilowatt hour and is working on getting that rate down even more.
“It makes everything easier, you know?” he said. “I mean, that's a car payment right there. So, it just frees you up from having unnecessary bills.”
Shassberger saves even more on charging fees by using the car’s regenerative breaks; when you lift your foot off the accelerator, the breaks act as a generator and capture energy to feed back into the battery.
“I charged it to 90, I drove to IU, and when I got there, I still had 90 percent because the breaks recharge the battery as you go,” he said. “So, you could literally drive around town and come home with a significant amount of charge left by using those breaks.”
Shassberger’s new EV can also pull 7,700 pounds and can handle up to 9.4 kilowatts. That means he can plug any power tools into the car without having to bring them back to his farm and even use the car as a source of electricity when he loses power.
“When we lose power in the winter or after a tornado or something like that, which happens quite often, that truck can power my entire house at 9.4 kilowatts,” he said. “So, it just the capability that it gives me was just incredible.”
Ellettsville resident Evan Griggs purchased his electric vehicle in March just as gas prices were on the rise. It only costs him about $2.30 to drive to and from Bedford every day from work. If he still had his gas truck, he would be paying about $15 a trip with current gas prices.
“I get home, I plug it in, and go to sleep, and in the morning, it's fully charged,” Griggs said. “I don't ever have to stop at a gas station.”
What have local dealerships seen?
At the Royal South Toyota dealership in Bloomington, manager Riley Kelly said more people have expressed interest in hybrid vehicles but are still a bit hesitant about going fully electric due to charging infrastructure and travel distance concerns.
“Plug-in hybrids seem to offer a really comfortable middle ground because people can drive short daily commutes on electric power while still having a gas engine available for longer trips or convenience,” she said.
And at Andy Mohr Honda and Hyundai in Bloomington, more people have gone ahead and purchased hybrids and electric vehicles. Mike Telezyn, general manager of the dealership, said over the last few months, he sold an average of two more EVs and four more hybrids per month.
He said buying an EV or hybrid saves money, even with limited charging infrastructure in the state. People can save up to $100 a month on gas by switching to a hybrid vehicle, and over $200 a month by switching to an electric vehicle.
Read more: Gas prices up to $5 in Monroe County
“We're educating them. That's the main thing,” Telezyn said. “We talk to them about the vehicle. We spend a lot longer going over it with them, and just how you would have to use the apps that are provided by the manufacturers in order to plan out your route and to be ready for things like that.”
While charging infrastructure in Indiana is limited, the Indiana Department of Transportation recently announced its plan to invest nearly $100 million to build an EV charging network at various locations along interstates and highways. And in Bloomington, there are charging stations at Switchyard Park and various parking garages.
Shassberger said he’s not worried about limited charging infrastructure; he usually has enough battery to get where he needs to go. At full charge, his EV holds 225 miles, enough to get him the 64 miles to Butler and back.
“If something happened, if I needed to, I could just pull in any dealer,” he said.
Aside from limited charging infrastructure, Yoon said other factors, such as cost to buy an EV, infrastructure and range anxiety, are making people hesitant to officially make the purchase.
Depending on the make and model, people should expect to pay an average of $55,000 for an EV. And after the federal tax credit incentive ended last September, where shoppers could qualify to get up to $7,500 to put toward buying a hybrid or EV, high costs became even more of a barrier.
Yoon said if some are still currently paying off their car, they won’t save money by switching to an EV. But if already shopping for a car, like Shassberger’s wife is, who bought a hybrid car last week, going with a hybrid or EV instead could save money.
“If you try to trade that in early, you're probably going to be a little bit underwater, which means you have to carry a couple extra $1,000 of negative equity into your next car, which will increase your monthly payment,” he said. “But if you're already shopping for a car and you have some doubts about maybe going full gasoline … or if you have a good garage and you know a good electrician to install a charger in your home, maybe you should look at an electric vehicle. I think that's the right attitude to have right now.”
Shassberger was paying $650 a month for his old gas vehicle. Now, he’s paying just over $900 a month for his EV. Even if he’s paying more, he thinks it’s worth it since he’s saving money on gas and only has to take his car to the shop once a year for maintenance.
Telezyn said people can get about 230 miles per charge for an EV and up to 600 miles between getting gas and charging for a hybrid. Their most popular models right now are the Hybrid Honda Civic and EV IONIQ 5.
