If someone is concerned about climate policy and wants people to curtail their ICE vehicle use, high fuel prices are probably going to be the only realistic way that this is gonna be exposed to the consumer (like, we probably aren’t going to have an administration impose fuel rationing or something) so this is pretty good. Not only are they high, but it’s also good odds that your favorite politician isn’t the one taking the political hit for it. As the article points out:

In the U.S., gas prices were less than $3 per gallon before the start of the Iran war in February, and since then, the national average is now $4.14. That increase has cost Americans more than $50 billion, according to a Brown University analysis. As of this writing, the most expensive gas in America is in California, where car owners are spending as much as $5.78 per gallon. That has hurt the economy, with Americans spending a lot less money on vacations over the summer. Flights and road trips have also declined, as jet fuel costs have also been affected by the Iran war.

https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/03/26/1134677/gas-prices-electric-vehicles/

Historically, this is exactly the sort of moment that’s pushed people to reevaluate how they get around. During the oil crisis of the 1970s, Americans switched to smaller, more efficient cars in droves. It was a major opportunity for Japanese automakers, whose vehicles tended to fit this mold better than those produced by their US counterparts.

Nice, round numbers do tend to get people’s attention. Some point to $4 per gallon (which the national average is quite close to right now). At that price, the total cost of ownership for an EV is comfortably lower than the cost for a gas-powered car, even with higher electricity prices, according to data from the energy consultancy BloombergNEF.

Then again, maybe that won’t quite do the trick: One survey from Cox Automotive found that most US consumers would consider switching to an EV or hybrid if gas prices hit $6 per gallon.

Mind, I don’t think that Trump is gonna get a Greenpeace or Sierra Club endorsement any time soon…