First there was stockpiling toilet rolls for Covid, now there are signs of panic buying electric vehicles. While a plug-in SUV with more LEDs than a dentist's waiting room may not have the obvious daily importance of a packet of loo roll, it seems geopolitical happenings could be reviving our interest in EVs. The Iran tensions have sent gas prices into orbit and that means that car buyers have a renewed fascination with electric cars (remember when they were hotter than a wolf cut at a K-Pop gig?) and this in turn has sent the internet into a frenzy. Never a dull day in car land right? Is The Big EV Comeback About To Happen? GMCIt is no secret that EV sales last year conked out faster than a cell phone on 1%. Total EV sales in Q4 plunged to 234,000 units, down 46% compared to Q3, reported Cox Automotive, leaving people to wonder if the chart-topping teen idol of the automotive world looked like they were heading for the wedding circuit. But if the Iran conflict has been good for anything, it's apparently giving the good old EV a boost. It turns out that a sharp increase in gas prices (the national average price for a gallon of gas was $3.54 was up 43 cents from $3.11 just one week earlier, says the AAA) has led people to dream about having a 4.5 ton on their driveway (that will be Chevy Silverado EV). Data Shows A Renewed Interest In EVs Nissan Edmunds car shopping data showed an increase in shoppers exploring alternatives to traditional gasoline-powered vehicles. Hybrids, plug-in hybrids (which can be more fun than they sound) and EVs accounted for 22.4% of all vehicle research activity on Edmunds in the week starting March 2, up from 20.7% the previous week. Edmunds said: "Most of that increase was driven by growing shopper interest in battery electric vehicles, which saw the largest gain among electrified powertrains during this time period." So is the EV about to make a Rocky-style comeback? So It's Time To Get Chargers At The Ready? Via: ChevroletNot quite, at least according to the buzz that the story has created on Reddit, a place where almost any global issue is solved with a few hundred characters and an emoji. Some Reddit users equated the new interest in EVs as being similar to panic buying essentials during the Covid pandemic. "I reckon these buyers are the same people who cleared the toilet paper aisle in 2020," said 04limited. Another user, AwesomeBantha added: "Switching cars will cost you thousands if not tens of thousands, and only makes financial sense if you hold onto the new vehicle long enough that the fuel savings eclipse the cost of changing vehicles." A Debate Raged About The Cost Savings Of An EV In 2026 Alfa Romeo Others tried to work out how much buying a brand-new EV would save them in fuel, with some saying around $40 a month, and others saying it would be around $150 a month. User SanguineWave had another take: "The depreciation they’re going to eat will be substantially more than the difference in gas prices." Whether the EV will be back to save the automotive world, we will have to wait and see — but in the meantime, we have the popcorn at the ready.Sources: Edmunds.com