Does a low oil price impact EV sales? Not yet, no.

The economic impact of the coronavirus prompted an OPEC+ meeting to discuss production cuts to stabilise oil prices. But negotiations broke down, resulting in Saudi Arabia launching a price war that saw the Brent price fall over 30%, its biggest drop since 1991. The latest news comes on the back of two months of decline, almost halving the oil price since the start of this year. Instinctively, it is easy to think that a reduction in oil prices is bad news for electric vehicle adoption. Afterall, the main advantage of buying an EV is not having to pay for gasoline anymore. However, if we dig deeper below the surface, a different picture appears, the purchase price, charging infrastructure, ease of buying and available car models has a much greater impact on EV sales at this moment – the price of oil has little to do with it.