Israel Electric Car Interest Surges Fivefold Amid Fuel Price Hikes
Data from Yad2 shows interest in electrified cars in Israel surged nearly fivefold, reaching 23.5% in September despite government fuel subsidies and price drops.
Electric Car Interest Surges in Israel Amid Fuel Price Volatility
Data from the Yad2 platform reveals that the growth rate of consumer interest in electrified vehicles in Israel has jumped nearly fivefold. The share of inquiries for electric, hybrid, and plug-in hybrid cars reached 23.5% in September, showing that the trend persists even after fuel price hikes stabilized.
According to statistics gathered for N12, following an April escalation that pushed gasoline prices up by over a full shekel per liter, electrified vehicle inquiries surged. In just three months, the proportion of searches for these models climbed from 19.1% in March to 23.2% in June. By comparison, a similar increase previously took nearly a year and a half to materialize.
Government Subsidies and Market Response
In early October, the price of 95-octane gasoline reached an all-time high of 8.27 shekels per liter, driven by a 13% increase in global fuel prices and a 3% strengthening of the US dollar against the shekel. To counter this, the government intervened with massive subsidies totaling over 450 million shekels to curb price spikes ahead of upcoming elections.
Consumers on Yad2 treat gasoline prices like a one-way street — movement is strictly in a single direction, said Shani Rabad, CEO of Yad2 Automotive.
Despite state intervention bringing prices down to 7.77 shekels, platform data indicates that buyers are not returning to traditional internal combustion engine vehicles. Once consumer search preferences shift toward electrified options, temporary price drops in fossil fuels are insufficient to reverse the momentum.
