Southeast Asia’s motorists are increasingly feeling the pinch as the Iran energy crisis extends into its eighth week. Fuel prices have soared across the region, and drivers are waiting in long lines outside petrol stations in Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines, hoping to fill their tanks.
While oil prices have slipped from their highs just a few weeks ago—West Texas Intermediate crude is currently hovering around $90 per barrel—they are still far above prewar levels. The closed Strait of Hormuz, as well as export bans of refined fuel products from countries like China and South Korea, have cut off petrol supplies in Asia.
But across the region, drivers may have found an answer: electric vehicles.
Chinese EV giant BYD received the most orders of any automaker at the Bangkok Auto Show in early April, beating Toyota for the first time. Among the top 10 brands, seven were Chinese.
Energy security concerns are shaping EV demand, says Samuel Chng, a research assistant professor at the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD). “EVs are increasingly framed not just as a climate solution, but as a way to reduce dependence on imported energy.”
EVs convert roughly 90% of stored energy into movement, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Conventional gasoline engines manage to convert around 25% of the energy from fuel into movement. That makes EVs an attractive and affordable option for consumers during periods of energy scarcity.
“The energy crunch is doing much more to accelerate the EV transition than any message on climate change,” said Lawrence Loh, who heads the Center for Governance and Sustainability at the National University of Singapore (NUS). “Ultimately, it’s about what hits your pocket—and the Iran war hits your pocket right away.”
Globally, 1.75 million EVs were sold in March, a 66% jump from the month before, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.
Chinese automakers were already transforming the global car industry, thanks to their innovative yet affordable electric vehicles. According to estimates by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, Beijing has invested over $230 billion into its EV industry since 2009, including into infrastructure subsidies, sales tax exemptions, and R&D. This has sparked fierce domestic competition among manufacturers like BYD, Xpeng, and Nio.
Intense competition has “accelerated innovation, lowered battery costs, and pushed prices down, making EVs more accessible and boosting exports,” said Chan Siew Hwa, the codirector of the Energy Research Institute at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University. (A BYD car can cost as much as $20,000 less than a Tesla.)
Chinese EV makers are investing in the driver experience to stay afloat in their home market, building in features like assisted driving and LLM-powered assistants. Chinese carmakers are also starting to bring these features to global markets: Earlier this month, BYD extended its partnership with U.S. software firm Cerence AI to roll out an in-car conversational LLM assistant powered by the latter’s platform.
“Asian EV makers appeal to consumers by offering more features at the same price,” said Kim Jeong Won, a senior fellow at NUS’s Energy Studies Institute.
Companies are making inroads into Southeast Asia by partnering with local conglomerates and automotive groups. Sime Darby, No. 22 on the Southeast Asia 500, is BYD’s official distributor in both Malaysia and Singapore, while Ayala subsidiary ACMobility manages sales in the Philippines.
Local EV manufacturers are benefiting as well. VinFast sold just over 175,000 EVs in its home market last year, doubling its 2024 figure. EVs now make up almost 40% of Vietnam’s car sales, overtaking the EU average, according to energy think tank Ember.
In Singapore, government policy is propelling EV adoption. In 2025, the country extended subsidies for EVs, while removing those for hybrid cars. Singapore has also mandated that all new cars registered from 2030 will have to use cleaner energy models, e.g. electric, hybrid, or hydrogen, and promised a fast-charging EV hub in every housing estate by 2027.
Despite EV optimism in Southeast Asia, parts of East Asia have been slower to adopt the technology. “While EVs have already become mainstream in China, consumers in Japan and South Korea have been more cautious about fully electric EVs and prefer hybrid cars,” Kim explains.
Experts cautioned that EVs won’t fully solve problems around the green transition and energy security. “The overall climate benefit of EVs depends on how clean a country’s electricity grid is,” said Chan of NTU. “Otherwise, emissions are simply shifted upstream.” (Southeast Asia still relies heavily on fossil fuels like coal for power generation.)
Shengxiao (Alex) Li, an urban planning expert from NUS, points out that EVs have hidden environmental and economic costs over their life cycle. For example, their lithium-ion batteries can’t simply be thrown into landfills due to their propensity to overheat and catch fire. It’s also difficult to recycle EV batteries.
“When you think about the life cycle costs—which consider all the factors from the time you purchase a car to when you give it up, such as insurance and longevity—EVs might ultimately cost more per mile than gasoline vehicles,” said Li.
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