Rising gas prices boost electric and hybrid car sales in Eugene area
Higher gas prices pushed Eugene-area shoppers toward hybrids and EVs, and one dealership said those models made up more than 60% of sales.
At Eugene-area car lots, the price at the pump is changing what people are willing to drive home. Sheppard Auto Group leaders said hybrid and electric vehicles have climbed to more than 60% of sales since March, as fuel costs kept rising and shoppers began weighing monthly gas bills against higher car payments.
The pressure is easy to see in Oregon’s fuel market. AAA put the state’s average regular gasoline price at $5.338 a gallon on May 18 and $5.343 on May 19. Another Oregon report said the average reached $5.32 on May 12, up from $3.91 a year earlier. At those prices, a typical passenger car with a 12- to 16-gallon tank can cost more than $60 to fill, a level that has made fuel economy a bigger part of the buying decision in Eugene and Springfield.
That shift has been especially noticeable among shoppers who are trying to lower monthly operating costs without giving up newer vehicles. The dealer says the demand started building in March as gas prices climbed. One customer who leased an electric car viewed it as a chance to save money, a decision that reflects a broader calculation now playing out across Lane County lots: pay more up front, or keep sending more money to the gas station.
Charging access is also making the switch look more practical than it did a few years ago. Lane County now has hundreds of charging stations, and state transportation officials expect about 50 public fast-charging sites to be installed or upgraded through the NEVI program. Public fast chargers can add about 50 miles of range in as little as 20 minutes, and some level-3 systems can take a battery to 80% in 15 to 30 minutes. Newer models can approach 300 miles of range on a full charge.
Local adoption has climbed with the infrastructure. Eugene had 6,417 cumulative EV registrations in 2025, up from 4,934 in 2024 and 3,725 in 2023, according to city data tied to the Oregon Department of Energy. The state’s EV dashboard now tracks registration data through January 2026, while a Lane County charging-station mapping report from June 12, 2023, said the county was looking to expand charging coverage and identify where new stations should go, especially in low-income census tracts.
For Lane County drivers, the math is shifting in real time. Higher gas prices are not just squeezing household budgets at the pump; they are changing the mix of vehicles on Eugene lots and accelerating the move toward hybrids and EVs.
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