The escalating gasoline prices are influencing car shoppers with more of them seeking fuel-efficient vehicles, namely hybrids, more so than electric vehicles, data shows.
In fact, as one analyst put it, “Hybrids are having a moment” — especially in the used car market, where prices are more affordable.
“Many people assumed the recent spike in gas prices would mean a resurgence in EV demand, but hybrids have proven to be the real benefactor of rising fuel costs,” said iSeeCars Executive Analyst Karl Brauer. “Hybrids are selling faster, retaining more value, and growing their market share faster than electric vehicles, though Tesla’s EVs are also doing quite well.”
Take for example, the Ford Maverick midsize pickup. In May, new sales of that vehicle shot up 10% to 17,055 units sold.
The Maverick pickup was a bright spot in Ford’s May U.S. new vehicle sales, which came in 13.6% lower than the year-ago period at 190,828 vehicles sold. Ford offers a traditional hybrid or an ecoboost engine option in the Maverick. Ford spokesman Said Deep said 63.7% of Maverick buyers chose the hybrid and 36.3% chose the ecoboost engine last month.
According to a survey by Cox Automotive conducted last month of some 1,000 in-market vehicle shoppers, gas prices ranked as the second most influential factor on vehicle type decisions, pushing nearly a third of buyers to delay their purchase timing, and boosting more than half to look at fuel-efficient options across the board, with the strongest pull being toward fuel-efficient gas vehicles and hybrids rather than full EVs.
The younger shoppers, ages 18 to 29, or those with higher-incomes tend to pivot toward alternative powertrains due to high gas prices, the survey results showed. Lower-income and older shoppers choose to tighten their belts and possibly delay a car purchase.
Used market selling hybrids
In the used market, hybrids are steadily gaining share and taking market share from traditional gas vehicles, Brauer said, as consumers look for a practical, range-anxiety-free alternative to fully electric cars. Brauer said the prices for all used vehicles are rising. Between January through May this year, the average 1- to 5-year-old car’s price has increased by 4.9% compared with the same period in 2025. In dollar amounts, that means the average 1- to 5-year-old used car sold for $31,266 in the first five months of 2025 compared with $32,794 this year.
The average 1- to 5-year-old Maverick hybrid’s price between January through May of this year has increased by 2.6% compared with the same period a year ago. In dollar terms, that is an average transaction price of $27,766 compared with $27,061.
When speaking of hybrids, Brauer includes both traditional hybrids and plug-in hybrid powertrains. Both combine a gasoline engine with an electric motor to improve efficiency, but a traditional hybrid uses a gas engine and regenerative braking to recharge. It typically gets in the range of 40 to 50 mpg.
A plug-in hybrid is plugged in to an outlet or charging station to recharge its battery. It gets greater range on pure electricity than a traditional hybrid does.
Hybrids are hot in new too
Hybrids are selling well in the new market too, according to Stephanie Valdez Streaty, director of Industry Insights at Cox Automotive.
“Hybrids are hot, hybrids are having their moment,” Streaty told the Detroit Free Press. “There’s a lot of product out there. There’s trust around the hybrid because it’s been around a long time with Toyota RAV4 and Ford Maverick establishing it. Then you have these high gas prices. If you don’t want to worry about charging an EV, (a hybrid) takes away that friction.”
The average price of gasoline continues to bump up against $4 a gallon, nearly $1 a gallon higher than a year ago at this time. January through April sales this year of traditional hybrid new vehicles are up 11% compared with the same period last year, Streaty said. Whereas the total U.S. new car sales in the same period are down 5.7% compared with the period last year.
When Streaty speaks of hybrids, she refers to traditional hybrids, not plug-in hybrids. Her data showed that in 2023 traditional hybrids accounted for 5.6% of new car sales. As of April this year, her most current data, those hybrids comprised 15.6% of sales.
Some of that boost can be attributed to the fact that there are more products. While Toyota has dominated hybrid offerings, more brands such as Hyundai, Kia and Ford are offering hybrid options. Besides the Maverick, Ford offers the F-150 Hybrid pickup — officially known as the PowerBoost. It has a 3.5-liter V6 engine paired with a 47-horsepower electric motor. The PowerBoost can add $1,900 to $3,000 onto the sticker price of the truck, which starts at about $40,300. But Ford said due to the combined electric motor efficiency and a large 30.6-gallon fuel tank, the truck drives more than 700 miles per tank on the highway.
Also, luxury brands such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Porsche and Audi offer various hybrid options.
“There is consumer demand and there is a value propostion: You save money on gas, its more fuel efficient and if you care about the environment it’s better,” Streaty said. “It’s also an easy transition from (gasoline engines) to a more electric powertrain.”
Get value in ownership
The value proposition comes during the ownership years not at the dealership.
Most hybrid powertrain options carry a premium that adds $1,000 to $3,000 to the sticker price. If it is a plug-in hybrid the premium could add $6,000 or more. But the savings comes in cost of ownership. For example, according to Kelley Blue Book’s car comparison, a 2026 Hyundai Sonata starts at $30,395 compared with a 2026 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid at $33,695.
But in Kelley Blue Book’s analysis of the five-year cost to own, fuel for the Sonata would run $9,730 and fuel for the hybrid version would be $6,053. All other expenses and costs of ownership are relatively close, but the hybrid does depreciate in value slightly more bringing total cost of ownership to: $57,856 for the gas version and $55,786 for the hybrid version, according to Kelley Blue Book.
If the war in Iran ends, most experts believe — and Streaty agrees — that it will take quite some time for gasoline prices to drop and level off. For that reason, Streaty believes the consumer trend toward hybrids will continue.
Toyota is hybrid king
Also, there are just more hybrids available. Toyota now offers only its hot-selling RAV-4 SUV in hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains and the Camry sedan is only sold as a hybrid.
“Those are both high-volume vehicles and they are only offered in those powertrains so that means more hybrids on the road,” Streaty said.
Indeed, Toyota is the winner when it comes to hybrids, having sold 4.4 million of them in 2025, according to www.carbuzz.com, which states that of the 16.3 million new cars sold in the United States last year, about one new vehicle, for every seven sold, was a Toyota, and one in 15 was a Toyota hybrid.
“Hybrids are becoming mainstream and it will continue to be a good option for consumers,” Streaty said. “We’ll continue to see hybrids grow and pure battery EVs will also continue to grow, but at a slower pace. The share of (internal combustion engine) vehicles will slowly go down.”
Jamie L. LaReau is the senior autos writer for USA TODAY Co. and who covers Ford Motor Co. for the Detroit Free Press. Contact Jamie at jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on X @jlareauan. To sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Hybrid car sales heat up with elevated gas prices
Reporting by Jamie L. LaReau, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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By Jamie L. LaReau, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
