Donald Trump’s Republican party has been dealt a hammer blow in the US midterm elections, with Democrats taking seats in areas that have long been safe havens for the red party, but could it all have an impact on EV running costs? 

And while Donald Trump might no longer be in control of the legislative agenda, he still has the reins on foreign policy and to a certain extent the military. But let’s look at the some of the questions that arise for electric vehicle drivers following the historic US election results.

Could the US election affect petrol prices? 

It is Trump’s decision to attack Iran in February 2026 that has caused the global spike in oil prices, because of the consequent lack of supply of oil that would usually be shipped through the Hormuz Strait that Iran sits on. 

Now that Democrats are in control of both chambers of Congress they can put pressure on the president to cease hostilities in the region – the president isn’t allowed to take military action that lasts longer than 60 days without the approval of Congress, but the White House has already found ways to get around that with apparent technicalities, like declaring ceasefires and then resuming action the following day. 

Alternatively Trump could double down on action in Iran in the short term before Congress is able to turn the financial taps off, further squeezing global oil prices.

What it all means though is that more drivers than ever before are considering whether it's worth their while making the switch to an electric car. 

Could electricity bills come down?

Electricity shows longer-term effects of high fossil fuel prices – gas is expensive and we generate a significant amount of electricity in the UK from that, and the oil needed to ship it around the world is also very expensive.

There are two things that will alleviate that pressure on domestic fuel bills though – UK prime minister Andy Burnham has promised to sever the link between wholesale gas prices and the domestic price cap (electricity should be cheaper because more of it than ever is being generated renewably), plus there will be an increased supply of domestic gas this winter from the newly christened Jackdaw gas field off the coast of Scotland. 

The energy price cap for January will be announced on 25 November, but the geopolitics of it all probably won’t come into play until the quarter after that, when the price cap for April is announced at the end of February. 

Will cheaper EVs come to the UK?

Actually this has already happened – the hostility of the US and European Union markets to Chinese-made electric and plug-in cars is one of the chief reasons that Chinese brands have been willing to launch in the UK market. 

The UK doesn’t currently impose tariffs on Chinese cars, but the thing more likely to influence this isn’t the result of the midterm elections, but rather the trade deal that the UK has agreed with the European Union. 

Andy Burnham is under pressure from the EU to introduce tariffs on Chinese cars so as not to disadvantage established European carmakers – he’s held firm so far, but we know that the Europeans like their hardball.