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 The energy crisis caused by the war in Iran is strengthening the case for electric vehicles for some consumers. Chinese carmarkers are the big winners. Today's newsletter looks at what's happening on the ground in Southeast Asia, where drivers are turning to EVs as a cheaper alternative. Plus, an exclusive on a company entering the US electric truck market and a profile of celebrated Danish architect Bjarke Ingels. Someone forward you this email? You can subscribe to the Green Daily for free climate news six days a week. Bustling showroomsBy Neil Jerome Morales, Linda Lew, and Nguyen Kieu Giang At a BYD car dealership in Manila's financial district, demand for the Chinese company's electric vehicles is so high that Matthew Dominique Poh said he's seen a month's worth of orders in just the past two weeks. "Clients are replacing units in favor of EVs because of the oil price hikes," said Poh, who's been a salesman at the dealership for the past seven months.  A BYD vehicle in a showroom in Makati City, Philippines on March 12. Bloomberg About 1,100 miles (1,770 km) away in Hanoi, Nguyen Hoang Tu Anh said his VinFast showrooms had to hire more sales staff after customer visits quadrupled, resulting in the sale of 250 EVs in the three weeks since the Iran war started. That works out to more than 80 a week, or double the average rate in 2025. "Switching to EV will help us significantly save money," said Lai The Manh Linh, a 41-year-old employee at a telecom company, who traded a gas-powered Toyota Vios subcompact car for a new, all-electric VinFast 5 compact crossover for his 60-70 kilometers daily commute to work. Though automakers have yet to report their sales figures for March, the first full month since the Persian Gulf conflict began, early signs point to Asian EV makers such as China's BYD and Vietnam's VinFast benefiting from the resulting surge in crude oil prices. The pinch from higher pump prices is particularly acute in the Pacific region, where about 80% of the crude passing through the Strait of Hormuz typically ended up before that route was effectively shut down by the conflict.  VinFast's VF 8 EV model along a road in Hanoi, Vietnam. Photographer: Linh Pham/Bloomberg "Higher oil prices always help the transition to electric vehicles," said Albert Park, chief economist of the Asian Development Bank. "It creates economic incentives to accelerate the green transition." But sustaining this spike in consumer interest in EVs will require the industry to make massive infrastructure investments to bridge the current shortfall in charging stations, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Joanna Chen. "Affordability and charging have always been the two biggest factors hindering EV adoption," she said, adding that the total cost of ownership may even out as oil prices rise. "Outside of China, the upfront price of EVs are still generally more expensive than gasoline cars." Even before the Iran war's oil shock, EV penetration rates had been rising across Asia — with a few notable exceptions such as Japan. In China, EVs and plug-in hybrids account for more than half of all auto sales, thanks to the government's push to promote the growth of a home-grown, alternative-energy-based industry. Southeast Asian countries have EV adoption rates of around 40%, exceeding levels in the UK and Europe, and making them among the most electric-friendly in the world, according to UK-based think tank Ember. "We were previously less upbeat about EV demand in 2026, as the government's lower subsidy made EV prices less attractive compared with conventional fuel-powered vehicles," said Surapong Paisitpatnapong, spokesman for the Federation of Thai Industries' automobile industry group. "If oil prices stay at current levels or rise further, we expect a significant increase in EV demand." Solar curious27% How much Octopus Energy, the UK's biggest energy supplier, saw inquiries about home solar increase in the week the war started. Hybrid solution"What's been lost in the US narrative is we have this luxury of two vehicles per household" Itay Michaeli TD Cowen investment bank analyst In the US, households with two or more cars could decide that at least one of their vehicles should be untethered from the gas station. Electric trucks betBy Coco Liu A clean technology company backed by some of the world's largest investment firms is entering the US electric trucking market despite the Trump administration's attacks on the sector. The move signals long-term confidence at a time when many green industries are slowing down.  Zenobe Energy announced Thursday that it purchased San Francisco-based Revolv for an undisclosed amount. Revolv operates 13 fleet charging facilities in California. Zenobe also is on the lookout for acquisition opportunities in states including Illinois, New York and Massachusetts, as the company aims to scale up its truck electrification operations, said Andreas Lips, who leads Zenobe's electric vehicle business in North America. "California is clearly the anchor," Lips said. "But overall, North America is our ambition." This week's Zero The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is responsible for collating our shared scientific understanding of how global warming is impacting the planet. But the body now faces a challenge after the US withdrew funding for its scientists to participate. Professor Jim Skea, who chairs the IPCC, joins Akshat Rathi on Zero to talk about the body's future, whether the organization can survive the US pullback, and what questions the next set of reports are going to answer. Listen now, and subscribe on Apple, Spotify or YouTube to get new episodes of Zero every Thursday. More from GreenFor his 50th birthday, the Danish architect Bjarke Ingels was thrown a surprise party by the fifth king of Bhutan. Bjarke Ingels Group, or BIG, had been designing the Himalayan nation's "mindfulness city," a new economic hub near the Indian border. Walking into Dechencholing Palace to a room with many cheering friends, a cocktail bar and a Bhutanese band, Ingels was as flabbergasted as he was jet-lagged. "It took me a while to realize, 'OK, this is what's happening.'" Now, a year later, inside BIG's sprawling ninth floor offices in the Dumbo neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, he sports the Dragon King's other birthday gift, a handsome Patek Philippe wristwatch.  Ingels at his studio in Brooklyn. Ingels is among the most celebrated architects in the world, a darling of both the corporate class and climate-concerned urban planners. He's known for his whimsical and inviting style, which is on display at Google's headquarters in Mountain View, California; a sleek pyramidal residential building in New York known as Via 57 West; and a power plant in his native Copenhagen topped with a ski slope and a climbing wall, dubbed CopenHill. His list of projects-in-progress includes an MLB ballpark in Las Vegas and a new Zurich airport that, when it opens in 2035, will be the largest wooden building on Earth. Off planet, BIG is designing lunar living spaces for NASA. Read the full profile of Ingels Australia's second-biggest coal-producing state will ban new mine applications for the fossil fuel and impose rules to reduce methane emissions from existing projects. More than 20 states are legally challenging the Trump administration's decision to roll back a landmark scientific determination that greenhouse gases threaten human health, which underpins various federal climate rules. Los Angeles-based electric powerboat maker Arc Boat Company has raised $50 million to finance its expansion into commercial and defense vessels. President José Antonio Kast's pledge to ease environmental regulations to boost investment threatens to have unintended consequences for Chile. More from Bloomberg
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