Welcome to Tech News Briefing. It's Tuesday, April 14th. I'm Bell Lin for the Wall Street Journal.

Higher prices at the pump are changing consumer behavior. With gas prices reaching over $4 a gallon amid the Iran war, some households are rethinking their gas-guzzling vehicles.

And that could be a sign of good news for the sluggish EV sector.

Then the AI Gold Rush is rapidly drawing up the supply of one resource developers can't do without,

computing power. And that's leading some AI companies to take drastic measures.

But first, although sales of new EVs remain low in the second Trump administration,

things are beginning to change. Used EV sales jumped 12% in the first quarter, according to

Cox Automotive. and car shopping platforms

like Cars.com and Edmonds say they've seen an uptick in EV interest recently.

WSJ Detroit Bureau Chief Patrick George joins us now to discuss why Payne at the Pump has some

buyers thinking differently, and if it will last.

So Patrick, consumers' minds are changing about EVs now. Why is that? I'm not 100% convinced that their minds are

completely changing, but the data we've seen and everyone that we've talked to indicates that

they're considering electric vehicles more and more, maybe taking more of a look at them than they probably have in months.

And we see the obvious reason behind that, which is skyrocketing gas prices.

Most people realize that buying an electric vehicle really shouldn't be looked at as purely a cost savings measure.

You're talking about buying the car, in some cases, a higher premium that a gas car would have. But at the end of the day, you're kind of immune to a lot of the gas spikes that we're seeing right now. And, you know, some folks are looking at this and saying, okay, well, maybe gas will calm down a little bit, but if I get a car that runs on electricity, you know, the next time this happens, I might not be as affected.

One of the other things to consider is that gas-powered cars are very sticky.

In other words, Americans are sometimes hesitant to switch over to EVs.

Why is that the case even with the higher gas prices?

It's as a new technology still.

A lot of people have anxiety about range or misconceptions. They haven't really had seat time in an electric vehicle. And it's definitely an infrastructure challenge. You know, this is a very easy existence if you can charge easily at home, but finding access to a charger can still be tough. And America's EV infrastructure has gotten tremendously better, and even just the last year.

...