Cambridge, MA, June 30, 2022 — Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT), the world’s largest telematics service provider, today announced the results of new research into driving trends as Americans face historic increases in gas prices. The research analyzes the driving patterns of households that have both a traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle and a Tesla. The research reveals that as gas prices have increased, Tesla/ICE households have relied more on their Tesla, resulting in a 10% increase in trips taken in their Tesla since February 2022.

“We’re seeing a clear link between higher gas prices and mobility, which has been expected for some time,” said Ryan McMahon, VP of Strategy for CMT. “What’s unique here is CMT’s ability to analyze how mileage has shifted from ICE vehicles to electric vehicles when drivers have that option.”

The new CMT research also shows an inverse correlation between gas prices and miles driven in ICE vehicles. The analysis looks at miles driven in 2022 compared to 2021. As of February 2022, ICE mileage remained relatively constant compared to 2021. As gas prices rose, mileage fell. In May, with gas prices averaging $4.55, ICE mileage was 5% lower than 2021. When average gas prices surpassed $5, ICE mileage was 8.5% lower than in 2021. By comparison, overall Tesla mileage does not show a clear relationship to gas prices, with miles driven in Teslas increasing slightly over the same time period.

Tesla trips, however, have increased significantly among Tesla/ICE households. The percentage of Tesla trips among Tesla/ICE households has increased to 70% since February 2022. Before February, Tesla made up 63% of Tesla/ICE households’ total trips.

The data for the new research comes from millions of vehicles across the CMT DriveWell® Platform. CMT deploys a number of methodologies and technologies to match drivers to a specific vehicle and the trips taken in that vehicle. For this analysis, CMT researchers relied on CMT’s DriveWell Tag, an intelligent Bluetooth device that sticks to a vehicle’s windshield. The Tag pairs with the driver’s smartphone, enabling miles driven to be attributed to a specific vehicle.

About Cambridge Mobile Telematics

Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT) is the world’s largest telematics service provider. Its mission is to make the world’s roads and drivers safer. The company’s AI-driven platform, DriveWell®, gathers sensor data from millions of IoT devices — including smartphones, proprietary Tags, connected vehicles, dash cams, and third-party devices — and fuses them with contextual data to create a unified view of vehicle and driver behavior. Companies from personal and commercial auto insurance, automotive, rideshare, smart cities, wireless, financial services, and family safety industries use insights from CMT’s platform to power their risk assessment, safety, claims, and driver improvement programs. Headquartered in Cambridge, MA, with offices in Budapest, Chennai, Seattle, and Tokyo, CMT serves millions of people through 80 programs in 18 countries, including 21 of the top 25 US auto insurers.