Automakers, dealers and shoppers dawdle on EVs despite strong year in US sales growth
The EV trend in the US at the end of 2023 is a little tough to tease out
Despite new electric vehicle market share and sales hitting a record in the U.S. this year, EV growth is starting to slow and fall short of the auto industry's lofty ambitions to transition away from combustion engines.
The U.S. has reached a crucial milestone in its efforts to electrify: More than 1 million new EVs have been sold here this year, according to Motorintelligence.com. The auto industry consulting firm says EVs accounted for 7.5% of total U.S. sales through November. Experts say that number must rise swiftly to address climate change because a large share of greenhouse gases comes from transport.
Ford Motor Co. recently touted a 43% increase in electric vehicle sales year over year — which includes its top-selling electric Mustang Mach E SUV, as well as the F-150 Lightning pickup — in a November sales release. Hyundai's Ioniq 5 and the Kia EV6, both electric SUVs, each hit around 100% growth year over year last month.
Despite these positives, this doesn't come close to the 90% year over year growth the EV industry enjoyed last summer. EVs had huge sales growth at the time, even with models averaging more than $65,000, according to Cox Automotive data. Demand was high, inventories were low, and automakers were bullish on sales prospects.
This is largely because EVs were more appealing to buyers as gasoline prices flirted with $5 per gallon, said Kevin Roberts, director of industry analytics at the CarGurus website.
Now, gasoline has dropped to around $3 per gallon nationwide, and the average transaction price for an EV, without any incentives applied, has fallen to just under $52,000. Many tech-savvy early adopters have already bought
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