EV sales in the US will hit a record this year, but still trail China

Electric vehicle sales in the United States will hit a record this year, exceeding one million cars in a calendar year for the first time. EVs are expected to account for nine percent of all cars sold, up from 7.3 percent in 2022. However, the US market will still trail Germany, Norway and China in this respect, according to an analysis by Atlas Public Policy cited by the AP.

Atlas Public Policy estimates that 1.3 to 1.4 million electric vehicles will be sold in the US this year. Several factors have contributed to the wider adoption of EVs in the US, but the most significant, according to the AP, is that prices have fallen.

Tesla, the current market leader in electric vehicles, cut prices on its popular models several times over the course of the year. This prompted other carmakers to try to keep up.

The US Inflation Reduction Act has also helped bring down EV prices by increasing tax credits for the purchase of new and used electric vehicles. The cost of EV batteries is also falling, as key raw materials used to make them, such as lithium, are becoming cheaper, making these vehicles increasingly affordable.

However, the US still lags far behind other countries in the popularity of electric vehicles. According to the Bloomberg NEF EV outlook published in June, electric vehicles accounted for 33 percent of sales in China in the first six months of 2023, 35 percent in Germany and 90 percent in Norway. These figures include both battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

In the Czech Republic, sales of all new passenger cars rose 16.7 percent year on year to 186,886 vehicles in the first ten months of this year, according to the Association of Car Importers. Sales were up 18.7 percent in October alone. Hybrid cars accounted for 17.9 percent of the market and electric vehicles for 2.9 percent.

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