Some people love them, others dismiss them, while some even dislike them. The electric car. Wherever you sit on the spectrum, they are here to varying degrees depending on where you live.
The US is a very large car market so are electric cars having much impact there? Federal Electric Vehicle purchase incentives were put in place to entice buyers. Did it work?
2023: US EV sales reached just over 1.2 million, up 46.3%. Tesla contributed 54% of the total. The future looked electric even though at this point they accounted for about 7.5% of all sales.
2024: The total crept up to 1.3 million, up 7.3%. Tesla was the major brand with nearly 50% of the total. Were there signs that a ceiling was being reached?
2025: The national $7,500 new EV and $4,000 used EV incentives ended on September 30, 2025. It left buyers primarily relying on individual state rebates. Coming late in the year, it didn't have a huge impact but a 2% drop in the total showed it did have an effect.
2026: Half way through the year and with numbers down 23%, it would seem that a lowering of incentives has impacted. Fossil fuel prices are up so will some switch to EVs as a result? Early indicators suggest not too many as yet.
So EVs still need incentives to encourage some to join the movement. They also aren't practical for many either so even incentives won't sway a sizable number anyway. They are here to stay but in places where incentives don't exist or are limited, they remain an unlikely purchase.
Data source: Cox Automotive. Photos: Tesla 3, Rivian R2.
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