Cox Automotive said in a July sales report that the rapid sales pace for electric vehicles in recent years will slow.
“EV sales records will continue to be set, and EV growth will continue to outpace overall industry growth, but the days of 75 percent year-over-year growth are in the rearview mirror,” Cox said. “The hard-growth days are ahead.”
In the short term, EVs remain more expensive than gasoline counterparts, and many buyers are still on the fence about the new technology.
“According to a recent Edmunds survey, the high cost of EVs is still the biggest deterrent for potential buyers,” Caldwell said. “So there is a serious need for product expansion at the lower end of the price spectrum.”
Kelley Blue Book estimated the average transaction price for an EV in June at $53,438 compared with $48,808 for all light vehicles. The average transaction price for a non-luxury vehicle was $45,291, Kelley Blue Book said.
The good news is that EV transaction prices fell from more than $61,000 in January, led by Tesla’s price cuts, Cox said.
According to Experian data, Tesla led the EV market in the first half with 329,608 new registrations, a 44 percent rise over the year-earlier period. That was good for a 60.3 percent share of the EV market. From the first quarter to the second quarter, new Tesla registrations increased 12 percent, from 155,360 to 174,248, the data shows.
Tesla had the top two EVs in the six-month registration data, the Model Y crossover at 201,434 and the Model 3 sedan at 108,604. New Model Y registrations nearly doubled compared with the first half of 2022, and the Model 3 rose 12 percent.
Here’s how other brands fared.
- Chevrolet was the No. 2 brand for new EV registrations in the first half with 34,140 for a 6.2 percent share of the EV market. In January, Chevrolet had an 8.5 percent share, but new registrations of its Bolt EV and Bolt EUV trended lower afterward.
- Ford was in third place with 27,937 new registrations in the January-June period, for a 5.1 percent share. The brand started strong in January with a 7.7 share, but the Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning lost some ground in following months.
- Hyundai had 20,964 registrations in the first half, Experian said, for a 3.8 percent EV share from its Ioniq 5 crossover, Ioniq 6 sedan and Kona small crossover. That was an improvement over its 3 percent share in January.
- BMW was in fifth place with 18,253 registrations in the first half, compared with 1,887 in the year-earlier period, Experian said. Its share rose from 2.9 percent in January to 3.3 percent for the first half. BMW’s numbers were led by the i4 sedan with 11,165 new registrations. The i4 competes with the Tesla Model 3.
- Mercedes-Benz was No. 6 in new EV registrations for the six-month period, with 17,773. Its EV share rose from 2.4 percent in January to 3.3 percent for the first half.
- Volkswagen was seventh with 16,619 new registrations. Its EV market share went from 4.6 percent in January to 3 percent in the January-June period as the sales pace of its ID4 slowed.
- EV startup Rivian was No. 8 with 15,576 new registrations for its consumer vehicles, the R1T pickup and the R1S crossover. Rivian ramped up production in the second quarter and saw its market share rise from 2.6 percent in January to 2.8 percent for the first half of the year.
- Kia was ninth from January to June with 13,771 new registrations. Its EV share went from 2.8 percent in January to 2.5 percent for the first half.
- In 10th place for new EV registrations was Audi with 10,075. Its market share went from 1.6 percent in January to 1.8 percent by the end of June, the Experian data showed. And 14 other brands had less than 1 percent share each.
