EV sales in the third quarter of 2023 achieved record-setting levels in the USA, surpassing the 300,000 quarterly sales level for the first time with a total of 313,086 all-electric vehicles sold according to Cox Automotive and Kelley Blue Book research, a 48.9 percent surge year-over-year.
Despite a recent poll suggesting the majority of Americans aren’t interested in acquiring an electric vehicle as their next automotive purchase, EV sales climbed to 7.9 percent of all vehicle purchases during Q3 2023 compared to 6.1 percent in Q3 2022, Cox revealed.
Another upcoming “first” for electric vehicles in the U.S. is the likelihood of sales surpassing one million units sometime in November. Consumers purchased slightly more than 873,000 EVs during the year’s first nine months. These figures indicate electric vehicle sales have quadrupled in just three years, with 2020 being the first year when sales passed 250,000 units.
Americans are buying more EVs for several reasons. The number of models available and the variety of body styles have both increased sharply, with 14 more electric nameplates currently on offer than in Q3 2022. Supply has also grown, while average prices are on a downtrend, making the vehicles more attractive. Tesla has led the way in this regard by dropping prices about 25 percent.
GM remains a fairly small player in the EV market at this stage, though its presence in the market is also increasing. Data shows electric vehicles accounting for 8.5 percent of Cadillac, 3.6 percent of Chevy, and 0.8 percent of GMC Q3 sales. Statistically insignificant numbers of the freshly launched Chevy Blazer EV and Chevy Silverado EV were also sold.
While Tesla’s sales rose 19.5 percent year-over-year for the quarter, the market share of Elon Musk’s company is shrinking rapidly as competitors roll out their offerings. Tesla reached its lowest-ever American market share of 50 percent during July, August, and September. Both Asian and European carmakers saw their EV sales take off as they introduced new electric models to the U.S.
Many of the foreign automakers saw triple-digit growth in sales, though this is mostly because they sold only a handful of vehicles last year. Mazda and Nissan both saw growth in excess of 300 percent. The biggest gainer in percentage terms was Volvo, growing its sales by 654 percent from 542 to 4,087 electric vehicles.
Cox concludes that the same pattern should hold over the next several years, with the number of available EV models growing exponentially while consumer purchases increase in linear fashion.
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Comments
I hope there’s just as many articles posted with these numbers as there are articles posted talked about the amount of models sitting on lots.
And there wasn’t a ton else to buy. It’s a farce.
I heard Tesla will be selling a rebadged Cadillac ICE vehicle to increase market share. LOL.
They will sell with at 30% premium and CR will call it worlds better than the Caddy.
like the chevrolet prism and the toypta build on the same assembly line? the toyota according to cr was great and the chevrolet prism was terrible
Same with the Matrix and Vibe. Or how about when they rated the Chevy Caprice V6 and V8 paint quality totally different when they went down the same line and through the same paint booth. CR’s blind-eye towards American brands has and still is awful.
The pain quality can still vary even at the same plant depending on the line worker applying it, color, paint mix etc etc.
This article just proves how the media can manipulate things to make it what they want to report. And of course, people (yes, including me) then run with those things and turn it into something it’s not.
Last week I commented on an article either on this site or another where it was like chicken little running around screaming that the (EV) sky is falling. My point was that they and the people reading this stuff just need to slow down and look at it for what it really is. EV sales are not tanking and yes there is a slowdown. Just like with the majority of ICE vehicles. In the automotive world, there are constant ups and downs and you need to temper yourself and not panic. I also pointed out that the majority of early EV buyers have now gotten their vehicles and it’s now become an affordability issue. The high priced EV’s like those fat pig Hummers and Lucid’s along with Tesla’s higher priced models will slow much more while the lower priced EV’s is where the current buyers are looking. And there is where the problem is. There are few EV’s to buy for less than $40,000 and thus, an affordability problem.
This. Its not just an EV affordability issue either. ICE vechiles are too expensive too.
If you’re only looking at the sales and production numbers there isn’t much to get excited about. Yeah, it takes time to ramp up production, and sometimes it takes time for it to be adopted. But these aren’t the only hurdles EV’s have to make it over. There’s range and charging station availability, which are not easy to solve and require billions of additional investment to make possible. There is the charging time, which make EV’s a very, very limited mode of transportation for most people.
Until the range and charging station issue is solved, the typical EV will be nothing more than a short range way to get somewhere…and back home. These issues are the technical problems to solve, the other half has to do with ROI.
GM, Ford, Stellantis, and others, have billions invested in production facilities capable of producing over 1 million EV’s a year, and that may increase if sales picks up. This is not a “build it and they will come” scenario. Consumers have options…and much better ones to boot.
Without the demand the investments do not return as promised. Over-production (what we’re seeing now) is a symptom of low buying interest. Unsold cars sitting on dealership and manufacturing lots represent another investment that is literally melting (or catching fire) as time progresses.
Things ARE bleak for EV manufacturing, but not because its a bad idea (it is) but because its been driven by something other than demand and supply. Its being driven by an undefined fear of a catastrophe no one can (or does) take seriously.
The EV revolution can’t survive at this point in our history…the whole thing is probably about a century too soon. It’s going to end in tears for a lot of credit and equity holders who really want a ROI.
Tesla better be working on a much better looking interior and styling change. They are the only EV producer making a profit currently.
My local dealer has a yard full of ICE suv’s and trucks. They sell a few each week. How much does it cost to finance the unsold vehicles week after week? Some have been sitting there 3-4 months or longer. On the other hand, an EV comes in and is sold in days. I still say the petroleum industry are the nay sayers in all of this. The rest of the world will be on innovative alternative fuel sources and the US will be relying on OPEC.
Harry Balls – you say the petroleum industry are the nay sayers, I say reality will be the nay sayer. Even Toyota knows that the auto industry can’t go full electric. Maybe a little research on your part will go along way to educating yourself. I would venture out to other sources besides what the DNC tells you.
USA 1: Not sure why the negativity toward Harry. They are simply stating some factual things based on their local dealership. Of course that won’t be the same for every dealer in American.
They are, based on my experience with our dealership (Mazda and Volvo) as well as most dealers in my area (southern California), correct in that nobody around here has much for EV inventory. Most get an EV in and they are either spoken for or go within days. Yet ICE vehicles are beginning to build inventory. As for Toyota? They can stick it where the sun never shines. Nasty brand.
it costs them next to nothing. with no discounts and fees being the norm, they can afford to keep something on the lot for 2 years currently before they have a need to actually get rid of it.
Thats not how a dealership works, do you think they get the cars for free and then pay the manufacturer when it sells?
Dealership inventory is floor planned and the dealership does pay for it’s inventory to a bank or lender.
Sounds like that dealer is in a sweet spot- and can stop ordering ICE vehicles. He can ship his inventory to the heartland where it will sell in days.
Pretty soon all the knuckleheads will have their EVs so the sales will keep falling off. The fools have spent their money.
If you’re telling me you live in SoCal it should be no surprise that ice vehicles are sitting on the lots. Your idiot governor has announced that ice vehicles will be illegal to sell after 2030. If you want an EV, get one. But please, STOP telling me I HAVE to get one. I don’t want one and won’t be buying one. Frankly, I’m sick of the government telling me what I can or can’t do, or own, or say.
Agree, Southern California is an outlier. You can’t reliably use it for comparison for anything. Nothing there is normal.
I would never go back to an ICE vehicle after having a TESLA. The advantages are huge. No more: pumping gas or trips to the dealer for service. Better: performance, ease of use, new features from over the air software updates to remain current, climate control and sentry mode to protect the car while parked, and plenty of Tesla charges to avoid range anxiety. `Ability to subscribe to software upgrades like full self driving anf Tesla auto insurance from my iPhone. No need to carry a key which is replaced with my iPhone.
But, when you have to buy new batteries for the car ……….
The majority of the things you listed as advantages have nothing to do with ICE vs EV. Also, not sure how you can list ease of use as a Tesla advantage when they got rid of intuitive physical controls and buried everything in menus on a screen.
Cultists are going to cult….
If his car self drove into a barricade and blew up with him in it his last words through the toxic lithium reaction would be “thanks for the warmth Elon!”
Clearly, you are a liberal who only wants to tell us what we think. Also, what does that have to do with how many cars are being manufactured or sold by any particular car company? You just couldn’t leave politics out of this, could you?
Seriously, aren’t you the one who brought politics into the conversation? Please see your original post! To make it easy, you said, “Frankly, I’m sick of the government telling me what I can or can’t do, or own, or say.”
Are you saying only liberals want control of their bodies? Ask around. Polls consistently show that over 70% of us what to be able to make decisions about our bodies. That includes many Republicans and conservatives.
Still less than 8% of total sales. Still a niche market.
To put that number into perspective, Honda Motor (including Acura) has a market share around 7-8%.
I think we can all agree that Honda isn’t a niche automaker.
What percentage is purchased by tax dollars?