More than a million EV units were purchased by Americans in a single year for the first time ever in 2023, as electric vehicles continue to win a steadily larger share of the U.S. market according to recent research.
Data presented in the “Zero-Emission Vehicles Factbook” by BloombergNEF shows that EV sales accounted for about 7 percent of total vehicle purchases in the USA this year, setting new records.
U.S. EV sales still lag global sales of electric vehicles, which edged upward from 14 percent in 2022 to 15 percent in 2023. The biggest drivers of battery-electric vehicle sales remain China and, to a somewhat lesser degree, Europe, Nevertheless, American purchases of zero-emission vehicles reached 8.8 percent in 2023’s first half.
Overall, 22 million EVs are currently being driven in China, while 12 million are on the road in Europe, primarily in France and Germany, but with Italy and other countries catching up. The electric passenger car fleet in the USA is now about 5.1 million vehicles strong, putting it in third place, but with a 300-percent increase since 2020.
While Q4 data isn’t yet available, Q3 2023 saw record quarterly EV sales in the United States. Americans bought more than 313,000 electric vehicles during July, August, and September of this year. Quarterly sales were up noticeably from last year, with electric models accounting for 6.1 percent of sales in Q3 2022 and 7.9 percent of all sales during Q3 2023.
Several factors are helping to drive EV adoption, including the greatly increased number of available models, which now include SUVs and pickups along with crossovers. The incentives offered by the Inflation Reduction Act have also assisted with sweetening the deal for American vehicle buyers.
The million-EV milestone for the year, which counts only pure battery-electric vehicles and not plug-in hybrids or other partially electrified vehicles, lends addition credence to a summer 2022 analyst prediction that electric vehicle adoption has reached a tipping point in the U.S.
In that particular Bloomberg study, 5 percent of overall light-vehicle sales was noted as the likely pivotal number beyond which mass adoption would pick up significant momentum, based on statistical analysis of smartphone adoption.
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Comments
Just wait till the rebates go away. The sales will drop for sure.
Drop the oil subsidies and EV purchases will rise!
Yep. US fossil fuel subsidies were $760B in 2022
Note to haters: Don’t forget to click the “thumbs down” button which
should be here ↓
Gas is nearing $2.50 per gallon today in my free red state, I will stick with ICE.
James Dandy: And you can thank those big oil subsidies StevenInSoCal pointed out as to why you can get gas for $2.50 where you live.
But I’m glad you can continue to blow harmful fumes out the tailpipe of your vehicle just to be free. Well, that is free until you can no longer do what you want because of climate issues.
completely and irrevocably wrong, but keep parroting those lies so we have further amusement .
And just how is that “irrevocably wrong”? Please inform? Or is it just wrong because it doesn’t fit your narrative?
Simple, because you are incorrect, posting disinformation and are totally uninformed about what subsidy money to the OIL EXPLORATION COMPANIES is awarded for.
Ohhhh. Now it all makes total sense.
NOT. I think you must have written that after inhaling a quart of ice cream and you had a brain freeze.
Awww….poor baby. Did you just get “schooled” with facts about your lies about “oil subsidies” and how that money has nothing to do with prices at the pump and now you resort to the usual leftist libbie insults ? So sorry I “offended” you with truth and exposed your lies and spin.
Maybe you are giving the global fossil fuel subsidy number, cause you are close to that number for 2022? You aren’t even in the park for the US numbers. The US does not even fall in the top 25 nations when you look at total dollars given to subsidize fossil fuel. Even though the US is the top or close to it in production and sales of fossil fuels.
According to Biden’s energy dept, subsidies to fossil fuel for 2022 were $3.2 billion (much of that tax breaks for things like depreciation etc given to all industries) while producing 80% of energy. BTW that subsidy is less than half of one percent of production value, lower than nearly any other fossil fuel producing country in the world. Wind and Solar alone received $11.1 Billion while producing 5.5% of energy (nuclear, bio mass, hydro and geothermal make up the rest – total renewable about 20% of energy produced, only 12% if you exclude nuclear.)
This is BEFORE Biden’s radical increase in solar / wind subsidies with the passing of the Inflation Skyrocketing (oops govt speak “reduction”) Act.
Sorry to use Biden’s 2022 Energy Dept numbers against your “talking point” above.
A write off isn’t a subsidy FYI. Nor is a grant for “carbon capture” research. A subsidy is when the government has out checks to a failing industry. Think Solara, EV tax credits, carbon credits (which is the only reason Tesla is in the black)
That is a lie. There are no “oil subsidies” a subsidy is when the government props up a business by using taxpayer grants to keep that business operating. (Think EV’s, solar panels, windmills and Halogen light credits)
Greenies claim “oil subsidies” when they refer to regulations being waved that would make drilling for oil impossible, even though THESE SAME REGULATIONS DO NOT APPLY TO GREEN PROJECTS. You can strip mine for lithium on a plot that would be banned for coal/natural gas,,,, cause it’s green. The greenies just apply a dollar value to “what it would require” to tap the gas to their insane requirements.
But there is no physical taxpayer dollars going to drilling for oil!!!! Infact, every gallon that comes out on federal/offshore land, the companies, who then by the way pass that cost along to us the consumer, pay the government per gallon. That’s right, were taxed twice on oil, EV’s you rich people get a subsidy for a new EV from us poor people.
Dear troll, you realize ( no, you clearly don’t ) that those “oil subsidies” you yammer about are to promote exploration and test drilling and have absolutely nothing to do with the price of Oil or Gas ? Wise UP !
Dear Lib from SoCal…..Oil “subsidies” have nothing at all to do with “prices at the pump” ! Those Government “subsidies” were voted on by Congress decades ago to encourage the risky and very expensive prospecting and test drilling for new Oil. If a well comes in as productive, that subsidy money is quickly recovered in the Federal production taxes paid for every Barrel that well produces. If you’re actually from SoCal in the L.A. metro area with all the Oil wells around there, we’d think you’d know this but don’t and choose to LIE and post spin about it.
Not only the oil subsidies and tax breaks but bring our military out of the ME and see how high the oil goes no matter how much we pump…but shhh those are all costs were not suppose to talk about.
If we can tap the Alaskan oil reserves, then what do we care if Iran blocks the straight of Hormuz? We will provide the whole world with oil, become rich in the process.
Why don’t we do that? Cause china and Russia have bought out our politicians to keep it locked up. Minute we unlock it, china loose their bargaining power, and Russia loses their arms sales to the Middle East. Look at the lack of war under the last administration when we were pumping in ANWAR and gas was $1.40/gallon. Now we’re in 2, possibly a third war coming.
Not bad for something no one wants.
Over a million people wanted them thus far this year. Then again, some people like the look of oily grease spots on their driveway.
Lol, my GM’s don’t leak.
Harry B: Can you imagine if GM and Ford and Stelantis actually offered one tiny EV for under 20 grand, one compact EV (Bolt) for 25 to 30 grand and one smaller EV truck for 30 to 35 grand? That million would turn into 3 million very quickly.
So other than GM with the Bolt, none of them offer anything like it. But we have those fat pig Hummers you can buy for north of 100 grand!!!!
Any manufacturer would go bankrupt pretty quickly with you hypothetical EV offerings, because they would be losing $5K on every EV they sold at those insanely low prices.
Bruce: So your solution is to just keep moving in the same direction we have been for 50+ years? Do you see the irony there? So you would rather worry about what GM and Ford are making for profit instead of worrying about the climate crisis?
I don’t know about you, but it sounds like you may be in the same boat as many others on this site in denying climate change. Say what you will and ignore the consistent proof put forward by those who know and have been studying this for decades. It’s already here and getting worse. The real question now is just how bad will humanity allow it to get? BTW, EV’s are not the full and/or final answer. A lot more needs to be done to change the path we are now on.
Climate change is real, that is obvious. The worlds car fleet will electrify, it just has to happen at a slower pace that many folks like you want it to. Capitalism is the only economic system we have come up with that works at all. Even mitigating climate change will have to fit into how fast a capitalist system can work it out. I surely don’t want to go to Socialism or Feudalism, I really don’t want go back to an early 20th century standard of living in a police state.
The “pre-owned” market for these in a couple years will be worse than used 8-track tapes…IMHO.
How many cars in this million figure are government fleet purchases? Inquiring minds want to know.
mick1: How many ICE sales are govt. fleet purchases?
See how this works? Every single thing all the EV haters say can and will be the exact same thing that can be said about ICE.
How many of the million are Tesla’s? Lower font gm and the others late to the game.
Davy: That is a very valid point, but it still doesn’t matter. An EV is an EV no matter who produces it. The fact is that EV sales are growing even with the lackluster attempt by the big 3 US brands. The EV numbers will continue to grow and if GM/Ford/Stelantis actually gave a s**t, those numbers would be going up much faster.
But yes. The majority of those million + EV sales were from Tesla.
If the fed offered the same $7,500 tax credit for any new ICE vehicle purchase (say with a combined mpg of 30 ), I’m sure ICE vehicle sales would be seeing a huge jump right now too! Then throw in state offered credits, like $5,000 in Colorado, and you’re getting paid $12,500 to buy a vehicle. Also in Colorado, there’s yet another way to get even MORE money back to purchase a BEV … if your salary is low enough & you trade in an ICE vehicle … I believe it’s another $5,000 – $7,500 back! Gee … I wonder why BEV sales are selling faster now? I also love all these followers that only spout off about tailpipe emissions vs. ICE vehicles. What the green wave doesn’t want to face the reality of is how many millions of tons of contaminants are spewed into the air by the third world countries mining and refining the minerals required to make the batteries for all these BEVs, not to mention how dangerous the batteries are to the environment once they’re no longer viable in the vehicles and have to be disposed of… then what? Let’s actually talk about the REAL impact of BEVs versus ICE vehicles, not just tailpipe emissions.
Wow Paulie. If only there were a study showing the actual “carbon footprint” of vehicles. Oh wait, not only is there a study, but numerous studies of just that. Maybe it would be wise if you did a couple of searches on that subject before saying this trash.
Just to be clear, there is no such thing as a clean vehicle. No matter if EV or ICE, they all have negative impacts on the environment and public health. The entire world needs to do a lot more than just switch to EV’s. But the studies conducted on the overall carbon footprint of EV’s vs ICE are out there to be read and it takes each from the start of materials used and how they attain them through the end of life of that same vehicle. EV’s are much better overall.
Again, you’ve completely failed to mention other environmental impacts of EV production and mining for materials required for the production of batteries. There are impacts to clean water sources and supply, impacts to ecosystems, animals, migration patterns, etc. Nobody seems to care about the impacts on those things, so tell me again how EVs are so much better for “the environment” or is it just for the air we breathe? Something else that studies leave out … is how long they’re saying people keep their gas cars and how long they’re using for people to keep EVs in comparison. I also don’t see anything mentioned about having to replace the battery pack in an EV, which doubles the manufacturing damage to the environment for an EV. I guarantee that depending upon who writes the study, and factors they use, I can find studies that show the true impact of EV production is worse than for ICE production.
Wondering when people will begin realizing Lithium is a known Neurotoxin and here we are introducing more and more of it into the Environment ?
If you took away big oil breaks and subsidies and the cost of our militaryin the ME keeping the ships moving lets see how much the gallon of gas will be then…. surely not 3.25 which some still complain about PER GALLON. Unlike Europe who has been paying several dollars per LITER…per LITER not gallon for decades. Lets if lets compare it all equivalently.
Uh…Bub….”Big Oil”, that you’re parroting those lies about, only receives tax “breaks and subsidies” ( that you EV fan-boys love to LIE about ) to encourage highly risky Oil Exploration/Prospecting and Test Drilling. Period !
Once a productive Well “comes in”, the incentive is quickly re-paid in the Production Taxes that are assessed per Bbl of production from day one to the very lengthy end of that Well’s productivity.
The EUROS pay the same per/Bbl cost for their Crude that anyone else pays . The difference in price in those Countries is due to the incredible Taxation they voted to impose on each gallon or liter of gas at the pump they buy.
One day, soon, I pray you guys stop lying about this. You’ve become boring.
The adoption curve for EV and PHEV is a hockey stick pointing up. You can imitate Rumplestiltskin all u want. As ICE motivated vehicles continue to follow the Dodo bird, and EV adoption accelerates in other parts of the world, it will not make economic sense to build ICE vehicles for the diehards in this country no matter what gas costs.
Why do u think gas prices have plummeted? Supply ^, demand dropping.
I don’t have a problem with EVs … the problem I have is with the forced nature they’re being pushed by the government. They’re not affordable, unless you use the taxpayer funded credits from federal and state governments to pay down the vehicle cost and refinance the car after the tax credits get paid back to you, which could be more than a year depending upon when you purchase & file your taxes. Sure, there will come a time when EVs make sense and the electric grid will be ready for them, but that time is not now. Electric grids in Colorado struggled and had to be improved just to handle the onslaught of marijuana farming. What do you think will happen when you add tens of thousands of EVs to the mix for an already over-taxed electrical grid? California is pushing EV ownership full tilt, yet is stopping just short of mandates for what time of day you can charge your car due to rolling power outages. That’s because green energy can’t produce the same amount of energy as coal, natural gas, or nuclear energy produce, and not even come close to the low cost of production from any of those three. I rented an EV, and had to return it with at least 80% charge. To do that, I had to pay nearly $8 which was the equivalent of adding 35 miles of range on the vehicle I rented. VERY expensive when you can spend less than $6 to travel 70 miles in an ICE vehicle. Hydrogen fueled vehicles would likely be a better alternative for green energy cars … at least for the transition to EVs, after the grid is ready and technology reduces the cost of battery production. The reason manufacturers don’t have inexpensive EVs is because battery production is too costly right now. Ford is actually losing money on every F-150 lightning they sell, just like GM did with the Volt. Until the battery technology is more affordable, every manufacturer will have that problem, or will not sell many vehicles because people can’t afford to buy the profitable vehicles for manufacturers. I believe GM is the only manufacturer that currently has an EV with more than 225 miles of range for less than $28,000.00 but I could be wrong. BTW, they were going to axe that model too, but decided not to because of the sales they’d lose out on. Once you get someone into an EV, it’s easier to up-sell to a more expensive model.
Let’s get real. The only people who rebates help are the rich. Nobody really wants them. They are extremely bad for the environment, they catch fire when wet or in crashes, poor communities are raped to get the metals needed. They are a bad idea pushed the radical environmentalists. (And let’s face it GM is just another woke company. You go woke, you go broke.)