The general trend that can be gleaned from the statistics relating to electric vehicle use in the U.S. is that approval of the electric vehicle concept by U.S. consumers is starting to turn into a reality, with more people gravitating towards purchasing an electric vehicle for their next car choice.
Data provided by IHS Markit (analyzed by TechCrunch) shows that 208,000 electric vehicles were registered across the U.S. in 2018, which is over double the number (around 100,000) registered in 2017.
The data also shows the impact of progressive policies with the majority of the vehicles being registered in California plus other states that have adopted ‘green’ policies designed to encourage electric car sales. California, for example has a Zero Emission Vehicle program. Perhaps because of this, California has 46 percent of the entire new electric vehicle registration total, equivalent to some 95,000 vehicles.
As well as straight electric vehicles, Engadget reports that there is a rise with purchases of low-emission vehicles based on conventional technology. There is also an indication that consumers are happy with their electric vehicle choices, given that over half of consumers who purchased an electric vehicle 55 percent) went out and purchased a second vehicle (or equivalently leased) when it came to renew their car.
Commenting on the trends, IHS Markit loyalty principal Tom Libby stated: “his increase over such a short time frame demonstrates that a portion of the U.S. market is highly accepting of this new technology and has a growing comfort level with it. As more new models enter the market, we anticipate an even further increase in loyalty to these vehicles.”
With future projections, while electric vehicles continue to represent just a tiny proportion of U.S. vehicle sales (around 2 percent), this figure is expected to grow and by 2025, the number of electric vehicle sales could exceed 1.1 million vehicles sold (a 7 percent share). Growth will be boosted by new startups entering the electric vehicle space, such as Rivian, Lucid and SF Motors.
