EV sales remain healthy despite online doom and gloom

Enlarge (credit: Aurich Lawson | Getty Images)

Battery-electric vehicles accounted for 8 percent of new vehicle sales in June and July of this year and should be above 8 percent for September, according to estimates from S&P Global Mobility. While growth has slowed from the 50 percent year over year we experienced in 2023, the trend is still positive, with market share increasing from 7 percent in the first three months of the year. That also has to be seen in the wider context of overall new vehicle sales, which are expected to drop by 12 percent this month.

“New vehicle sales remain stuck in neutral,” said Chris Hopson, principal analyst at S&P Global Mobility. “The overall tenor of the auto demand environment remains one of consistent, but unmotivated volume levels as consumers in the market continue to be pressured by high interest rates and slow-to-recede vehicle prices, which are translating to high monthly payments.”

The rapid growth of BEV sales in the US was, until recently, mostly a tale about Tesla. During the pandemic, it flourished, as car buyers could order their Tesla online, and the automaker displayed far more flexibility over supply-chain hiccups than its legacy rivals. Sales soared, but not as much as the share price.