Electric vehicles seeing increasing market share of all new vehicles sold

In 2016, the transportation sector for the first time since 1978 contributed the most emissions. So, in terms of new vehicle purchases, how is the world responding?

In America as of Oct. 2018, the number of electric vehicles purchased reached 1 million, according to the Electric Drive Transportation Association (EDTA).

“In less than a decade, an entirely new value chain has been established in this country and the benefits reach across multiple segments of the economy,” the EDTA in its “EDTA Statement – One Million Plug-In Vehicles Sold in the U.S.,” Nov. 16, 2018 press release wrote. “The work is not done but this achievement marks a crucial step toward advanced mobility that enhances both our energy and economic security.”

In the meantime, here are some numbers from InsideEVs for years 2016, 2017 and year-to-date for 2018 (Jan. through Nov.).

In 2017, worldwide sales of plug-in electric vehicles were 1,227,117. Sales of such in the U.S. that year weighed in at 199,826. This represented a percentage increase in U.S. plug-in electric vehicle sales of 25.98 over that in 2016 which totaled 158,614.

Furthermore and also based on InsideEVs data, sold to date (Jan. through Nov. 2018) in the U.S. were 312,877 plug-in electric motor vehicles. This compares to year-to-date plug-in electric vehicles sales in 2017 of 173,719, an increase of 80.1 percent.

And, how are EVs stacking up when compared to sales of all cars?

For this answer, referenced were two different press releases and these are:

“California Sells Its 500,000^th Electric Car: State is dominating electric car adoption rate with record number of new models on the horizon: Major milestone celebrated by one-of-a-kind coalition that aims to boost sales even more” Veloz’s Dec. 10, 2018 press release and the “California New Vehicle Sales Remain at Elevated Levels for 2018,” a California New Car Dealers Association (CNCDA) Nov. 20, 2018 press release.

According to Veloz, of all electric vehicles sold in the U.S., nearly half were sold in California. In the “California Sells Its 500,000^th Electric Car” press release, the company wrote: “Veloz’s monthly ‘Sales Dashboard’ shows total sales of electric cars in the state for November hit 512,717, up 30 percent from the month before and 164 percent from a year ago. Overall, this year has seen exponential growth in electric car sales. Electric cars accounted for 7.1 percent of California car sales in the first three quarters of the year with fully electric, zero-emission car sales outpacing plug-in hybrid sales 4.1 percent to 3 percent respectively.

“‘Reaching 500,000 electric vehicles in California is yet another indicator that the future of transportation is electric. And that future is approaching faster than ever,’ said Veloz board chair David Hochschild. ‘We have seen monthly sales of electric vehicles triple this year and California is well on our way to 5 million by 2030.’

“But, even with California capturing almost 50 percent of national electric car market, almost 70 percent of counties across the state received a failing grade for ozone pollution caused by tailpipe emissions. Veloz recognizes that while electric car sales are increasing at a rapid clip, it is not happening fast enough to achieve the deep cuts in emissions that the state needs to achieve to protect people’s health and curb negative impacts on the environment. That is why they launched the public awareness campaign ‘Electric For All’ to educate and inspire Californian’s [sic] to drive electric.”

“While California sales reflect the national preference for light trucks over passenger cars, the trend is more pronounced across the country with US light truck sales increasing by 7.6 percent and US passenger car sales falling by 13.2 percent,” the CNCDA wrote.

As for sales of electric cars in state, the CNCDA in the release further stated, “The electric vehicle market share continues to increase throughout the state, making up 11.2 percent of the market, year to date. This is a 4 percent increase during the first nine months of 2018. However, not every powertrain is seeing this increase, hybrid vehicles continue to see a decline year over year, from 4.6 percent in Q3 [the third quarter] 2017 to 4.1 percent year to date,” the CNCDA adding in the release that of the 20 top brands 13 saw an increase in light-truck sales.

When it comes to electric car sales, things are most definitely looking up!

Image above: Christopher Ziemnowicz

This post was last revised on Dec. 20, 2020 @ 2:55 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.

Published by Alan Kandel