Zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs), including battery, plug-in hybrid, and hybrid electric models, sold nearly 16% of the overall light-duty vehicle sales in the United States in Q2 2023, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) revealed.
US EV uptake accelerates
Wards Intelligence’s data also indicated that traditional gas and diesel-powered vehicles saw sales drop from 2014 to 2023.
Interestingly, luxury vehicles accounted for a notable 18% share in the overall new vehicle sales in the second quarter of 2023. It represents an increase from just 14% in 2020.
The report also noted that the luxury category mostly contributed to the country’s EV adoption. True enough, automotive brands phased out a total of 17 luxury traditional models and replaced them with 19 battery-powered offerings from 2021 to Q2 2023.
That said, BEVs now hold 20% of the currently available luxury vehicle models in the US. Meanwhile, non-luxury vehicles only account for 7%.
The EIA explained that luxury vehicle customers are more open to spending for EV price premiums compared to non-luxury buyers. It further indicated that “battery-electric vehicles accounted for 32% of total luxury sales and a little over 1% of non-luxury sales” in the year’s second quarter.
Factors increasing EV sales
Electrek suggests that the increase in electric automakers’ model launches aimed at various market segments primarily boosted the sales of clean energy vehicles in the US.
US-based automotive brands largely lessen the count of internal combustion engine-powered vehicles from 318 to 297 units in 2021-Q2 2023.
Meanwhile, they expanded the number of all-electric model offerings to 55 from just 34 units in the same period. (Note: The EIA categorizes a single vehicle model as including one nameplate and all the available trim levels associated with that nameplate.)
See Also:
- US EV sales: Hyundai beats GM, Tesla sustains its lead
- Electric vehicle sales struggle to match growing dealer inventory levels in the US
- US: New vehicle sales to soar 15.6% in May
- US: Tesla on track to beat VW Group, BMW, and Mercedes in Q1 2023 sales
- US: Tesla projected to near its target of 50% sales growth in 2022
The significant progress in the electric vehicle industry in the US in the prior quarters provides an optimistic outlook for the country’s target of having EVs account for 50% of all new vehicle sales by 2030.
That said, electric automakers must exert extra effort to urge more non-luxury market customers.
