A Spike in EV Sales in the US Helps Drive It to Surpass Germany and Become the 2nd Largest Market behind China

Peter_Brosdahl

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A spike in EV sales following recent tax credits has enabled the United States to become the 2nd largest market for them in the world. EV sales have been steadily increasing in America since the start of the pandemic but according to research done by Counterpoint, sales have increased by 79% YoY in Q1 2023. The tax credit subsidies have largely been attributed to the recent surge in sales. The report explains how the EV tax credit (up to $7,500) which applies to ~20 models due to its requirements, has allowed select manufacturers to hold their own lead in the US EV sales market.

See full article...
 
I still don't understand why people pretend EVs do anything to prevent emissions. Pushing for EVs without the appropriate infrastructure investment is like running full speed ahead at an iceberg.
 
yay?

I just bought a new car - I was thinking very hard about PHEV, and very nearly went with the PHEV Jeep because of the double lease loophole.

But in the end, I didn't.

Tesla seems to be winning the charging network battle - for better or worse.
 
MadMummy76 said:
I still don't understand why people pretend EVs do anything to prevent emissions. Pushing for EVs without the appropriate infrastructure investment is like running full speed ahead at an iceberg.
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Most of you know I work at a dealership (Ford/Lincoln), and sales/demand for the EV models has diminished quite a bit. We have a Ford Lightning XLT on our lot and no calls or interest on it for a while now. We had a Pro model early on and the phone calls were almost non stop. Also being able to build/ order an EV or PHEV model has become increasingly difficult due to lack of parts at the plants.
Even if you try to build a gas model vehicle online they make sure you are aware that not all features are available. This isn't just Ford, but a lot of other manufacturers are hit by this as well. We took in a used 2022 GMC Denali HD pick up a while ago with the original sticker in that vehicle. The amount of options omitted from it was surprising.Very odd times in the car world at the moment.
 
Niner51 said:
Even if you try to build a gas model vehicle online they make sure you are aware that not all features are available. This isn't just Ford, but a lot of other manufacturers are hit by this as well.
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Yep, I remember hearing about that during the pandemic. At one point I saw a short tv news segment and it was pretty bad, more so related to the chip shortage at the time. That's a bummer. I'd hoped things would've improved by now.
 
Never had that problem and probably never will. Not suggesting that's a good thing, just that it is a very very first world problem not being able to option out brand new cars.
 
True enough, in regard to 1st world problems, but these things do have a habit of trickling down, one way or another. It could be the models missing features, for gasoline or EV, may take a few more years to hit other markets, while still at full price, but this problem is pretty widespread among many manufacturers even with non-luxury models. Some are using older parts or chips to shoehorn in features with promises of updating them when the right ones become available. I think we all would have doubts about such support and it's more likely those vehicles will just end us being sold as used before that happens.

A common side effect seen here in the US is a spike in prices for older used vehicles which could easily spread to just about every market and as used inventory dries up the prices only get worse. As someone who lives in a state that has been called by Congress a third-world state (I personally witnessed this around 1991 during a CNN newscast), I've seen and heard stories from a number of people about how bad it's gotten in the last few years. For me and my wife, it was bad enough that spending $4K (engine and labor) to replace the engine with a used one (50K) in our 2009 Forester, in 2021, was cheap compared to buying a similar used vehicle with the same mileage (at the time 125K and prices ~$10K-$16K).
 
MadMummy76 said:
Never had that problem and probably never will. Not suggesting that's a good thing, just that it is a very very first world problem not being able to option out brand new cars.
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This reminded me about how I have never bought a new car. My first car was a used car given to me by my uncle when I was a teenager. My 2nd car was also a used car, which I got as a berfday present, and 25 years later I am still driving that car.
 
Peter_Brosdahl said:
A common side effect seen here in the US is a spike in prices for older used vehicles which could easily spread to just about every market and as used inventory dries up the prices only get worse. As someone who lives in a state that has been called by Congress a third-world state (I personally witnessed this around 1991 during a CNN newscast), I've seen and heard stories from a number of people about how bad it's gotten in the last few years. For me and my wife, it was bad enough that spending $4K (engine and labor) to replace the engine with a used one (50K) in our 2009 Forester, in 2021, was cheap compared to buying a similar used vehicle with the same mileage (at the time 125K and prices ~$10K-$16K).
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This has really affected the used car market for sure. I sell new and used cars where I'm at, and I tell customers all the time that if you see a decently used vehicle around $15k or below you need to act fast, because in this market those are hard to come by.
 
DrezKill said:
This reminded me about how I have never bought a new car. My first car was a used car given to me by my uncle when I was a teenager. My 2nd car was also a used car, which I got as a berfday present, and 25 years later I am still driving that car.
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I've been leasing my cars/trucks since I started selling cars about 10 years ago, but now that the F150 doesn't quite fit my lifestyle since my back injury, I'm really contemplating a used vehicle and driving it until things calm down (if that ever happens).
 
Niner51 said:
We have a Ford Lightning XLT on our lot and no calls or interest on it for a while now. We had a Pro model early on and the phone calls were almost non stop.
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I wonder how much of that is because it's an EV, and how much of that is because the Pro version is like a $60k and the XLT version is probably closer to $90k - just MSRP before dealer markups, which can be absolutely ridiculous these days

I got lucky on my latest purchase and was able to get the markup knocked off (helps when I do fleet purchases for our national company locally), but I still paid full sticker price - but markups in my geographical area were going anywhere from $10k on base model equipped trucks all the way up to $30K+ for the high end stuff.
 
Niner51 said:
I've been leasing my cars/trucks since I started selling cars about 10 years ago, but now that the F150 doesn't quite fit my lifestyle since my back injury, I'm really contemplating a used vehicle and driving it until things calm down (if that ever happens).
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I very nearly leased a PHEV Jeep because of the double lease loophole, but in the end I ended up going back to Ford (mostly just habit).

But if you do lease, it's something to look at if the dealer treats you squarely. The Inflation Reduction Act allows the dealer to take all the tax incentives on EV/PHEV vehicles on leases up front, then if you buy out the lease at the end, you get to take the follow on "used car" tax credits again on the second sale. It can be a decent deal if you are looking to lease in the first place and the dealer cuts you a break because they get those incentives up front, and it adds up to several thousand dollars (low tens of thousands in some cases) in incentives.
 
Peter_Brosdahl said:
A common side effect seen here in the US is a spike in prices for older used vehicles which could easily spread to just about every market
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You don't have to tell me, I was born in a communist country, where due to the waiting times 1-2 year old cars were often selling for 150-200% list price in the used market. But that didn't affect other markets.

I think the problem is that cars are unnecessarily overcomplicated and filled with electronics, I don't think there was anything wrong with cars from the 90s. With modern materials and manufacturing techniques they could be just as safe as modern ones, and they could be sold at half the price of what a rolling computer farm costs these days.
DrezKill said:
This reminded me about how I have never bought a new car. My first car was a used car given to me by my uncle when I was a teenager. My 2nd car was also a used car, which I got as a berfday present, and 25 years later I am still driving that car.
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I never had a new car either, not out of choice, but I could never afford it. I can't say I'd not do it if I could though. But to me afford it doesn't mean the same how most people around here buy new cars. To me it is not really appealing to spend all my savings, plus take out an 5+ year long loan, for a new car that's uglier, has less features and drives worse than my 20 year old one.
 
Brian_B said:
I wonder how much of that is because it's an EV, and how much of that is because the Pro version is like a $60k and the XLT version is probably closer to $90k - just MSRP before dealer markups, which can be absolutely ridiculous these days
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The Pro version had a sticker price of $41K which was very appealing, but it was our demo and could not be sold to anyone for a certain amount of time. The XLT is in the lower to mid $70k's. The tax credit is appealing to buyers of EV's, but I just don't think the EV way is ready to take off just yet.
 
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Denpepe said:
The EU is going for EV's only by 2035 but there are already warnings that this will not be feasable due to material shortages.
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Also what about commercial usage? There are certain applications where an EV is not viable.
 
I'm just waiting on someone to load up a big *** ev boat on tier ev truck to make s long haul drive to the lake and have to stop every hour to spend a half hour to recharge again.
 
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