Electric vehicle sales growth might be slower than some had hoped, but people are still buying them, making 2023 the best year for EVs in the U.S. to date. Despite the naysayers, the industry is go electric, and recent research from iSeeCars shows that car dealers are hopping on board.
The study showed that the number of non-Tesla car dealers selling EVs has more than tripled since November 2020, bringing the share of dealers selling EVs up to 55.1 percent from 16.5 percent just three years ago. Interestingly, Delaware, Rhode Island, and Hawaii had the highest percentage of new car dealers selling EVs, while Montana, Wyoming, and Mississippi had the lowest. California, Washington, and Utah had the highest percentage of used dealers with EVs.
iSeeCars noted that larger dealers and dealer groups were more likely to sell EVs due to costs involved. Still, things appear to be looking up, as non-Tesla EVs have grown their market share by a whopping 800 percent.
“About half of all new electric vehicle sales in the U.S. aren’t Teslas today,” said iSeeCars senior analyst Karl Brauer. “With so many traditional car companies entering the EV space in the past three years, Tesla’s drop in market share was inevitable. It’s likely Tesla’s share will continue to drop, despite the company’s recently launched Cybertruck.”
Despite having one of the lowest percentages of new car dealers selling EVs, Montana had one of the largest jumps in dealer numbers between 2020 and 2023, growing from 2.8 percent in 2020 to more than 23 percent in 2023.
Metro areas sometimes defy their state’s trends, with cities like Saint Louis, Mo., Birmingham, Ala., and Columbus, Ohio, seeing significant growth in the number of new EV dealers despite their overall states’ slower pace.
While the growth is impressive, especially in some states, continued success will require government, industry, and consumer cooperation. Some states don’t offer local EV credits, while others have extensive tax and financial incentives in place that encourage buyers to make the jump. States like Montana don’t have programs in place to offer tax credits and other incentives, leaving buyers to rely on the $7,500 federal credit. On the other side of the coin, California provides a substantial credit, and several municipalities have additional programs.
