Electrification of cars in the United States significantly accelerated in early 2023, according to the latest reports for the month of January.
According to the registration data from Experian (via Automotive News), out of 1.24 million new light vehicles registered in January, some 87,708, or 7.1 percent were all-electric. That’s a 74 percent increase year-over-year and a noticeable change, compared to a 4.3 percent share in January 2022. The 7.1 percent share is also a step change from 5.6 percent in the 12 months of 2022.
It’s clear that the battery electric vehicle (BEV) segment is booming, partially through organic growth and partially through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA), which brought back the $7,500 federal tax credit eligibility for Tesla and General Motors.
However, imported models, which are not eligible for the $7,500 federal tax credit anymore, were significantly affected and are not selling as well as in 2022 (especially the mainstream models like Hyundai and Kia, because the premium imported BEVs are exceeding the price cap for the incentive anyway).
Another reason why the market surged is price cuts introduced by some of the manufacturers (Tesla was one of them).
BEV registrations in January 2023:
- Tesla (57% BEVs): 49,917 (up 34% from 37,128)
- Non-Tesla (43% BEVs): 37,791 (up 186% from 13,210)
- Total: 87,708 (up 74% from 50,338) and 7.1% share (up from 4.3%)
Tesla remains the largest player in the BEV segment in the US, with nearly 50,000 units in January and a 57 percent share, although its growth rate of 34 percent is much lower than the segment’s average. Let’s recall that a year ago, in January 2022, Tesla had a 74 percent share, so this is a noticeable shift.
The next two most popular brands were: Chevrolet (8.5 percent share) and Ford (7.7 percent share). Volkswagen gained a lot of traction (4.6 percent share) thanks to the local production of the ID.4 (eligibility for the federal tax credit), while Hyundai and Kia are suffering, according to the report. Below we have gathered most of the data.
BEV registrations (select brands) – January 2023:
- Tesla – 49,917 (up 34% from 37,128) and 57% share (down form 74% a year ago)
- Chevrolet – 8.5% share
- Ford – 7.7% share
- Volkswagen – 4.6% share
- Hyundai – 3% share
- BMW – 2,558 and 2.9% share
- Rvian – 2.6% share
- Mercedes-Benz – 2,142 and 2.4% share
Two Tesla cars (Model Y and Model 3) are at the top, far exceeding sales of other electric cars. Automotive News noted also that eight out of the ten top-selling BEVs are now locally produced.
BEV registrations in the US (select models) – January 2023:
- Tesla Model Y – 28,833 (up 56%)
- Tesla Model 3 – 17,526 (up 29%)
- Chevrolet Bolt EUV – 4,928
- Volkswagen ID.4 – 4,049 (up 251% from 1,153)
- Ford Mustang Mach-E – 3,286 (up 19%)
- Ford F-150 Lightning – 2,918
- Tesla Model S or Model X – N/A
- Chevrolet Bolt EV – 2,526
- Hyundai Ioniq 5 – N/A
- BMW i4 – 1,650 (up from 53 a year ago)
- Outside top 10:
Rivian R1T – 1,536
Rivian R1S – 717
In the premium/luxury car segment, Tesla far outsold other brands and it seems that there is no coming back.
However, Automotive News noted that Tesla announced a next-generation, entry-level mass vehicle, which opens the question of whether the automotive industry will still consider Tesla as a premium/luxury brand then.
Premium brand registrations in the US – January 2023:
- Tesla – 49,917 (up 34.0% from 37,128)
- BMW: 31,070 (up 2.5%)
- Mercedes-Benz: 23,345 (up 7.3%)
- Lexus: 23,082 (down 6.6%)
- Audi: 19,113 (up 38.0%)
Just for reference, here are the numbers for the 12 months of 2022. In 2022, more than 750,000 new all-electric cars were registered in the US, which was 57 percent more than in 2021 and 5.6 percent of the total market.
Meanwhile, the total market decreased 11 percent year-over-year to 13.6 million units, according to Experian (via Automotive News).
BEV registrations in January-December 2022:
- Tesla (64% BEVs): 484,351 (up 41% from roughly 343,000)
- Non-Tesla (36% BEVs): 272,183 (up 96% from roughly 139,000)
- Total: 756,534 (up 57% from roughly 482,000) and 5.6% share (up from 3.1%)
Tesla was the top brand with 484,351 registrations (almost two-thirds of all) and four models in the top five BEVs (the Ford Mustang Mach-E was #3).
The next two brands in the BEV segment were Ford (56,464) and Chevrolet (36,245).
BEV registrations in the US by brand – January-December 2022:
- Tesla – 484,351 (up 41%) and 64% share (down from 71% share)
Model Y – 228,312 (up 35%) - Ford – 56,464 (more than doubled) and 7.5% share
Mustang Mach-E – 38,469 (up 50%) and 5.1% share
Ford F-150 Lightning – 12,804 - Chevrolet – 36,245 (up 41%) and 4.8% share
Bolt EV/Bolt EUV – 36,245 (up 41%) - Kia – 28,506 (more than tripled) and 3.8% share
EV6 – 20,072 - Hyundai – 26,826 (up 142%) and 3.5% share
Ioniq 5 – 22,560 - Volkswagen – 19,665
ID.4 – 19,665 (up 20%) - Audi – N/A and 2.1% share
Audi Q4 e-tron – 2,758 - Rivian – N/A
Rivian R1T – 13,148
Some individual model results: Mercedes-Benz EQS (9,628), BMW i4 (8,705), BMW iX (5,245), Toyota bZ4X (1,067), and Cadillac Lyriq (157).
Among the models that noted a decrease in sales were the Porsche Taycan (6,803 – down 28%) and Nissan Leaf (12,115 – down 18%).
