Monday, March 04, 2024
The Los Angeles Times reported two weeks ago that after years of rapid expansion, "California’s booming EV market may be showing signs of fatigue as high vehicle prices, unreliable charging networks and other consumer headaches appear to dampen enthusiasm for zero-emission vehicles."
“For the first time in more than a decade, electric vehicle sales dropped significantly in the last half of 2023. There are even signs that Californians may be growing tired of Tesla — or at least weary of its outspoken chief executive, Elon Musk — as state Tesla sales fell 10% in the final quarter of last year,” reported the Los Angeles Times.
On Monday in Rhode Island, a state lagging far behind in the adoption of EV, Governor Dan McKee and the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources, in partnership with the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM), will showcase the progress of Phase 1 of the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Program at the Ashaway Park & Ride.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST The California decline in 2023 is raising shock waves in the industry.
Both California and Massachusetts have ambitious climate goals, including bans on the sale of new gasoline- and diesel-powered cars and light trucks by 2035.
“It’s an interesting time for the automakers and consumers,” said Greg Bannon, director of automotive engineering at AAA. “The government and automakers have spent billions on something consumers may not want.”
Rhode Island Lags Far Behind
In California, 4.9% of the auto fleet is comprised of EVs, followed by Colorado at 3.4%.
The national average is 1.6%.
Just 1.4% of Massachusetts’s vehicles are EV.
And, Rhode Island ranked #34 with is just 0.7% of the state's cars.
The data comes from iSeeCars.com, who analyzed over 10.2 million 1-5 year old used car sales sold in June 2022 – May 2023. The percentage share of EV sales within each state was calculated and used to rank all U.S. states.
Worry Signs
CNN reports that the momentum has slowed. "Tesla has been slashing prices. Ford just cut the price of its Mustang Mach-E, too, plus it cut back production of its electric pickup. And General Motors is thinking about bringing back plug-in hybrids, possibly taking a step back from GM’s earlier commitment to shifting straight to pure EVs," reports CNN. "And now the EPA is considering slowing down requirements for automakers to sell more electric vehicles, dialing back what had been aggressive plans to move away from gas-powered cars and SUVs."
Layoffs in the EV industry are growing. Slowing demand for electric vehicles has hit the EV manufacturer Rivian. The company announced in February plans to eliminate 10% of its salaried jobs. Rivian's production this year is expected to match that of 2023 levels at 57,000 vehicles.
And, Hertz, the rental car company also announced it was pulling back on plans to shift heavily toward EVs. Hertz several years ago announced plans to buy 100,000 Teslas. Instead, Hertz is selling off its EV fleet at a major discount. Citing that consumers do not want to deal with the issue of the availability of charging stations.
Lack of Charging Stations an Issue
One of the factors impacting the pace of growth appears to be the lack of public charging stations. According to one report, Rhode Island has just 317 charging stations.
Rhode Island would be in need of tens of thousands of charging stations.
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