Electric vehicle (EV) sales in the United States reached unprecedented heights in 2023, but the figures still failed to meet some forecasts. Despite setting a new record, the total number of EV sales in 2023 fell short of expectations by as much as 800,000 units.
“We’re seeing record sales, they’re less than expected, and that’s simply because the auto manufacturers ignored the typical technology adoption cycle and assumed that EVs adoption would somehow be different than the way people generally adopt technology, and of course, they’re not,” Pat Ryan, CEO of AI car shopping app CoPilot, told Forbes.
Experts anticipate a slower growth trajectory for the EV market in 2024. While January EV sales figures were up from a year prior, they dropped by 14% when compared to December. Bloomberg forecasts a 32% year-over-year increase in EV sales in North America throughout this year, down from the previous year’s growth rate of 47%.
“There clearly is a stalling of some demand and buying patterns in the EV industry,” said Dan Ives, managing director at wealth management advisory firm Wedbush Securities. “This EV buying cycle will clearly be a tougher and longer evolution as it plays out in the market.”
As these reduced growth projections are being made, several key industry players have reassessed their EV strategies. General Motors has scaled back its EV production targets and delayed the rollout of its electric pickup trucks. Similarly, Ford has announced a reduced production of its F-150 Lightning by half and canceled or postponed $12 billion in upcoming EV investments.
Meanwhile, car rental service Hertz announced it will sell off one-third of its EV fleet, reversing course on a prior initiative to make a quarter of its vehicles electric by the end of 2024. Even Tesla, the leader in global EV sales, anticipates “notably lower” growth rates for vehicle sales in 2024.
While worldwide EV sales are still expected to surpass previous records in 2024, potentially exceeding 2023’s total by more than 2 million units, those in the EV industry seem to be proceeding with caution heading into this year.
