Car of the Year Awarded to a Hybrid. Are Americans Losing Interest in Electric Vehicles?
The US' extravagant relationship with electric vehicles has lost its flair. It will require new and more affordable generations of products to reignite the passion for EVs.
The sales of all-electric vehicles in the United States have remained at around 100,000 per month for the past six months after a period of rapid growth. Inventories are piling up and prices are falling, led by market leader $Tesla (TSLA.US)$.
It is uncertain whether or not the adoption of electric vehicles is actually stalling. Legacy automakers like $Ford Motor (F.US)$ and $General Motors (GM.US)$ have slowed their expansion into the electric vehicle market while Tesla has become more cautious.
The most powerful brake on EV adoption is probably price. A survey published this month by S&P Global Mobility found that cost was the primary reason for waning consumer openness to buying an EV, followed by charging issues.
Although battery-electric vehicles are becoming more affordable relative to traditional vehicles, they still sell at a premium. The average new car cost U.S. buyers about $48,000 in October, according to Kelly Blue Book. The average BEV cost about $52,000. That's a spread of $4,000.
While EV demand is still strong both in the U.S. and Western Europe, the perception that the slowdown is real exists, particularly in the U.S.," Tom Narayan at RBC Capital Markets said in a deep-dive note about the EV market.
Hybrids have emerged as a bridge between EV prices and the desire to eschew a gas-powered vehicle. Their popularity underscores the difficulty of making a profitable EV at a relatively affordable price. Technological breakthroughs such as solid-state batteries and better infrastructure for charging may still be years away, which could mean that hybrids will remain popular for longer.
$Toyota Motor (TM.US)$, a leader in hybrid was one of the few manufacturers to say it was boosting its investments recently. The 2024 Toyota Prius just won MotorTrend's 2024 Car of the Year award, underscoring how Tesla, Ford, GM, and any other auto maker can win market share: Make cheaper BEVs.
Having the hybrids has helped the stock so far in 2023. Toyota shares have risen 44%. Ford Motor and General Motors shares have fallen 2% and 16%, respectively, this year.
Mooers, Are Americans falling out of love with EVs?
Source: WSJ, MarketWatch
Disclaimer: Moomoo Technologies Inc. is providing this content for information and educational use only.
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Scorched earf : Yes
We know it’s bullshot
kind Bat_4341 : Not hybrid but Plug-in hybrid with the battery powered capacity of 100mikes will be the ideal selling point as the world moving from non-EV to full EV .
73705446 : They have never been in love with them in the first place. With the government trying to destroy the middle class, there is NO room for EV’s with everything else going on in the economy.
Ne3rAj : Developing sound infrastructure is important for the EV market, which a lot of countires are stuggling with at present. A thought has always been in mind as to what happens to the old batteries once they are replaced with newer ones after 10 years.
RDK79 : Context is definitively twisting the actual data! Not surprising though.
RDK79 : Apparently GM is, because they can’t compete.
Broset311 : Was never interested in