Automakers are tapping the brakes on their ambitious electric vehicle targets, trying to make sense of consumer appetites amid rising interest rates, stubbornly high prices and anxiety about where to recharge.The heralded EV revolution is not dead. It's just happening slower than many carmakers had promised — or hoped for.
Their challenge now is to balance that slower pace with continued production of profit-spinning gasoline trucks and SUVs so they can keep investing in EVs.Despite the doom and gloom, EV sales are growing faster than any other segment in the U.S. — and are on track to surpass 1 million annually for the first time this year.So far in 2023, automakers have sold about 876,000 electric cars, according to Cox Automotive.That's a modest cooling off from 2022's Q3 record growth, when EV sales soared 71% over Q3 in 2021.It's still hard to get mainstream car buyers off the fence when it comes to buying an EV, for two big reasons.
That's up 4% from the first quarter of 2023, but includes many slower chargers and remains far short of the estimated 182,000 fast chargers and 1 million Level 2 chargers NREL says are needed by 2030 to support expected EV sales.
"There are issues that stand in the way of broad-scale adoption. If you want broad-scale adoption, you go address those issues; they haven't changed."Until EV prices come down and charging gets easier, it'll be hard to convince mainstream buyers to take the plunge.Share on facebook