Sales of electric vehicles not only increased in 2023 overall but also exceeded 2022 levels in every month of the year, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
Car sales are seasonal, and they always have been, so there’s no reason to expect total vehicle sales or even disaggregated electric vehicle sales to increase every month. However, that’s precisely what the DOE data shows.
Electric vehicle sales increased significantly every month in 2023 compared to the previous two years, according to the DOE. While the highest sales volume in a single month was around 50,000 vehicles in 2021 and 80,000 in 2022, it exceeded 100,000 vehicles in 2023.
Electric vehicle sales also ended the year with stronger sales in December than in October or November. It’s possible that before the end of the year, some buyers were deferring their purchases to see how the implementation of the instant dealership reimbursement of the federal tax credit for electric vehicles might unfold.
S&P Global Mobility predicted in January that electric vehicle sales in the U.S. would approach an 8% market share that month. And since then, S&P attached its figures to note that electric vehicles captured 8.8% of the market, by record, in December 2023, Automotive News reported on Friday. Analysts told the publication that, contrary to some automotive industry narratives, electric vehicle sales are not declining.
Although some experts claim that the electric vehicle market is faltering, it’s hard to argue that electric vehicle sales aren’t maintaining an upward trajectory. Instead, as the report suggests, they’re increasing more slowly than some car manufacturers expected, so inaccurate forecasts may be the most to blame.
In addition to not advancing rapidly enough to keep pace with some car manufacturers’ business plans, speeding up electric vehicle sales may be necessary to make a real impact on carbon emissions. Because, as a December 2023 Experian report found, gasoline vehicle sales, in number, not percentage, are still growing faster than electric vehicle sales.
