No, electric vehicle sales aren’t dropping. Here’s what’s really going on | CNN Business
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Tesla’s 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.

You’d be forgiven for thinking the American market for EVs is collapsing. But in the last quarter of 2023, EV sales were up 40% from the same quarter a year before, according to Cox Automotive. In fact, EV sales in the United States hit a record last year, topping 1 million for the first time.

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“Between $50,000 and $60,000 now we get Kia and we get Cadillac,” said Tyson Jominy, an industry analyst with J.D. Power, referring to the Kia EV9 and Cadillac Lyriq electric vehicles. “Those two don’t normally face each other.”

Besides being too expensive for the average buyer, selection is limited in terms of body style, said Corey Cantor, an industry analyst with Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The vast majority are relatively expensive SUVs, and there are few sedans or compact cars for customers who want something different.

  • Atom@lemmy.world
    921·
    8 months ago

    Dealers are still a big problem for EVs on top of the points mentioned in the article. They complain about it being hard to sell EVs, but also mark up almost every model and push customers toward ICE cars. Dealers are incentivized to sell ICE cars that support them long term with overpriced service intervals and repairs. EVs don’t require as much regular maintenance. States with strong dealer laws like Oklahoma have been fighting against EV adoption by banning direct sales, show rooms, and even service centers.

    • LesserAbe@lemmy.world
      461·
      8 months ago

      Just had a guy at a dealer be like “yeah, electric cars aren’t for me” after I told him I was there specifically to see an electric. I ended up buying from a rental agency’s sales branch. They weren’t pushy (like a CarMax) and also had better prices.

      • Atom@lemmy.world
        40·
        8 months ago

        I went to test out a Kona EV a few years ago and the dealer allegedly had one in stock according to the website but when I got there, the guy told me they don’t sell them in my state. I thought that was odd, but he explained it that there was no way to charge them here. I acted dumb and asked why I couldn’t charge at home. He just said it needed a special plug and my state didn’t have those…Not public chargers (of which there were many), the dude tried to tell me my state did not have access to standard RV or Dryer plugs.

        But yeah, there are some great used deals out there right now with Hertz dumping their fleet due to collision repair costs.

        • LesserAbe@lemmy.world
          9·
          8 months ago

          Yeah, I bought from Budget, and they had a pretty decent selection. Although when I went to pick up the guy said they’d sold a bunch of the electrics that were there a week before.