EV sales soar in US

The past year was an exciting one for EV adoption in the US.

It had 360,800 plug-in vehicles delivered, 81% more than in 2017 and the highest growth rate since 2013, EV-volumes.com reports.

Pure EVs (BEVs) gained the most and represented 66% of sales in 2018, while 34% were plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), the EV world sales database says.

In 2017, the ratio was 53% BEV to 47% PHEV.

The plug-in share in the total light vehicle market reached 3% in November and December and was 2.1% for the entire year. The preliminary total for the US light vehicle market was 17.3 million, an increase of 0.5 % over 2017.

The new Tesla Model 3 proved to be the game changer, becoming a fully competitive alternative to well established internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, now ranking among the five best selling cars in the US market, EV-volumes.com says.

Among mid luxury cars in the comparable price bracket, the Model 3 captured 40% of the segment during the third and fourth quarters.

Since it started with volume production, Tesla has been the largest single contributor to EV growth in the US.

Without the Model 3, the market had continued at the previous, leisurely pace. The monthly sales volumes during the second half were among the best sellers in the US car market, close to household nameplates like the Toyota Camry, Honda Civic, Honda Accord and Toyota Corolla, all of them ICE driven, EV-volumes.com says.

Visit EV-volumes.com for more information.