H. Yoo
Research expert covering South Korea
Electric vehicles in the United States - statistics & facts
In the wake of the 2024 presidential election, the future of the United States’ electric vehicle market is uncertain. Changes in tariffs and purchase incentives are expected under Donald Trump’s second presidency, which would impact the U.S.’s growing electric vehicle market. For the second time in 2023, over one million EVs were sold in the country, which represented an increase of over 56 percent compared to 2022 sales. In 2024 this trend slowed down, with sales growing by around 7.2 percent annually. This boom in EV purchases was supported by various incentive policies, such as rebates, grants, and tax incentives. The success of the American EV manufacturer Tesla, the second global best-selling electric vehicle brand, also contributed to attracting new players to the U.S. EV market, though market insertion has been challenging.
New players are yet to reach profitability
Despite more American brands ranking high among the best-selling battery-electric vehicle (BEV) brands in the United States, the U.S. electric vehicle market heavily depends on Tesla's sales. In 2023, the company reported over six times as many BEV sales as Ford, which ranked second. This contrasts with the global BEV market, where the gap between Tesla and other manufacturers is not as steep and the Chinese manufacturer BYD almost caught up to Tesla's market share in 2024. In fact, Tesla's sales declined slightly from 2023 to 2024. In the first three quarters of 2025, Tesla's sales are also lagging the previous year's results.
Tesla's success and the increasing popularity of electric vehicles have attracted growing investments in EVs, charging infrastructure, and battery manufacturing in the past. Partly motivated by the Biden administration’s commitment to decarbonizing its fleet, manufacturers were looking to increase their research and development expenditure, with electric mobility at the forefront of their investments. However, despite this success, new market players still struggle to attain profitability. Despite being among the best-selling electric vehicle brands in the U.S., Rivian reported a net loss for its sixth consecutive fiscal year in 2024. Lucid Motors did not fare better, increasing its net loss that same year despite manufacturing some of the EV models with the longest driving range in the country. Furthermore, with the second Trump administration being in office, the federal government's incentives have been eliminated. This led to a record-breaking third quarter of 2025 in terms of BEV sales, with an increase in sales of around 26.3 percent compared to Q3 2024.Â
Market challenges discourage consumers
Nearly half of U.S. consumers reported in mid-2023 that tax rebates and discounts at the time of purchase would encourage them to buy or lease a battery-electric vehicle. This preference for buying incentives at the time of purchase is related to the fact consumers considered BEVs’ purchase price would hold them back from purchasing these vehicles. The elimination of said incentives by the Trump administration will likely lead to fewer sales, as the cost of BEVs was already the third-biggest source of concern for U.S. residents regarding fully electric vehicles in 2024. Apprehensions surrounding the time required to recharge a vehicle and its driving range topped the ranking. These worries are not unfounded: Though the U.S. boasts a consistently growing public charging network, most of its charging infrastructure consists of slow chargers. Access to public charging further varies greatly based on state, with states such as California, which reported the largest BEV market in the country, having very few chargers per 100 EVs.
The electric vehicle market in the United States is currently growing, but challenges faced by new players when entering the market and by consumers looking to purchase electric vehicles impact this growth. Governmental policies aimed to support transport decarbonization have addressed some of these issues, but the changes coming with the second Trump administration will likely shift the EV landscape in the country. The effects of which will likely be felt in the last quarter of 2025 and beyond.
