LITTLETON, Colorado, Oct 9 (Reuters) – Electric vehicle (EV) sales in the United States have soared by over 140% since the start of 2023, but additional growth may be hindered by a far slower and more uneven rollout of public charging stations.
U.S. registrations of electric vehicles hit just over 3.5 million as of September 2024, according to the Alternative Fuels Data Center (AFDC).
That’s up from 1.4 million registrations in 2023, and marks the steepest ever growth rate in EV uptake in the country.
However, installations of public EV charging stations have expanded by only 22% over the same period, to 176,032 units, AFDC data shows.
That slower charging infrastructure rollout risks causing backlogs at charge points, and may dissuade potential buyers from making EV purchases if they expect uncertain wait times when needing to re-charge their cars.
PAN-AMERICAN GROWTH
The 2 million or so rise in EV registrations seen since 2023 has emerged throughout the country, although roughly 70% occurred within the 10 largest EV-driving states.
Topped by California, Florida and Texas, that list also includes Washington state, New Jersey, New York, Illinois, Georgia, Colorado and Arizona.
Collectively, those 10 states boosted EV registrations by nearly 1.5 million to just over 2.5 million, AFDC data shows.
California remains by far the largest EV market, with registrations climbing by nearly 700,000 to 1.25 million as of September.
Florida and Texas both have registrations around 250,000, while Washington, New Jersey and New York are the other only states with EV registrations of over 100,000.
Rapid growth was also seen outside those main states, with 38 other states plus the District of Columbia all recording 100% or more growth in EV registrations this year.
Oklahoma showed the largest year-over-year rise in EV registrations, posting a rise of 218% from 7,180 last year to nearly 23,000.
Arkansas, Michigan, Maryland, South Carolina and Delaware all posted increases of 180% or more, while an additional 18 states posted increases of over 150%.
Post time: Nov-02-2024
