Over the past decade, EVs have transformed the global transportation sector. This year, one in four cars sold worldwide will have a plug, marking an astonishingly rapid shift away from the dominance of internal combustion engines over the last 100 years.
Despite the current political assault on EVs, the domestic EV market is maintaining its momentum. Consumer interest in EVs remains strong, with nearly 25% of active new car shoppers very likely to buy an EV in the next 12 months. The shift is happening because of the ABCs of EVs:
- Affordable—EVs save drivers over $1,000 per year on avoided gas and hundreds more on avoided maintenance.
- Better—EVs are high performing and fun to drive and reduce greenhouse gas emissions upwards of 80% compared to gas cars.
- Convenient—For most EV owners, 80% of EV charging happens at home while they sleep, while the average range of EVs has tripled over the past decade to approximately 300 miles.
Has your interest in an EV piqued? If so, there has never been a better time to get a good deal on a used EV, with 243,000 EVs coming off lease and heading to the secondary market, where two-thirds of car buyers shop, and where EVs already compete on price with used gas vehicles and outcompete on value. And rest assured, public charging infrastructure is expanding rapidly; fast chargers that support long-distance trips are on pace to surpass 100,000 chargers in 2027, nearly four times the number in 2022.
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Gas Cars Have Peaked
Gas cars sales are running out of…gas. Data show that in 2017, global sales of gas cars peaked at 79.9 million. By 2024, that number had sputtered to 54.8 million, a 31% fall. So where did all those car sales go? Well, in 2024, consumers bought 11 million EVs and 6.5 million plug-in hybrids, up from a combined 1.2 million in 2017. Meanwhile, 1 in 4 of all cars sold this year will have a plug. And these number will continue to grow. J.D. Power’s October consumer survey found that nearly 1 in 4 of America’s active new-car shoppers are “very likely” to buy an EV in the next 12 months. Read more.
Used EVs are the Fastest-Selling Cars in the U.S.
New not in your budget? The used EV inventory is expanding rapidly as millions of EVs come off lease. Many of these used EVs have less than 40,000 miles on them and are still covered by their manufacturer’s warranties. Whereas a gas car has about 2,000 moving parts, an EV only has about 20. That means that because EVs cost the same or less than their gas equivalents, you make money when you buy one by significantly decreasing your vehicle maintenance and fueling costs — typically over $1,000/year. Companies like Recurrent now exist to run remote battery checks so you can buy with confidence. Read more.
A Trip to Washington
Despite these encouraging signs, it certainly helps when federal policy is designed to boost the EV transition, not stall it. That’s why I recently joined roughly 30 of my fellow EV advocates in D.C. to meet with over 50 Congressional offices to advocate for transportation electrification. Congress has begun the Surface Transportation Reauthorization (STR) process, which results in an every-5-year bipartisan bill that funds the nation’s transportation system. The last STR resulted in programs designed to build a fast-charging backbone along the nation’s highways and rural areas, put electric schools buses in school districts nationwide, and expand the manufacturing and recycling of advanced batteries. Read more.
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SACE’s Electrify the South program leverages research, advocacy, and outreach to accelerate the equitable transition to electric transportation across the Southeast. Visit ElectrifytheSouth.org to learn more and connect with us.
