How the US got left behind in the global electric car race

Getty images in air, three white electric vehicles are located at the charging station, and the signs of “chargingGetty images

You can be forgiven for thinking that electric cars could finally gain momentum in the United States.

In the end, sales of cars with batteries exceeded 1.2 million last year, which is more than five times the most four years ago. Hybrid sales jumped into three.

August on batteries amounted to 10% of total sales in August – a new maximum, according to S&P Global Mobility.

And in updates for investors this week General Motors, Ford, Tesla and other companies, everyone has reported power supply sales over the past three months.

This marked a bright place in the struggle industry with the consequences of still high interest rates and buyers regarding inflation, tariffs and a wider economy.

But analysts say that the boom was caused by the purchase line before the end of the state subsidy, which helped to knock down to $ 7,500 (5588 pounds) from certain electric batteries, hybrid or fuel elements.

With this tax loan, as of the end of September, automakers expect an impulse to switch in the opposite direction.

“It will be a bright industry, but it will be less, much less than we thought,” said Ford Executive Director Jim Farley at the event on Tuesday.

“I expect EV Dest to fall quite a lot,” said General Motors, Paul Jacobson, the chief financial director of General Motors at the conference last month, adding that it will take time to see how quickly the buyers will return.

Even with recent achievements, the USA, the second largest car market in the world, stood out as backward in the sales of electric vehicles compared to most of the world.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), in the UK in the UK, the sales of batteries and hybrid cars amounted to almost 30% of new sales last year, while in Europe there were approximately one fifth sales.

In China, the world's largest car market, sales of such cars made up almost half of the total sales last year, according to IEA, and it is expected that they will become a majority this year.

It occurs in some other countries, such as Norway and Nepal, even more.

Electric cars (EV), as a rule, take into account a smaller share of sales in Latin America, Africa and other parts of Asia, but the growth is growing there.

Political differences

Analysts say that adoption in the United States was slowed down thanks to the relatively weak state support of the sector, which limited the types of subsidies, exchange programs and the rules that helped the industry in places such as China, Great Britain and Europe.

Former President Joe Biden pushed greatly to an increase in take -off, aiming So that electric cars can take into account half of all sales in the United States by 2030.

His administration tightened the emissions rules, increased the demand through purchases for state fleets, pushed automakers to invest with loans and grants for investment in EV, spent billions of charges and expanded the tax loan in the amount of $ 7,500 as a sweetener for buyers.

Supporters make these efforts as a competitive imperative, warning that without these American automakers they risk losing competitors from China and other countries.

But President Donald Trump, who recently called the climate change “work”, insisted on abandoning many of these measures, including a loan of $ 7,500, claiming that they were pushing people to buy cars that they would not want.

“We say … You will not be forced to do all these cars,” he said this summer, signing. a bill aimed at removing Rules from California that will have reduced car sales only for gasoline On the state by 2035. “You can make them, but it will be in the market, judging by the market.”

Bloomberg Via Getty Images series BYD Dolphin Compact Hatchback Electric vehicles illuminated by fluorescent lights at the production installationBloomberg via Getty Images

Electric cars have become more affordable in the United States in recent years, but they are still more than comparable cars with a gasoline engine.

And Chinese automakers, such as BYD, which quickly penetrated other markets due to low prices, were effectively turned off from the USA from high tariffs aimed at cars created in China, supported by Biden and Trump.

According to Auto Industry Research, as of August, the average price of a transaction per electric car in the United States was more than 57,000 US dollars, approximately 16% higher than on average for all cars.

The least expensive car with a battery, a Nissan sheet, costs about $ 30,000 (£ 22,000). For comparison, in the UK you can find several models for less than $ 20,000.

Analysts say that buyers do further depends on how car manufacturers set prices in the coming months, since they face not only with the end of the tax credit, but also tariffs for foreign cars and some parts of cars that Trump introduced this spring.

Hyundai said that this week he compensates for the loss of a tax loan by reducing the price of its EV IonIQ range. But Tesla said that the cost of monthly rental payments for some of its cars will increase.

Stefani Brinley, Deputy Director of S&P Global Mobility, said that she did not expect that many companies would follow the example of Hyundai, given the pressure from tariffs.

While some buyers can choose EVS in any case, “next year it will be difficult,” she warned, noting that her company calls for total car sales to fall by about 2% in 2026.

“It would be quite difficult if all that you had to deal with, these are new tariffs, but with new tariffs and an incentive, there are two influences.”

Auto manufacturers have already reduced their investments in electric cars.

Researchers say that Trump policy changes can reduce these investments even more.

“This is a great success for the electric car industry – there are no tiptoe around it,” said Katherine Yusco, an analyst with American Security Project

“The subsidies were originally a way to align the playing field, and now that they left, the United States has many places for compilation.”

However, Mr. Brinly said that she did not dare to announce the United States in the industry, which still checks technological alternatives.

“Is [electric] Really right? she said. “Having said that we are behind, it suggests that this is the only and best solution, and I think this is a little early to say that.”

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