US Electric Vehicle Sales Share Only 4.4%... Policy Support Needed

Electric Vehicle Sales Share by Country [Image Source= WSJ]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) argued on the 18th (local time) that the proportion of electric vehicle sales in the United States is significantly lower compared to other countries, and additional government support is necessary.

Including hybrid electric vehicles, the number of electric vehicles sold in the U.S. last year reached 656,866 units, doubling from the previous year. Last year, the U.S. ranked third in the world for electric vehicle sales, following China (3.2 million units) and Germany (675,000 units).

However, the share of electric vehicles in total passenger car sales was only 4.4%.

In Norway, which has long exempted taxes related to electric vehicle technology, electric vehicles accounted for 86% of cars sold last year. The price of electric vehicles in Norway has now fallen to a level similar to that of conventional internal combustion engine vehicles.

After the COVID-19 pandemic, European countries have successively introduced electric vehicle subsidies, leading to increased sales. In Germany, the electric vehicle sales ratio exceeded 25% last year. France and the United Kingdom also recorded electric vehicle sales ratios around 20%.

In China, the world's largest market, 3.2 million electric vehicles were sold last year, accounting for 14% of sales. WSJ assessed that considering the level of economic development, China's electric vehicle sales ratio is high. Due to low production costs of electric vehicles in China, companies such as Tesla, BMW, and Volvo manufacture electric vehicles in China and export them to Europe.

WSJ predicted that without government support, electric vehicle prices could remain higher than those of conventional internal combustion engine vehicles for another 10 years. Therefore, it diagnosed that political factors could have a greater impact on the growth of the electric vehicle market than technological factors.

In this regard, WSJ pointed out that while the infrastructure bill signed by President Joe Biden last year included $7.5 billion in support for charging facilities, the 'Build Back Better' bill, which includes additional tax credits for electric vehicles, is still pending in Congress.

WSJ also pointed out that the electric vehicle sales ratio in the U.S. falls far short of investors' expectations. The current market capitalization of Tesla, the leading U.S. electric vehicle company, is $1.035 trillion, more than 12 times that of General Motors (GM), which stands at $85.4 billion. The market capitalization of electric vehicle companies such as Tesla, Rivian, and Lucid accounts for 83% of the total automotive market capitalization, which WSJ interprets as reflecting investors' high expectations for electric vehicles.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.