In this article, we will be taking a look at the 20 states with the most electric vehicles. To skip our detailed analysis, you can go directly to see the 5 states with the most electric vehicles.
Global electric vehicle industry outlook
The electric vehicle industry has exploded in recent years, with electric cars comprising 15% of total car sales in 2022, an increase of 6% from 2021 and three times as high as 2020, with China leading the way in terms of countries with the most electric car sales in the world. In fact, China’s attempt to be at the forefront of the green revolution has led to it absolutely dominating the electric car market, accounting for more than 60% of global sales. The target that China set itself for new energy vehicle sales has already been achieved, against the target year of 2025, and hence, has become the target market for some of the biggest electric vehicle companies in the world, while in Europe, the next biggest electric car market, EV sales are now more than 20% of total car sales. The U.S. is also a major market for EV sales with a huge contribution made by the states with the most electric vehicles.
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With over 10 million cars sold in 2022, the trend in EV growth is expected to continue in 2023 and in the first quarter already, over 2.3 million electric cars were sold, an improvement of around 25% compared to the previous year, and in total, nearly 14 million electric car sales are expected by the end of 2023, which means that nearly 18% of total car sales are expected to be electric car sales.
On the other hand, electric car sales are still majorly focused in just a few major markets and regions, though growth has been witnessed in some other comparatively smaller markets including Indonesia, India and Thailand, with sales tripling compared to 2021, mainly due to governmental policies focusing on the production of electric cars and pivoting from tradition internal combustion vehicles. In India, a government incentive of $3.2 billion has resulted in the development of an electric vehicle R&D industry, and considering that India is now the most populous country in the world with an ever-increasing middle class, it could be an incredible market for major electric vehicle producers to engage in. Meanwhile, Thailand and Indonesia are also seeing governmental focus on encouraging EV production especially in terms of policy support schemes, which is likely to provide a blueprint for other developing economies to foster their own EV industry. There are currently several major local electric vehicle players in India likely to provide stiff competition to multinationals attempting to gain market share, including Tata Motors, Ola Electric Mobility and Hero Electric.
EV industry in the U.S. and the companies leading the drive
Even in the U.S., which is home to the most valuable car company in the world in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA), over 300,000 electric cars were sold in just Q2 2023, with Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) accounting for over half of these sales, and the increase in electric vehicle sales has resulted in the U.S. now overtaking Germany to become the second-biggest EV market after China, and the states with the most electric vehicles are boosting their efforts to ensure a growth in the EV industry. This has also led to Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) seeing its share price rebound in 2023 after a poor 2022 performance, with YTD share price increase nearly 120%. However, at the same time, it is also difficult for EV firms to cater to different rules and regulations by state, which Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) stating in its Q2 2023 earnings call “Unfortunately, and somewhat similar to Tesla Insurance, bringing Tesla electric and BPP capabilities to our customers requires working through a fractured regulatory environment on a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction basis. In the long run, the value of residential energy, software, and hardware will be driven by the level of market access that utilities, market operators, and regulators permit. Our Powerwall is eligible to provide the full stack of energy services like peak — peaker capacity and system offerings. Such as in Australia, we can more than double the value of ownership relative to a typical system today.” At the same time, the company also touched on the success of its models, stating in the same call “So, just a Q2 recap. In Q2, we achieved record vehicle production and deliveries and record revenue of about $25 billion in a single quarter. And Model Y became the best-selling vehicle of any kind globally in Q1, surpassing the likes of Corolla and Golf. So, it was the No. 1 vehicle of any kind, including vehicles that are selling at far lower price. This is, I think, an incredible achievement by the Tesla team. And just a huge thank you to our customers for their support. So, this came in spite of high interest rates and a lot of macro uncertainty. And nonetheless, we managed to achieve operating margin of about 10%. We continue to target 1.8 million vehicle deliveries this year, although we expect that Q3 production will be a little bit down because we’ve got some shutdowns to for — a lot of factory upgrades. So, just probably a slight decrease in production in Q3 for sort of global factory upgrades.”
This is why its unsurprising that Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) has the highest market share of any EV company in the world, with a 17.15% market share, trailed by BYD company, a Chinese company which has an 11.9% market share. In fact, there are several Chinese companies among the companies with the highest EV market share mainly because of the huge market and China’s dominance in this industry, with third place taken by SAIC at 8.7% and fifth place by Zhejiang Geely Holding, with a market share of just 6.4%. The only European company in the top 5 is the largest car company in the world by revenue in Volkswagen. Meanwhile, a supergroup of some of the biggest car companies in the world is forming to compete with Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) in the U.S. and the composition of car sales by company in the states with the most electric vehicles may change, if this group is successful in challenging Tesla, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) dominance.
In the U.S., there are some states which aim to provide subsidies and grants to encourage electric vehicle sales, while other states actually enforce rules that hinder electric vehicle production as their economy is often back by oil and gas companies. For example, recently, Texas passed a law that actually bills EV drivers an extra $200 a year, despite the fact that most countries including the U.S. (at least at a federal level) are encouraging EV sales to reduce our impact on climate change. The Texas rule states that EV owners will pay $200 at the time of registration or when the registration is renewed, with lawmakers reasoning that since EV owners don’t buy gasoline, the state doesn’t receive tax on gasoline purchases which is used for road construction and maintenance. Despite such unreasonable restrictions, Texas is still easily among the states with the most electric vehicles but if restrictive policies on EV continue, it will likely drop down our list of even off it completely.
Methodology
To determine the states with the most electric vehicles, we considered the U.S. Department of Energy’s statistics on electric vehicle registration by state in 2022, and calculated each state’s rank based on total EV registrations and registrations per capita. We then calculated the average of both these criteria to calculate our own rankings.
20. Pennsylvania
Total EV registrations in 2022: 47,440
EV registration per 1,000 people: 3.7
Pennsylvania may have plenty of EVs in the state, but the per capita adoption is still incredibly low despite leading in incentives because of the fact that the state’s execution of its goals has not been smooth.
19. North Carolina
Total EV registrations in 2022: 45,590
EV registration per 1,000 people: 4.3
North Carolina’s EV industry is set to see a change with Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) piloting an EV charging subscription service.
18. Connecticut
Total EV registrations in 2022: 22,030
EV registration per 1,000 people: 6.1
Connecticut recently held a public hearing to hear both proponents and opponents regarding an EV regulation proposal, which should take place in the near future.
17. Utah
Total EV registrations in 2022: 32,950
EV registration per 1,000 people: 10.4
While Nevada doesn’t provide many attractive incentives for EV owners, it’s still among the states with the most EV vehicles.
16. New York
Total EV registrations in 2022: 84,670
EV registration per 1,000 people: 4.3
New York City, the most populous city in the U.S. recently mandated that all rideshare fleets will have to be all-electric latest by 2030, and has become the first large city in the world to pass this mandate.
15. Maryland
Total EV registrations in 2022: 46,060
EV registration per 1,000 people: 7.5
Maryland Governor Wes Moore announced in March that he expects only electric vehicles to be sold in the state by 2035, committing the state to national climate goals.
14. Virginia
Total EV registrations in 2022: 56,610
EV registration per 1,000 people: 6.5
While Virginia was among the first adopters of rebates for EV purchasers, a vote for the $40 million needed to fund that program has failed twice already, and surprisingly, one of those occasions was with the Democrats in control.
13. Massachusetts
Total EV registrations in 2022: 49,440
EV registration per 1,000 people: 7.1
Massachusetts has increase the amount of rebates accessible to EV purchases in the state, while also legalizing sidewalk EV charging which demonstrate why its among the states with the highest EV ownership.
12. Hawaii
Total EV registrations in 2022: 19,760
EV registration per 1,000 people: 13.7
Hawaii has the second-highest EV registration per capita in the entire country, and is working on making charger easier for those purchasing EVs in the state.
11. Georgia
Total EV registrations in 2022: 60,120
EV registration per 1,000 people: 5.5
While Georgia’s EV registration per capita statistics aren’t anything to boast about, increasing demand does reflect well on the EV industry’s outlook in the state.
10. Illinois
Total EV registrations in 2022: 66,880
EV registration per 1,000 people: 5.3
There’s a current residential charging access gap in Illinois, though this is likely to be mitigated by the state’s new EV Charging Act, which should help improve adoption and increase Illinois’ position as one of the states with the most electric vehicles.
9. Texas
Total EV registrations in 2022: 149,000
EV registration per 1,000 people: 5.0
Texas’s EV registration per capita in 2022 is worse than 20 other states in the country, and that should come as no surprise considering high EV registration fees which will increase further based on the new law we discussed in our intro.
8. Nevada
Total EV registrations in 2022: 32,950
EV registration per 1,000 people: 10.4
Most of Nevada’s EV incentives are actually provided through utility companies such as NV Energy, and the latter is working with the government to further improve EV infrastructure in the state.
7. Oregon
Total EV registrations in 2022: 46,980
EV registration per 1,000 people: 11.1
Increased tax credits and charging stations saw a huge boost in EV demand in Oregon, and this is expected to continue with record sales expected in 2023 and in terms of share of total vehicles which are electric, is only behind California in the U.S.
6. Colorado
Total EV registrations in 2022: 59,910
EV registration per 1,000 people: 10.3
While Colorado is already among the states with the most electric vehicles, expect it to climb up the list further considering recent major financial incentives which could total up to $26,500!
Click to continue reading and see the 5 States with the Most Electric Vehicles.
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Disclosure: None. 20 states with the most electric vehicles is originally published on Insider Monkey.