DETROIT—Electric vehicle registrations in the U.S. more than doubled in the first half of 2021 from a year earlier to account for 2.5 percent of total new-vehicle registrations.
According to data gathered by Experian, 214,111 new EVs were registered nationwide through June, up from 98,351 in the first half of 2020. EVs represented about 1.5 percent of all new-vehicle registrations in the U.S. at the same time last year.
While the sharp rise in registration data reflects growing demand for EVs and the entry of several new models into the segment, the data also shows how far the U.S. has to go to meet its newly announced EV sales targets. Last week, President Biden set a goal of having half of all new vehicles sold in the U.S. be emissions-free by 2030.
Although questions remain about whether consumer demand for EVs will be high enough by 2030, auto makers are "well on their way" to hitting that target with their product plans, said Jessica Caldwell, executive director of insights at Edmunds. Auto makers plan to introduce more than 100 EVs in the U.S. market in the coming years.
"You have to keep the most aggressive stance to prepare, because things could come along in (the) 2024 (presidential election) and change and then could change again in 2028," she said. "That's why they've taken it upon themselves to create targets for themselves that are aggressive."
Tesla Inc. continues to dominate the electric market, accounting for about two-thirds of all new EV registrations in the first half of the year. Chevrolet, driven by the Bolt EV, is second among all brands with 9.6 percent of registrations. Thanks to its new Mustang Mach-E crossover, Ford cracked the top three with 5.2 percent of the market.
