US EV Registrations Hit Record 1.8% Market Share in 2020, & Tesla Drove 79% of Sales

Photo: Adrian Dennis / AFP - Getty Images file

Electric vehicle registrations in the United States in 2020 reached a record market share of 1.8%, demonstrating a trend towards active change, and a broader shift in market interest towards vehicles with zero emissions. Tesla is the main driver of demand, accounting for nearly 80% of all sales.

Electric vehicle registrations in the US reached a record 1.8% market share in 2020, according to IHS Markit. December 2020 saw the highest monthly share of new electric vehicle registrations in the industry--2.5%--a record monthly high since IHS Markit began tracking new vehicle registrations by fuel type.

In 2020, due to the impact of COVID-19, vehicle sales plummeted while registrations of electric vehicles increased, underlining the growing acceptance of electric vehicles by consumers. Electric vehicles accounted for 2.8% of new car registrations in the US in December, according to the analysis. Tesla, which registered 200,561 vehicles, took a staggering 79% of the US EV market share in 2020.

Data source: Experian

IHS Markit predicts that electric vehicle sales will surpass 3.5% nationwide in 2021, and continue to grow to over 10% in 2025. With over 100 new EV variants expected over the next five years--and with ICE variants being replaced by EVs--consumer acceptance and demand will continue to grow.

Tom Libby, IHS Markit Associate Director of Industry Analysis, has been following fuel type market share for several years and noted:

“Consumer acceptance of electric vehicles is increasing, though at a modest pace, and now is at record levels. We continue to see significant contrasts in EV adoption across different regions of the country, led by the two coasts."

IHS Markit reports that, from a regional perspective, the market share for electric vehicles is highest in the Western Region, where 4.8% of all registered new vehicles are electric vehicles. In San Francisco, EVs account for 11% of new registrations, far more than any other designated market area (DMA) in the Western Region. In the Northeast, the electric vehicle market share is 1.6%. The New York City DMA’s share of 2% is driving the Northeast. In the Southeast, only 1.1% of new vehicles registered in 2020 were EVs, with the DMA in Washington, DC leading with 2.5% in the same period. The share of electric vehicles in the Southwest region was only 0.9% in 2020, while Austin was the top DMA with a 2.1% EV market share. The Midwest had the smallest electric vehicle market share in 2020 at just 0.8%. Chicago led all other Midwest DMAs with a 1.5% EV market share.

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