Electric vehicles are often seen as the best way to eliminate carbon emissions from the auto industry, but they are not doing this as quickly as some think. The number of EVs on the road is lower than expected, and it’s not likely to pick up speed for at least a few years, if not longer. By the end of the decade, hybrids will be well-known and may make up as much as a quarter of the market in the United States. According to statistics from S&P Global Mobility that Reuters used, hybrid sales are expected to triple in the next five years. By 2028, 24% of all new cars sold in the United States will be hybrids. Some automakers are even more optimistic. Ford CEO Jim Farley said on the company’s earnings call for the second quarter that he thought sales would triple during the same period. Hybrids, on the other hand, are only projected to make up 7% of the market in 2023. In contrast, the number of electric vehicles (EVs) is expected to rise 9% this year and 37% by 2028. But, as was already said, aggressive tax incentive plans that claimed to cut CO2 emissions ended up causing sales to drop. And because there aren’t as many tax credits for EVs as there used to be, demand hasn’t met estimates. Because of this, it is expected that over the rest of the 2020s, hundreds of thousands of hybrid cars will be made and sold in the United States. Toyota, Ford, and Stellantis are likely significant players since their plug-in hybrid Jeep Wrangler and Chrysler Pacifica are the best-selling cars in their respective segments. EVs are taking twice as long to sell as they did in 2022, according to iSeeCars, while hybrids are flying off the shelves. The markets for personal transportation and fleet cars will likely grow a lot. Even though many people would like to save money on gas, they won’t be able to or ready to buy an EV. In the coming years, batteries may be needed, which could slow the spread of EVs and force hybrids to fill in where EVs can’t.
