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February EV Sales Up 100 Percent From 2020
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The U.S. EV market is off to a roaring start in 2021 with both January and February setting all-time records for those months. In February, EV sales were more than double the same month in 2020. More than 32,700 EVs were sold across the country in February, roughly 3.4 percent of all new light-duty vehicle sales for the month. Even without March sales data, January and February sales already exceed all sales from the first quarter of 2020 by nine percent.
Notably, Tesla only accounted for 51 percent of the monthly sales. The EV kingpin made up more than 60 percent of the U.S. EV market in 2020. Toyota and Chevrolet were the number two and three brands in February with Ford and Audi tied for fourth. Ford’s Mustang Mach-E notched an impressive 1,328 sales in February, its best month so far and a massive jump from the 99 vehicles sold in January. Notably absent from the mix is Volkswagen, which began selling the ID.4 in March. The crossover is priced competitively at around $40,000 and is Volkswagen’s first U.S. entry in an upcoming wave of new EV models. The table below shows sales by drivetrain from the top five automakers with the highest EV sales in January and February.
| Automaker |
BEV Sales |
PHEV Sales |
ICE Sales |
| Tesla |
41,642 |
N/A |
- |
| Toyota |
N/A |
5,031 |
- |
| General Motors |
3,955 |
N/A |
- |
| Audi |
1,444 |
1,428 |
- |
| Ford |
1,427 |
837 |
- |
| Total (All Automakers) |
54,225 |
17,310 |
2,147,682 |
Early indications point to a potential turning point in the U.S. EV market with almost $30 billion in private investment commitments from automakers and manufacturers operating in the country announced in 2021 so far. Last week, GM announced yet another battery venture with LG Chem in Spring Hill, Tennessee that will bring $2.3 billion in investment and 1,300 jobs to the region. Also last week, LG Chem won $1.8 billion in a settlement with competitor SK Innovation, which will be allowed to continue its plans to build a $2.6 billion facility in Georgia. SK Innovation will supply batteries to both Ford and Volkswagen as they continue to roll out new EV models.
Increasing domestic battery manufacturing is one of the key developments driving EV market growth in the United States. A new study from Energy Innovation and the UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy found that reaching 100 percent electric car, bus, and truck sales is technologically and economically attainable by 2035. The study estimates that it will take until 2050 before the entire stock of light-duty vehicles is electrified. Complete new vehicle sales electrification coupled with a transition to 90 percent renewable energy could lead to a 45 percent reduction in economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 2035 relative to 2005 levels. The report authors also project that two million new jobs will be created by the clean energy and transportation sector over this timeline.
Transportation electrification is accelerating around the globe and increasing EV adoption is positioned to deliver significant economic, public health, and climate benefits. However, the timing and magnitude of the benefits predicted in the 2035 report are contingent upon strong policy commitments to ensure job creation occurs in the United States and that complementary policies support the transition to clean sources of electricity. Without new policy support including nationwide EV sales targets and more aggressive fuel economy standards, the United States could forgo some of these benefits and lose out to global EV market leaders like the European Union and China. The Biden Administration has signaled strong federal support for EVs in the American Jobs Plan, including $174 billion in targeted federal funding for EV and EV charging deployment. The plan targets funding for medium- and heavy-duty EV deployment as well, which was just buoyed by the U.S. Department of Energy’s announcement of $162 million program to support electric truck deployment. You can track this program and more on the Public Funding Awards Dashboard and follow automaker investment commitments and sales as they are reported on the Automakers Dashboard.
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Atlas is growing and we are looking to hire for two open positions. Atlas is looking to bring on both a Senior Policy Analyst and a Policy Analyst to join our team as we expand our reach into new policy territory. See the full job descriptions at the link below.
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Join us for EV Hub Live this Thursday (April 22nd)!
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ICYMI: On 3/18, we recorded a great conversation with Dorothy Robyn of the Boston University Institute for Sustainable Energy and Gina Coplon-Newfield of the Sierra Club on USPS electrification. You can watch or list to the show here.
Research is starting to pile up on what the United States could look like with widescale transportation electrification. On April 8th, Atlas released findings from a deep dive on charging infrastructure investment needs to achieve 100 percent passenger EV sales by 2035. Just a week later, on April 15th, the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC-Berkeley, Energy Innovation, and Grid Lab released two landmark reports showing the tremendous benefits of achieving a highly electrified transportation future supported by a clean grid.
In this episode of EV Hub Live, Nick Nigro will be joined by Sara Baldwin of Energy Innovation, Nikit Abhyankar of the Goldman School of Public Policy, and Lucy McKenzie of Atlas Public Policy to discuss the benefits of widescale electric transportation, along with the infrastructure investments needs and the policy to get us there.
Subscribe to our channel and watch all the episodes on YouTube.
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Follow the EV Hub on Twitter!
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The EV Hub is active on Twitter and we encourage you to retweet or like anything you found useful. Follow us for relevant media stories and updates to EV Hub resources throughout the week!
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POLICY DEVELOPMENTS LED THE NEWS
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Our choice clips from last week:
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New Bill in Washington Sets Target to Electrify All Passenger Vehicle Sales by 2030
On April 15, 2021, Washington lawmakers in both houses passed a bill that would require all passenger vehicle sales to be electrified by 2030. The bill states the requirement is contingent upon the completion of comprehensive assessments of the impacts of this transition and on the state implementing a tax on vehicle miles travelled. This action follows similar commitments in California and Massachusetts which set a goal of 2035 to reach 100 percent zero emission passenger vehicle sales. Public officials in New Jersey have also recommended that the state follow suit and adopt a goal of their own. Read More Here
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New Jersey Set to Become the Second State to Formally Implement Advanced Clean Truck Regulation
On Wednesday, April 14th, The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection issued a notice of rule proposal announcing their intention to adopt regulations modeled after California’s Advanced Clean Trucks Rule (ACT). The proposed rulemaking is part of New Jersey’s comprehensive strategy to meet the state’s statutory requirement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 80 percent less than the 2006 levels by 2050. New Jersey was one of 15 states to sign on to NESCAUM’s Zero-Emission Truck and Bus MOU in July 2020 and will become the second state to formalize their commitment to zero-emission trucks and buses through an official rule. Read More Here
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Virginia Becomes 13th State to Join the ZEV Program
On March 18th, 2021, Governor Ralph Northam signed HB 1965 into law. This makes Virginia the 13th state, and the only state in the Southeast region, to join the California-led ZEV program. The program, which requires manufacturers to make available for sale an increasing proportion of EVs across the state, has also been adopted by California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey New York, Rhode Island, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. Both New Mexico and Minnesota are going through the regulatory process, which could result in them adopting the ZEV program as well. Read More Here
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Below are current job openings in transportation electrification:
If you have a job posting you would like to share with EV Hub users, please send them to us in an email at info@atlasevhub.com.
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Ahead of Earth Day, the Zero Emission Transportation Association (ZETA) will be hosting a detailed discussion with EV industry and policy leaders to discuss the pathway to full EV adoption by 2030. Join Event.
April 20th @ 1pm EST
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In this episode of EV Hub Live, Nick Nigro will be joined by Sara Baldwin of Energy Innovation, Nikit Abhyankar of the Goldman School of Public Policy, and Lucy McKenzie of Atlas Public Policy to discuss the benefits of widescale electric transportation, along with the infrastructure investments needs and the policy to get us there. Join Event.
April 22nd @ 4pm EST
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On April 27, 10:00 to 11:30 am CT, EVHybridNoire and the Great Plains Institute are co-hosting an event where you will have the chance to learn from three experts in the fields of equity, e-mobility, and workforce development during a moderated Q&A session where you can ask panelists questions. Join Event.
April 27th @ 11am EST
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