Electric car sales in 2020 remained relatively flat from the previous two years. Of course, the main culprit to the stalled numbers is, of course, due to COVID-19. In fact, per GoodCarBadCar, overall vehicle sales in the US decreased a staggering 16% from 2019. It is quite clear that COVID had an immense impact on all areas of the economy, with auto sales at no exception.
Nevertheless, there still was a solid number of electric vehicles (EVs) sold in the US in 2020. While the numbers didn’t increase, they did prove to many investors, automakers, and the general public that EVs are here to stay.
US Electric Car Sales in 2020
Overall, as reported by Veloz, there were 322,422 electric car sales in 2020. Compared to 2019, US electric car sales in 2020 slumped 2%, though this is still seen as a strong year for EVs as again the overall vehicle market decreased 16% year over year.
Leading the charge (pun intended) was, again, Tesla with the Model 3. Other strong sellers include the Tesla Model Y, Chevy Bolt, and Tesla Model S.
In California alone, there were a total of 145,009 EVs sold in 2020 per Veloz. California, the nation’s largest EV market, represented 45% of the total EV sales in the country. Compared to 2019, California electric car sales in 2020 rose around 5% year over year.
US Electric Car Market Share in 2020
Sales is just part of the picture. When considering the total vehicle market, what really paints the picture of how well or poor EVs are doing is market share. That is of all the vehicle sales, including gas and diesel, how many people are making the switch to electric.
Nationwide, the EV market share increased ever so slightly to 2.2%. In 2019, the market share was 1.96%. So in just a year, EVs grew a very, very tiny amount. Nevertheless, the trend is ongoing as nearly every year since 2011 EVs are growing in popularity.
When looking specifically at California, EVs are a lot more of the talk of the town. In 2019, the California EV market share was around 7.6% per California New Car Dealer Assocation. In 2020, that share grew to around 8.9%. Like the nation EV trend, California electric car market share is also trending higher and higher each year.
Other states, such as the District of Columbia, Oregon, and Washington also grew their EV market share to 5.41%, 4.38%, and 4.26%, respectively.
Closing Thoughts
As you can see, the electric car sales in 2020 performed better than the overall vehicle market. While of course, COVID did have an impact on sales, most importantly, the market share rose for both nationwide and California markets.
California in particular is well on its way to becoming a major EV market, especially when compared to international markets like Europe and China.
Per the governor’s announcement in 2020, California is to set a goal to become all EV by 2035. Additionally, legacy automaker General Motors declared it too was going all electric by the same deadline.
To embellish the rising trend of electric cars, highly popular new EVs are coming soon to the market. EVs such as the GMC Hummer EV, Tesla Cybertruck, Ford F-150 EV, and Rivian R1T are all projected to be very popular. And as you may have noticed, all of these EVs are also trucks, which sell very, very well in the US.
If going electric is something you are interested in but need some help on which car, how charging works, what incentives are available, we’re here to help! As an EV consultant, we can walk you through the whole process. Most importantly, we’ll show you which EV is suited just for you and how much you can save by switching to electric.
Get started today by scheduling a FREE consultation.
Hi there! I’m the founder and project manager at Charged Future: the EV charging consultancy. Charged Future helps businesses achieve their EV charging goals. Specifically, I serve as the project manager for your EV charging project, which can save you both time and money! Additionally, I can search and apply to all eligible rebate applications, which can typically cover a large portion of the project cost.
