Kelley Blue Book: EVs are catching on—registrations were up 95% in early 2021

This post was originally published on this site

Electric vehicles remain a small percentage of the cars on American roads. But EV registrations are gaining speed. In the first three months of 2021, Americans registered new EVs at three times the rate of other types of new cars.

Registrations up for every type

According to a new report from Experian,
EXPGY,
+1.42%

overall new car registrations from January to April were 36% higher than one year before. Dealers have been enjoying booming sales as the economy recovers from the lows of last year’s COVID-19-related lockdowns. Car dealers are running short of some popular models.

Read: The pros and cons of electric cars

Through the first four months of 2021, registrations of new EVs were up 95% from the same period in 2020. However, electric cars remain a small percentage of the market – just 2.3% in the first quarter of 2021.

Also see: How will I charge an EV, and how much will it cost me?

Tesla dominates numbers

Tesla
TSLA,
+4.38%

continued to dominate the category – 71% of new EVs registered were Tesla products. Two models saw the most registrations – Americans obtained license plates for more than 53,000 new Model Y SUVs and more than 35,000 Model 3 sedans. The Chevy Bolt, Ford
F,
+0.90%

Mustang Mach-E, and Nissan
NSANY,
-0.35%

Leaf rounded out the top five.

See: This is the electric car that costs the least over 5 years

Many automakers are pushing out new electric models in 2021, however. Numbers for the same period in 2022 could look vastly different, depending on the success of new models like the Ford F-150 Lightning, Volkswagen
VWAGY,
+2.98%

ID.4, and Hyundai
HYMTF,
+2.16%

Ioniq 5.

EVs catching on outside California

California saw more new EVs registered than any other state. But other states are chipping away at its lead. The Golden State represented 38% of new EV registrations in the first quarter of 2021, compared to 45% one year ago. Florida came in second, with 7.2%. Texas showed, with 5.9%.

New EV registrations, January through April 2021:

This story originally ran on KBB.com.

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