Electric vehicles have grabbed a bigger share of the US car market, reaching a record high of 6.1 per cent of new car sales in May, according to the latest data.
The new data represents a 70 per cent jump in EV sales over the same month a year earlier, but an even bigger jump in market share – to 6.1 per cent from 2.7 per cent – thanks to the decline in the overall market.
Ond once again it was Tesla that dominated the field, accounting for 70 per cent of total EV sales – up from 63 per cent a year earlier – mostly through the Model 3 and Model Y.
Tesla not only dominated the number of EV sales – 47,706 – it also outsold the rest of the car makers by a factor 2.3 times, according to Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas, and its rate of growth was more than double that of its rivals.
Interestingly, it was Ford’s electric Mustang Mach E that took second place with 5,179 units, which outsold any non-Tesla EV model by a wide margin, Jonas notes.
That data was released just as Ford began its first deliveries in late May of its F-150 Lightning, its electric pick-up, or ute, and as Ford CEO Jim Farley predicted a price war in the electric car market, and a whole different way of doing business for the auto industry.
Farley spoke at a Bernstein conference and predicted – as Morgan Stanley has in the past – a big plunge in the asking price of EVs to around $US25,000 as manufacturing ramps up, battery prices fall, and EV sales switch on online – and non-negotiable prices – rather than through dealerships.
“So I believe there will be our industry is definitely heading to a huge price war,” Farley was quoted as saying, although he flagged that was likely to be in two to three years time, when battery prices have actually fallen, and as manufacturing capacity, and efficiency, ramps up.
The Mustang Mach-E starts at around $US45,000, and Electrek notes that the battery pack alone currently costs Ford $US18,000 to build.
Giles Parkinson is founder and editor of The Driven, and also edits and founded the Renew Economy and One Step Off The Grid web sites. He has been a journalist for nearly 40 years, is a former business and deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review, and owns a Tesla Model 3.