3 ms·

79% of all EVs registered in the US last year were Teslas

32 points by Lwrless 6y ago

llampx 6y ago
It seems that the European (and to an extent, Japanese and Korean) automakers are happy to cede the US EV market to Tesla. They are selling plenty of EVs in Europe and China, which are the next biggest EV markets. Why is this? I live in Germany and we get a new EV announced seemingly every few weeks. Not all desirable, not all affordable, but the choice is getting there. Its getting to be like phones. There's lots of competition in the rest of the world, and a hegemony of two (Samsung and Apple) in the US.
- jfim 6y ago
  There aren't that many European EV products in the US market that are available. The ID.4 is announced and it can be reserved, but you can't drive one today from what I know.
- dagw 6y ago
  I wonder if it simply has to do with production capacity. They probably simply don't have the capacity to supply all markets and decided to drop the US market since they see that as the hardest market to break into.
  - tonyedgecombe 6y ago
    I wonder if it's mostly battery supply. This would explain why EV's continue to be so expensive, there is no point in reducing prices if you can sell everything you can make.
- clouddrover 6y ago
  Car companies need to meet the fleet emissions standards in the EU and China. They need to sell electric cars to achieve that or waste money on fines. Volkswagen sold the most EVs in Europe in 2020 but they still didn't quite meet their fleet emissions targets: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-emissions-idUSKBN29Q1JI https://www.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-emissions-idUS... Because Toyota has been selling hybrids for so long they are in a good position with their fleet emissions. They don't yet have the same need to start selling EVs at volume.
  - fomine3 6y ago
    I believe that's why some EV model only available on EU , or very small amount is sold. (I saw Honda e sold out very fast in Japan)
- Seanambers 6y ago
  If the European automakers had something to really compete with TSLA / China they would. Most of the cars being made now are compliance cars. European OEMs can choose between producing these electric cars or pay fines to the EU for CO2 emissions being too high with regards to manufactured cars CO2 output on fleet level. This is also why FCA is paying TSLA hundreds of millions to have Teslas be counted as part of their fleet in Europe. (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-fiat-chrysler-tesla-eu-idUSKCN1RJ03I https://www.reuters.com/article/us-fiat-chrysler-tesla-eu-id...). Also the incentives are quite good in Europe compared to US right now if I am not mistaken.
  - clouddrover 6y ago
    > If the European automakers had something to really compete with TSLA / China they would They do and they are. They're building the EVs that people in Europe are buying. Volkswagen and Renault-Nissan were the top two EV sellers in Europe in 2020: https://ev-sales.blogspot.com/2021/01/europe-december-2020.html https://ev-sales.blogspot.com/2021/01/europe-december-2020.h...

32 points by Lwrless 6y ago

It seems that the European (and to an extent, Japanese and Korean) automakers are happy to cede the US EV market to Tesla. They are selling plenty of EVs in Europe and China, which are the next biggest EV markets. Why is this? I live in Germany and we get a new EV announced seemingly every few weeks. Not all desirable, not all affordable, but the choice is getting there. Its getting to be like phones. There's lots of competition in the rest of the world, and a hegemony of two (Samsung and Apple) in the US.

jfim 6y ago
There aren't that many European EV products in the US market that are available. The ID.4 is announced and it can be reserved, but you can't drive one today from what I know.
dagw 6y ago
I wonder if it simply has to do with production capacity. They probably simply don't have the capacity to supply all markets and decided to drop the US market since they see that as the hardest market to break into.
- tonyedgecombe 6y ago
  I wonder if it's mostly battery supply. This would explain why EV's continue to be so expensive, there is no point in reducing prices if you can sell everything you can make.
clouddrover 6y ago
Car companies need to meet the fleet emissions standards in the EU and China. They need to sell electric cars to achieve that or waste money on fines. Volkswagen sold the most EVs in Europe in 2020 but they still didn't quite meet their fleet emissions targets: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-emissions-idUSKBN29Q1JI https://www.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-emissions-idUS... Because Toyota has been selling hybrids for so long they are in a good position with their fleet emissions. They don't yet have the same need to start selling EVs at volume.
- fomine3 6y ago
  I believe that's why some EV model only available on EU , or very small amount is sold. (I saw Honda e sold out very fast in Japan)
Seanambers 6y ago
If the European automakers had something to really compete with TSLA / China they would. Most of the cars being made now are compliance cars. European OEMs can choose between producing these electric cars or pay fines to the EU for CO2 emissions being too high with regards to manufactured cars CO2 output on fleet level. This is also why FCA is paying TSLA hundreds of millions to have Teslas be counted as part of their fleet in Europe. (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-fiat-chrysler-tesla-eu-idUSKCN1RJ03I https://www.reuters.com/article/us-fiat-chrysler-tesla-eu-id...). Also the incentives are quite good in Europe compared to US right now if I am not mistaken.
- clouddrover 6y ago
  > If the European automakers had something to really compete with TSLA / China they would They do and they are. They're building the EVs that people in Europe are buying. Volkswagen and Renault-Nissan were the top two EV sellers in Europe in 2020: https://ev-sales.blogspot.com/2021/01/europe-december-2020.html https://ev-sales.blogspot.com/2021/01/europe-december-2020.h...