EV Sales Rise in Q3 2024, With Tesla Out in Front

Sales of electric vehicles are on the rise in the U.S. despite many consumers claiming they have little interest in purchasing one. Cox Automotive’s Kelley Blue Book (KBB) reported that EV sales increased 11% year over year in Q3 2024.

In the most recent quarter, just over 346,300 EVs were purchased, which is 5% more than the second quarter of 2024. EVs claimed almost 9% of all automobile sales, the highest percentage ever recorded.

“While year-over-year growth has slowed, EV sales in the U.S. continue to march higher,” said Stephanie Valdez Streaty, director of Industry Insights at Cox Automotive. “The growth is being fueled in part by incentives and discounts; but as more affordable EVs enter the market and infrastructure improves, we can expect even greater adoption in the coming years.”

However, it’s dealers and manufacturers taking the brunt of incentives and price cuts to move more vehicles. As an industry whole, purchase incentives average about 7% of the average transaction price, yet for the EV category, it’s a much higher 12%.

EV Sales by Brand

Tesla leads the pack in electric vehicles, with roughly half of all EV sales attributed to Elon Musk’s company. The No. 1 EV sold in the third quarter was Tesla’s Model Y, with the Model 3 in second place. Even at an average price of $116,000, consumers bought more than 16,000 Cybertrucks, making it the third most popular EV.

Automaking giant GM sold a little more than 32,000 EVs in Q3 2024, up 60%. Hyundai was a close third, with 29,600. Falling behind Hyundai was Ford at 23,500 EV sales. Ford did take the second spot in EV trucks, as dealerships moved 7,162 F-150 Lightning vehicles.

Honda and Acura sold approximately 15,300 electric vehicles. At the end of the third quarter, there were 12,644 new Honda Prologues on the road and 2,646 new Acura ZDXs.

Fueled by federal government incentive programs, about 42.7% of the new EVs were leased, not outright purchased or financed, according to KBB. For comparison, in December 2022 when the government announced additional tax breaks, only 10% of EVs were leased.

While EV sales seem to be on the rise, the price can still be seen as expensive for many consumers thinking about switching. Right now, a new EV costs around $56,350 versus a new gas-powered vehicle at about $48,400.