It's time for some numbers. We are very glad to put together some inspiring facts and figures on the U.S. and global EV market.
EV sales is growing and growing
The U.S. recently hit certainly one major milestone - 1 million electric vehicles (EVs) are right now in operation. Beginning this year, we passed 4 million in global sales. More importantly, while it took 17 months to go from 2 million to 3 million EVs worldwide, it took just six months to go from 3 million to 4 million. Policy and affordable options for customers were key for this. The Institute for Electric Innovation (IEI) even forecasts that 18.7 million EVs will be on the road in the U.S. by 2030.
Auto companies show new strategic orientations
The car industry has published high goals with their EV programs. For example, Volkswagen will invest $50 billion in electrification and autonomous vehicles by 2030. Daimler (Mercedes) announced it will invest more than $11.7 billion to release 10 pure electric and 40 hybrid cars. Daimler's brand Smart will soon be available as EV only. From the U.S., G.M. has published a plan of 20 new EVs by 2023 in a complete new modular platform.
Let's connect our EVs to the grid
If we look at the utility side, we can use more than 60,000 charging stations in the U.S., a 20 percent boost compared to last year. By 2030, we can expect 40 million charging stations worldwide. 24 states in U.S. have received grants to support community planning for plug-in EVs and charging infrastructure from the U.S. Department of Energy. Admirable, are also Honda and General Motors, who have been researching in joint projects with utilities on bringing grid and EVs closer together.
One fun fact for you to think about ...
The perception right now is that EVs are more expensive to drive than gas-powered cars. However, if one take all lifetime costs (repairs, insurances, etc.) as well as cost savings on electricity prices vs. gasoline or diesel prices, EV owner will save money.
