The deals also helped fuel an aggressive price war led by market leader Tesla as it tried to defend its market share. This helped boost sales, but also led to a decline in the value of used EVs.
Jessica Caldwell, head of insights at Edmunds, said that with more people shopping for deals due to the rising cost of car ownership, deeply discounted used models on the market will probably act as a “gateway” to EV ownership.
Average gasoline prices in the US rose above $4 a gallon this week for the first time since 2022 following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, while the average purchase price of a new car is near record levels. Analysts say one reason for the slowdown in overall sales in the first quarter of this year is growing concerns about affordability.
Against that backdrop, Duncan Allred, president of GM’s North America business, told an automotive forum in New York this week that the Detroit car giant has seen “some degree of interest” in EVs among buyers during the past month.
However, noting persistent concerns among mainstream consumers about the ability to go on long trips in a large country with inadequate charging infrastructure, analysts said it was still too early to predict whether higher gasoline prices would translate into a meaningful increase in new EV sales.
Manufacturers including Ford and GM have announced plans to release new generations of more affordable EVs over the next few years. Meanwhile, Caldwell said, buyers are likely to be surprised to see how much a used electric model has improved since the last time they purchased.
“In 2022, the last time we saw gas prices go up, they will be considering vehicles from around 2019, when EVs weren’t there yet,” she said.
Mike Murphy, co-founder of the pressure group EV for All America, said many of the barriers to EV adoption are quietly being addressed, noting that construction of US charging infrastructure accelerated last year despite a slowdown in EV sales.
“The dream of mass EV adoption in the US is not dead yet,” he said.
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