Some of the recent darlings of the EV market, including Kia and Rivian Automotive, are off to a slow start this year due to supply chain issues, softening demand and the loss of the federal EV tax incentive because of tougher eligibility rules.
Overall, EV registrations grew 72 percent in the January to April period, according to Experian, driven primarily by Tesla, with 52 percent growth and a 60.8 percent share of the electric-car market. Non-Tesla brands split the rest of the EV market among 24 marques.
Total EV registrations in the four-month period reached 348,258 for 7 percent of the light-vehicle market, compared with 4.4 percent in the year-earlier period.
But the gains are uneven, and some promising players remained saddled with supply and demand issues. Among the EV stragglers: Nissan, Porsche, Cadillac and Lucid Motors.
“You have a lot of factors pushing against EV sales at this point, including interest rates, inflation, the loss of incentives for many import brands, and a creeping malaise driven by economic concerns,” said Karl Brauer, executive analyst at iSeeCars.
Some EVs still offer a strong value, such as the sub-$30,000 Chevrolet Bolt and Tesla’s recently discounted Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover. But pricier electric vehicles, along with mainstream models that don’t get the EV incentive, are seeing headwinds, Brauer said.
“Every other EV is facing a tougher buying climate than we had three to six months ago. Electric cars are still a new, unfamiliar and relatively expensive proposition for most car shoppers,” Brauer said.
Registration data for the first four months of the year shows Rivian averaging just over 2,300 units a month of its highly acclaimed R1T pickup and R1S crossover combined. Rivian has a production goal of 50,000 vehicles this year, including delivery vans it makes for Amazon.
Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said in May that the production ramp of R1 vehicles from the automaker’s Normal, Ill., factory is accelerating to meet its order backlog. Rivian has struggled with manufacturing issues since launching the plant in 2021 amid supply chain issues caused, in part, by the pandemic.
“We continue to ramp,” Scaringe said. “This is a core focus.
“You’re going to see quarter over quarter, more and more production units coming out and, along with that, the business really start to achieve its clear path to profitability,” Scaringe said on Instagram in response to user questions.
Rivian said in an email that it does not comment on production and delivery outside of its quarterly reports. The company’s stock price is down by about half over the past 12 months.
Rivian held a one-day sales event at its factory on June 17 to reduce stock of some configurations of the R1T, reported Crain’s Chicago Business, an affiliate of Automotive News.
Kia’s share of the EV market fell to 2.4 percent this year compared with 5.7 percent for the same period last year, Experian data showed. New registrations fell 27 percent to 8,410.
Kia lost access to the $7,500 tax credit last summer because of new rules that require North American assembly. The automaker’s EV6 and Niro electric crossovers are imported from South Korea.
Nissan, once an EV leader, saw new registrations of its iconic Leaf fall 48 percent. The inexpensive hatch is assembled in the U.S. but lost access to the tax incentive this year under battery-sourcing rules. Nissan’s new Ariya crossover, which is imported from Japan, posted 2,650 registrations over four months.
Both Kia and Nissan have begun leaning into EV leases this year, which enable automakers to pass on some or all of the $7,500 incentive to consumers through a loophole. Leased vehicles don’t have to meet regional content requirements, allowing the finance company to receive the tax break.
Cadillac had 1,383 registrations for its Lyriq crossover in the first four months of the year, compared to 21 in the year-earlier period. The automaker has said it is ramping up the Lyriq slowly to guarantee quality. The Lyriq is considered a solid competitor to the Tesla Model Y, but production has disappointed.
Porsche’s Taycan numbers fell 25 percent in the January-April period to 2,114 registrations. Porsche said in its first-quarter sales report that “demand for the all-electric Taycan remained strong even as lingering component issues slowed deliveries.”
While most automakers have blamed supply chain issues and the loss of the federal tax credit for their recent EV struggles, Lucid Motors has also acknowledged weakening demand because of a lack of market awareness.
Lucid had 2,298 registrations for the four-month period and a 0.7 percent share of the EV market. CEO Peter Rawlinson has said its sophisticated Air sedan needs better publicity among buyers. The automaker is in the middle of a nationwide tour with pop-up stores offering test drives.
Some traditional luxury brands have fared better with their EV offerings, through fresh products and attractive lease deals.
BMW’s EV registrations reached 10,680 in the January-April period, compared with 519 a year earlier. Mercedes-Benz’s EV registrations quadrupled to10,519, Experian said, and Audi generated a 31 percent gain to 6,283.
Brands unable to surpass 1,000 EV registrations in the first four months of the year included Mini at 862, Lexus at 394, VinFast at 83, Jaguar at 81 and Mazda at 37. In last place — at No. 25 among EV makers — was GMC with just 28 new registrations for its Hummer EV pickup.