Author: EVAI

Heated windshields are a fairly common feature, but Genesis is testing new hardware it claims can defrost windshields faster while using less energy. Instead of the embedded wires used in current heated windshields’ Genesis version relies on 20 layers of transparent metal coating, which can conduct current supplied by a 48-volt electrical system…

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The Tesla Model Y is about to receive its first solid refresh. It was recently spied undergoing testing on public roads, and those photos show the updated Model Y should follow a similar path as the facelifted Model 3 that proceeded it in 2023. The updated 2026 Tesla Model Y is expected to go on sale in the spring of 2025. The refreshed Model Y is…

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• After many years of gains, Tesla sales and deliveries dropped
• Tesla’s share of the U.S. EV market has fallen below 50%
• U.S. registration figures are yet to come

Tesla sales and deliveries turned downward in 2024, after a seemingly unstoppable trajectory of double-digit gains for many years. 

Globally, Tesla delivered about 1,789,226 million vehicles in all of 2024, with production of about 1,773,443 million vehicles. Both of those figures are down versus the reported 1,808,581 deliveries and 1,845,985 vehicles made in 2023. 

That’s just over a 1% drop in deliveries in 2024 and a nearly 4% drop in production for the year. And it might have been worse without a rally in the fourth quarter. Tesla noted that it posted a delivery record for Q4, at 495,570 vehicles.

To compare, a year ago Tesla was touting some very different results. Its 2023 deliveries and sales grew 38% and 35%, respectively, over 2022. Tesla’s 2023 sales surge was strong, and its sales numbers exceeded 2022 numbers every single month of the year according to DOE data. That said, China’s BYD continued to edge up on Tesla on the global front in 2023.  

Tesla CEO Elon Musk at Cybercab event (screenshot) – Oct. 2024

In 2023, Tesla CEO Elon Musk became political and by extension so did Tesla in a way it never had been before. By April 2024, reputational studies were showing the relationship, as even more of the American car-buying public connected Tesla with Musk. At this point, it’s hard to ignore an array of consumer-sentiment data points suggesting that the world’s richest man may be getting in the way of Tesla sales growth, especially in California, where it’s held more than a tenth of the new-vehicle market. 

Tesla’s share of the EV market shrank in 2023 despite price cuts, to around 50% of the U.S. EV market, and with 2024 EV sales expected to rise overall by about 20% versus 2023, it will certainly lose more of that in 2024. Tesla had continued those price cuts in 2024, with an April move that repositioned the Model Y below the Model 3, thanks to the federal EV tax credit that Musk has backed eliminating. 

The Model 3 and Model Y composed the vast majority of Tesla’s global total. Just 94,105 of its global production and 85,133 of its global deliveries were of “other models”—likely including the Model S, Model X, Cybertruck, and Semi. 

2024 Tesla Model Y. – Courtesy of Tesla, Inc.

As a footnote to this: It’s not yet clear whether Tesla saw sales sputter in the same way in the U.S., looking at the entire year. Through October they were down, however. Citing registration-based figures through that month, Automotive News tallied 499,870 sales through that month, versus 535,834 for the equivalent period in 2023. 

Tesla doesn’t report U.S.-market sales figures, which generally rely on state registration numbers and their commensurate lag. But we’ll have an idea on those, and whether Tesla managed to achieve U.S. sales gains for the year, within a few weeks. 

Lexus expands the LX lineup for 2025 with a hybrid The hybrid system is unlikely to make a meaningful impact on fuel economy The Lexus LX 700h hybrid arrives at the beginning of 2025 and costs $115,350 Lexus has offered hybrid powertrains in its LS flagship sedan and LC flagship coupe for some time, and now it’s adding one to those models’ SUV…

• Support for the federal EV tax credit stands at around 50%
• Nearly 80% of EV owners would buy another one without incentives
• Three out of five Americans want state and local EV incentives if Trump kills the federal credit

Even as the Trump Administration is expected to take aim at electric vehicle purchase incentives, they’re actually quite popular with car buyers, according to a new poll published by California-based EV advocacy group Veloz.

The poll, which was conducted by Probolsky Research for Veloz, asked respondents whether the government should provide such EV incentives—and 67% answered in the affirmative. However, that number shrank to 50% when respondents were asked about the federal government specifically.

Adding to the complexity of this picture, 61% of respondents said they wanted state and local governments to “increase their support and invest in electric vehicles” if the federal government ends EV incentives. That’s what California has pledged to do if the Trump Administration nixes the $7,500 federal EV tax credit.

U.S. consumer interest in EVs (from 2024 Veloz poll)

If state and local governments don’t step up and provide this support, EV sales momentum may not be completely halted, the poll indicates. The majority of current EV owners (78.2%) said they would still choose an EV without any incentives that reduce the vehicle’s purchase price, as did 38.1% of non-EV owners.

These results are based on a sample of adult residents of California, Texas, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania (excluding Philadelphia metro), Georgia, Michigan, Washington, Colorado, Hawaii, and Maryland. Veloz and Probolsky Research claim this sample accurately represents the demographic characteristics of each state.

Michigan had one of the lowest rates of those who don’t now own an EV who would consider one. As a post-election report recently suggested, a high-level pro-Trump disinformation campaign (unanswered by Democratic candidate Harris) may have worked very effectively in swaying public opinion—perhaps in a way that sticks beyond the election.

2025 Kia Niro EV

Regarding specific reasons for not choosing an EV, this poll emphasizes, along with so many others before it, that cost is the prohibitive part of EV adoption, with charging and battery concerns coming after that. Nearly half (48.4%) listed the cost to buy an EV as their main concern, with 38.7% citing charging and maintenance costs and 38.3% citing concerns that batteries won’t last long enough.

Yet cost savings were also the top reason for considering an EV. Saving money on gas was the main reason for both EV owners (51.9%) and non-owners (60.3%), followed by improving air quality.

So it seems that sensitivity to cost cuts both ways, with buyers potentially concerned that spending less money on gas will be cancelled out by a high purchase price and charging costs. That’s certainly something incentives could help address.

This year’s finalists for Motor Authority Best Car To Buy 2025 proves the electric age is upon us: only one finalist has a tailpipe. Starting with nearly 25 new or significantly updated luxury and performance vehicles, we whittled down the list of 2025 nominees to just six contenders. We then tested the finalists both on the street and the…