Global electric vehicle sales are something of a mixed bag. According to analytics firm Rho Motion, some 17.1 million battery-powered cars and trucks were delivered around the world last year, and of that total, around 11 million found new homes in China. The populous Asian nation absolutely dominates the electrified vehicle market, but not all hope is lost. A recent report from Edmunds.com estimates that pure-electric, plug-in hybrids, and conventional hybrids could hit 25 percent market share in the U.S. in the next two years.
Increasing Deliveries, But An Uncertain Future
Deliveries of these vehicles exceeded 3 million last year, representing more than 19 percent of the U.S. market, a healthy increase over 2023, where electrified vehicles accounted for just 16 percent of sales. Continued growth like this is a definite possibility, though there are some potential headwinds.
The U.S. economy appears to be on shaky ground, and there’s tremendous uncertainty surrounding tariffs, which, if implemented at any real scale, could be a disaster for consumers and the broader automotive industry. And specifically impacting EV sales, the Trump administration could end generous tax credits for these battery-powered vehicles, which would almost certainly suppress sales.
As Edmunds.com reported, deliveries of pure electric vehicles clocked in at around 1.2 million in the U.S. last year, a modest increase over 2023, which was also up compared to 2022. “As of February of this year, 185,992 EVs have been sold,” the article states, though, for the reasons mentioned in the previous paragraph, “At this rate, EV sales might not grow this year.”
Hybrid vehicles, however, are pulling ahead. A better solution than pure electrics for many drivers, year-over-year deliveries increased by nearly 314,000 units in 2024, totaling more than 1.5 million units.
Splitting the difference between hybrids and pure EVs, deliveries of plug-in hybrids are also growing in the U.S. Last year, more than 288,000 of these vehicles were sold, a big increase from around 177,000 delivered the prior year.
TopSpeed’s Take
Electric vehicles offer loads of benefits over conventional, combustion-powered cars and trucks, but they’re still not a perfect transportation solution for every driver in all situations. Since you don’t have to rely solely on battery power, hybrids and their closely related plug-in brethren are, in many ways, much better offerings for loads American motorists. Expect deliveries of these electrified – but not purely electric – cars and trucks to continue growing in the coming years.
In particular, plug-in hybrids are a fantastic solution because they offer 20, 30, and sometimes even 40 or more miles of all-electric range, for smooth, silent, and incredibly efficient driving, yet, they still have a combustion engine under the hood, so you can drive across the continent without ever having to charge up. For these reasons and others, expect more and more plug-in hybrids to hit the U.S. market in the coming years.
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