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US car buyers are going electric at a record pace. The overwhelming demand is causing some states to temporarily pause EV incentives designed to promote adoption.

Despite overall auto sales falling, electric vehicles were a bright spot in the industry last year. According to data from Cox Automotive, total US auto sales fell 8% year-over-year (YoY) from 2021, but EV sales climbed 65%, passing 800,000 in volume for the first time.

The trend is not slowing this year either. The latest data shows EV sales broke another record in Q1, surpassing 250,000 and claiming over 7% of total US auto sales.

There are several reasons for the rising demand for EVs – for one, more availability. Tesla continues to churn out a record number of electric vehicles, producing over 440,000 units (up 44% YoY) in the first three months of 2023.

Perhaps more importantly, a slew of new EVs are becoming more widely available, hitting all the market sweet spots like electric trucks (Ford F-150 Lightning and Rivian R1T), electric SUVs/crossovers (Ford Mustang Mach-E, Hyundai IONIQ 5, Volkswagen ID.4), and lower cost options (Chevy Bolt EV starting at $26,500).

EV-demand-state-incentives
Light duty electric vehicle sales (Energy.gov/Argonne National Lab)

Federal incentives, such as the EV tax credit extension from the Inflation Reduction Act, provide up to $7,500 for new buyers and $4,000 for used.

States and several utility companies offer additional incentives, ranging from a few hundred dollars up to several thousand (most are in the $1,500 to $3,000 range).

However, with customers flocking to electric vehicles, several states are becoming overwhelmed, causing them to pause the programs.

States pause incentives as EV demand rises

According to an AP News post this week, New Jersey has become the latest state to temporarily suspend its rebate program after running out of money due to its popularity.

The state’s “Charge Up New Jersey” program gives residents up to $4,000 in incentives to purchase or lease a new electric vehicle.

Charge Up New Jersey stopped accepting new applications for EV rebates on April 17 after dishing out roughly $35 million for the fiscal year that ends in July.

The board said it was pausing the program as it distributed funding based on the current rate of application approvals. According to New Jersey utility board estimates, the $35 million in funding will be used to support the purchase or lease of over 10,000 EVs this fiscal year.

Since launching nearly three years ago, the program has supported the adoption of over 25,000 EVs by providing over $90 million in funding.

New Jersey is among several states offering EV incentives that are seeing overwhelming demand. For example, Oregon is also pausing a popular rebate program due to more buyers going electric than expected.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality announced in March it would temporarily suspend its EV incentive program. Oregon’s Clean Vehicle Rebate program started in 2018, providing up to $7,500 for qualified households. DEQ’s senior advisor Rachel Sakata said:

Unfortunately, we’ve become a victim of our own success and we’re running out of money.

Electrek’s Take

Demand for fully electric vehicles is only predicted to continue climbing from here. Analysts are forecasting EV sales will surpass 1 million for the first time in 2023.

With 250,000 electric vehicle sales in Q1, the US is well on its way toward 1 million EV sales this year.

We’ve been saying for a long time that EV adoption will happen quicker than most have predicted. Demand is already taking several states by surprise, causing them to pause incentive programs.

The federal government is aiming for 50% of all new vehicle sales to be electric by 2030, up from around 7% in the first quarter of 2023.

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Day 1 of the Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix 2025 [Gallery]

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Day 1 of the Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix 2025 [Gallery]

Today was the official start of racing at the Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix 2025! There was a tremendous energy (and heat) on the ground at NCM Motorsports Park as nearly a dozen teams took to the track. Currently, as of writing, Stanford is ranked #1 in the SOV (Single-Occupant Vehicle) class with 68 registered laps. However, the fastest lap so far belongs to UC Berkeley, which clocked a 4:45 on the 3.15-mile track. That’s an average speed of just under 40 mph on nothing but solar energy. Not bad!

In the MOV (Multi-Occupant Vehicle) class, Polytechnique Montréal is narrowly ahead of Appalachian State by just 4 laps. At last year’s formula sun race, Polytechnique Montréal took first place overall in this class, and the team hopes to repeat that success. It’s still too early for prediction though, and anything can happen between now and the final day of racing on Saturday.

Congrats to the teams that made it on track today. We look forward to seeing even more out there tomorrow. In the meantime, here are some shots from today via the event’s wonderful photographer Cora Kennedy.

Stay tuned for more!

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You’re reading Electrek— experts who break news about Tesla, electric vehicles, and green energy, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow Electrek on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our YouTube channel for the latest reviews.

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Tesla sold 5,000 Cybertrucks Q2, Optimus is in chaos, plus: the Infinity Train!

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Tesla sold 5,000 Cybertrucks Q2, Optimus is in chaos, plus: the Infinity Train!

The numbers are in and they are all bad for Tesla fans – the company sold just 5,000 Cybertruck models in Q4 of 2025, and built some 30% more “other” vehicles than it delivered. It just gets worse and worse, on today’s tension-building episode of Quick Charge!

We’ve also got day 1 coverage of the 2025 Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix, reports that the Tesla Optimus program is in chaos after its chief engineer jumps ship, and a look ahead at the fresh new Hyundai IONIQ 2 set to bow early next year, thanks to some battery specs from the Kia EV2.

Prefer listening to your podcasts? Audio-only versions of Quick Charge are now available on Apple PodcastsSpotifyTuneIn, and our RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded, usually, Monday through Thursday (and sometimes Sunday). We’ll be posting bonus audio content from time to time as well, so be sure to follow and subscribe so you don’t miss a minute of Electrek’s high-voltage daily news.

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Got news? Let us know!
Drop us a line at tips@electrek.co. You can also rate us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or recommend us in Overcast to help more people discover the show.


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Tesla launches Oasis Supercharger with solar farm and off-grid batteries

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Tesla launches Oasis Supercharger with solar farm and off-grid batteries

Tesla has launched its new Oasis Supercharger, the long-promised EV charging station of the future, with a solar farm and off-grid batteries.

Early in the deployment of the Supercharger network, Tesla promised to add solar arrays and batteries to the Supercharger stations, and CEO Elon Musk even said that most stations would be able to operate off-grid.

While Tesla did add solar and batteries to a few stations, the vast majority of them don’t have their own power system or have only minimal solar canopies.

Back in 2016, I asked Musk about this, and he said that it would now happen as Tesla had the “pieces now in place” with Supercharger V3, Powerpack V2, and SolarCity:

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All of these pieces have been in place for years, and Tesla has now discontinued the Powerpack in favor of the Megapack. The Supercharger network is also transitioning to V4 stations.

Yet, solar and battery deployment haven’t accelerated much in the decade since Musk made that comment, but it is finally happening.

Last year, Tesla announced a new project called ‘Oasis’, which consists of a new model Supercharger station with a solar farm and battery storage enabling off-grid operations in Lost Hills, California.

Tesla has now unveiled the project and turned on most of the Supercharger stalls:

The project consists of 168 chargers, with half of them currently operational, making it one of the largest Supercharger stations in the world. However, that’s not even the most notable aspect of it.

The station is equipped with 11 MW of ground-mounted solar panels and canopies, spanning 30 acres of land, and 10 Tesla Megapacks with a total energy storage capacity of 39 MWh.

It can be operated off-grid, which is the case right now, according to Tesla.

With off-grid operations, Tesla was about to bring 84 stalls online just in time for the Fourth of July travel weekend. The rest of the stalls and a lounge are going to open later this year.

Electrek’s Take

This is awesome. A bit late, but awesome. This is what charging stations should be like: fully powered by renewable energy.

Unfortunately, it will be much harder to open those stations in the future due to legislation that Trump and the Republican Party have just passed, which removes incentives for solar and energy storage, adds taxes on them, and removes incentives to build batteries – all things that have helped Tesla considerably over the last few years.

The US is likely going to have a few tough years for EV adoption and renewable energy deployment.

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