Global EV sales continued building momentum last month despite claims of a cooling market. Sales of electric vehicles grew by double digits in the top markets globally. China, the world’s largest EV market, continues to break sales records despite ending subsidies.
According to market research firm Rho Motion (via Reuters), EV sales grew 29% year-to-date in China in October.
“What’s notable about October’s figures is that EV demand in China continues to reach record highs even though the subsidies were cut,” the company said in a statement.
The growth comes amid China ending an 11-year subsidy for EV buyers last year. Despite this, Rho Motion claims, “2023 is set to be another banner year for China in terms of EV sales.”
Leading Chinese EV maker BYD has continued building momentum this year. The company came within a few thousand of surpassing Tesla as the world’s largest EV maker in the third quarter.
BYD sold a record 151,193 all-electric vehicles in September, for a total of 431,603 in Q3. Meanwhile, Tesla delivered 435,059 EVs in the quarter as it aims to reach its goal of 1.8 million this year.
Like Tesla, BYD has aggressively cut prices this year to drive out a flurry of new competitors and stimulate demand.
Despite the lower prices, BYD posted a record $1.42 billion in third-quarter profits. The company’s gross margins reached 22.12%, its highest in three years.
So, is EV adoption slowing, as many are claiming? The data suggests otherwise…
Is EV sales momentum really slowing?
Despite claims that demand for EVs is cooling, the global electric vehicle market grew 34% year-to-date last month.
The top auto markets had double-digit EV sales growth. Outside of China, EV sales grew 26% in European markets, where subsidies were also cut recently.
Several automakers, including Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz, have warned that higher interest rates and inflation are turning customers away. Volkswagen’s CFO Arno Antiliz said EV orders were down to 150,000 in Q3, 50% lower than last year.
In response, Volkswagen has cut production of several EV models in Germany, including the ID.4, ID.7, and Audi Q4 e-tron.
Meanwhile, Chinese automakers, including BYD, are expanding in Europe with affordable EV models like the Dolphin hatchback.
EV sales in North America are up 78% so far this year. “The North American market continues to have a strong 2023, with Tesla still taking the lion’s share of demand as legacy automakers temper ambitions of scaling production,” Rho Motion said.
US electric vehicle market
According to recent Cox Automotive data, US EV sales surpassed 300,000 for the first time in Q3. EV sales in the US have now grown for 13 straight quarters.
EV sales accounted for 7.9% of total US auto sales in Q3 with Tesla remaining on top. Tesla accounted for 50% market share, down from 62% in the first quarter. With the highly-awaited Cybertruck launching, momentum is expected to continue.
Q3 2023 US sales
Q3 2022
YOY
Q3 Market Share
Audi
7,538
3,891
93.7%
2.4%
BMW
13,079
4,365
199.6%
4.2%
BrightDrop
35
–
0%
0%
Cadillac
3,018
36
0%
1%
Chevrolet
15,872
14,709
7.9%
5.1%
Ford
20,962
18,257
14.8%
6.7%
Genesis
1,802
888
102.9%
0.6%
GMC
1,167
411
183.9%
0.4%
Fisker
997
–
0%
0.3%
Hyundai
19,630
5,824
237.1%
6.3%
Jaguar
86
22
290.9%
0%
Kia
9,325
5,583
67%
3%
Lexus
1,394
–
0%
0.4%
Lucid
1,618
654
147.4%
0.5%
Mazda
34
8
325%
0%
Mercedes
10,423
2,717
283.6%
3.3%
Mini
516
1,105
-53.3%
0.2%
Nissan
6,074
1,276
376%
1.9%
Polestar
3,710
2,852
30.1%
1.2%
Porsche
2,050
1,325
54.7%
0.7%
Rivian
15,564
6,884
126.1%
5%
Subaru
2,791
–
0%
0.9%
Tesla
156,621
131,024
19.5%
50%
Toyota
2,827
–
0%
0.9%
VinFast
1,159
–
0%
0.4%
Volvo
4,087
542
654.1%
1.3%
Volkswagen
10,707
6,657
60-.8%
3.4%
US electric vehicles sales Q3 (Source: Cox Automotive)
Despite this, with new EV models hitting the market, Tesla’s share of the market is bound to slip. Overseas competitors including Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, and Hyundai are seeing momentum picking up.
Although Ford (20,962) and GM (20,092) sold more EVs, Mercedes topped the American automakers in sales share. Electric vehicles accounted for 15% of Mercedes total US sales, while GM and Ford were around 3% to 4%.
The growth comes amid delays from top American automakers including Ford and GM on key EV targets.
GM announced it was delaying production of the Equinox, Silverado RST, and GMC Sierra Denalli EVs to protect pricing.
Ford revealed it was pushing back its 600,000 run rate goal until next year. It’s also scapping plans to build one of Europe’s largest EV battery plants with LG Energy Solutions.
Electrek’s Take
So, is EV sales momentum really slowing? Top legacy automakers including Ford, GM, and Volkswagen are warning that the pace of EV adoption is slowing.
Others, including Hyundai and Volvo, expect the momentum to continue with new, advanced models launching next year.
Rivian, an EV startup, raised its production target after crushing Q3 expectations. The company delivered an impressive 15,564 vehicles in the third quarter, more than double last year’s figures.
The fears of slowing demand are over higher interest rates, which could cut into consumer budgets. However, as many EV makers are proving, electric cars are still selling.
Automaker’s that put the early effort in, like Tesla, Rivian, Volvo, and others are seeing the returns.
EV adoption will continue climbing year-over-year despite near-term concerns. The companies doubling down now, will continue reaping the rewards as the industry transitions.
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All the cool suburbanites are already taking their kids to school, loading up at the farmers’ market, and making deliveries on clever and capable cargo e-bikes, but the new Momentum Cito E+ from Giant raises the cargo bike bar even higher — and makes leaving the car at home easier than ever.
Momentum is a new brand of “lifestyle” e-bikes from Giant Group designed to deliver premium features to customers while still hitting that $3,000-4,000 market “sweet spot.” Their latest bike, the all-new for 2024 Cito E+ utility bike, does just that, coming to market with a premium battery, Bluetooth technology, a suite of high-end safety features, and a $3,200 starting price.
Premium battery
Getting the most out of your e-bike often means getting the most out of your battery — and Momentum absolutely gets that. The Cito E+ ships with a 780 Watt-hour Panasonic battery pack with 22700 cells that have been optimized for e-bike use.
The battery is easily removable for charging at home or in an office, but it can be charged while it’s in the bike, too. Either way, charging won’t take long — from 0 to 80% of charge (approx. 60 miles) of range is available in 3.5 hours, while a full (75 mile) charge takes less than 5 hours.
Connected cargo bike
As our test rider highlights in the video (above), the Momentum Cito E+ uses a proprietary battery management system, or BMS, to monitor the battery pack for maximum efficiency and reliability down to the individual cell level.
The BMS uses Bluetooth connectivity to transfer battery health data, state of charge, and other important information straight to the RideControl app, which enables the bike’s owner to get an in-depth look at the overall state of their e-bike and provides valuable diagnostic data to both the technicians tasked with servicing the bike and Giant themselves, to help develop even better e-bikes in the future.
That connection to Giant Group is a huge potential benefit to Momentum Cito E+ buyers, by the way, as it gives them access to support from more than 1,200 brick and mortar Giant dealers across the US alone (above).
That’s a serious advantage that online-only bike brands simply can’t match.
Safety first … and maybe second, too
Powerful, premium disc brakes.High-visibility LEDs and electric horn.
Momentum’s commitment to safety doesn’t stop at the battery. The Cito E+ features confidence-inspiring 4 piston hydraulic disc brakes and a heavy duty suspension for predictable handling even under heavy loads — important if you have to suddenly haul the bike down from its electronically assisted 28 mph top speed with precious kids and cargo on the back.
LED head and taillights with a lever-activated taillight ensure Cito E+ riders will be seen, too, helping you stay safer after hours.
Accessories and add-ons
Momentum Cito E+ top tube accessory and Momentum front basket shown; image by Electrek.
Momentum’s Cito E+ offers a comprehensive selection of accessories to help optimize it for each rider’s unique use case — whether that’s hauling up to 132 lbs. of cargo on the rear rack and 33 lbs. on the optional front basket (shown, above), or adding 2 Thule Yepp Maxi seats and getting the little ones to school five times a week.
You can find out more about the Momentum Cito E+ and the brand’s available accessories by clicking here.
Momentum Cito E+ gallery
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ARK Invest’s chief futurist lists five groups that should give tech investors an edge.
According to Brett Winton, robotics, artificial intelligence, multi-omics sequencing, public blockchain and energy storage are key areas because they’re all entering the marketplace at the same time.
“We believe that this is a unique time in technological economic history,” he told CNBC’s “ETF Edge” this week.
Winton collaborates with ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood to maintain the ARK Venture Fund(ARKVX), which allows investors to buy into the private technology space.
According to the firm’s website, the goal of the fund is to make venture capital offerings of innovative spaces in the market accessible to individual investors. As of April 10, it shows the fund’s top holdings include Epic Games, known for online video game Fortnite, and biotech companies Freenome and Relation Therapeutics.
“Our emphasis is that we are investing in innovation over the long term and going to support management teams,” said Winton.
He contends it’s a strategy that’s often not prioritized.
“That’s a real challenge a lot of public market investors don’t have that long-term view,” Winton added.
The ARK Venture Fund is down more than 7% so far this year. However, it’s up almost 39% percent over the past 52-weeks.
FirstElement Fuels has opened the world’s first large-scale hydrogen fueling station for heavy-duty commercial trucks just outside the Port of Oakland.
FirstElement is calling their new filling station, which opened to the public this week for tours and demonstrations, the first of its kind. Located near the Port of Oakland, the company claims its hydrogen pumps can “fill” a truck’s hydrogen tanks in as little as ten minutes, which works out (in their math) to as many as 200 trucks per day.
A ceremony to mark the station’s opening was held Tuesday, and was attended by state officials including Liane Randolph, chair of the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and Tyson Eckerle, clean transportation advisor for Gov. Gavin Newsom’s business development office. Primary funding for the Oakland station was provided by CARB and the California Energy Commission.
Eckerle notes that the US federal government is handing out $8 billion to jump-start what it calls the “hydrogen economy,” and expects sufficient funding to build up to 60 more hydrogen truck stations like this one in California – which would, theoretically, be enough to serve 5,000 trucks and 1,000 buses.
All well and good, but …
What if it’s already too late for hydrogen?
Image via Coyote Container.
MAN Trucks CEO, Alexander Vlaskamp, said it best when he said that it was “impossible” for hydrogen to effectively compete with BEVs.
Even so, it seems like the tide of public opinion is already starting to turn against hydrogen. Outlets that may never have questioned a manufacturer’s claims about a hydrogen-fueled vehicle a few years ago now seem more than willing to call those claims out. Here’s just one example:
Producing hydrogen itself can be very dirty. Most hydrogen produced today requires methane, which is a fossil fuel and a strong greenhouse gas contributor. The industry is working on production alternatives, including carbon capture and storage from the burning of methane, or quitting methane altogether to make green hydrogen, using an electrolyzer to split water’s hydrogen and oxygen.
Both alternatives are prohibitively expensive without government subsidies.
So far, it’s not clear that FirstElement’s claims about either the sustainability of its hydrogen or the practicality of its filling station will convince many battery electric absolutists.
Take the company’s hydrogen production process as an example. FirstElement says that its supplier, Air Liquide in Las Vegas, uses natural gas as “feedstock” for its hydrogen. It buys biogas to blend with natural gas in order to create hydrogen – and that, because the gas used is more than 60% renewable, the hydrogen qualifies as “green.”
Additionally, the claim of 10 minute fast fills should come with an asterisk or two. That’s because FirstGreen is using new “cryopump” technology from Bosch Rexroth to allow for filling at 900 bar (15,000 psi). While that seems like more enough to push 100 kg into a tank in about ten minutes, cryogenically cooling hydrogen is an energy intensive technology that requires a lot of electricity to function properly. Electricity that it says will come from the stored hydrogen.
In fairness, however, Bosch has some ideas here to help station owners maximize the usefulness of all that electricity.
“Cold is like gold,” says Dave Hull, regional vice-president, Bosch Rexroth. “You’ve got all this cold energy. All my career I worked to get rid of heat. You can take that energy and run a whole station’s refrigerators for Rock Star energy drinks, or air conditioning. Bosh has a whole division of heat pumps and building technologies.”
Whether or not that added efficiency adds up to actual energy and cost savings, rather than a lifeline for the gas industry and tier 1 auto suppliers like Bosch however, remains to be seen. Meanwhile, hydrogen costs continue to rise.
Platts last assessed California’s retail hydrogen price at $33.48/kg Jan. 4, 2023, which is the weighted average hydrogen price offered at retail fueling stations across the state. The price has risen 112% from when Platts began the assessment in September 2021, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights data.
Despite the high cost of hydrogen (“green” hydrogen is more expensive, still), Shane Stephens, one of FirstElement’s founders and its chief development officer, remains undeterred.
“We, at FirstElement Fuels, have a lot of confidence the market is coming,” says Stephens. “We see the regulations on the horizon, the OEMs and fleet owners are going to have to respond to that, especially when it comes to goods movement, and hydrogen and fuel cells are the best – if not only – solution that will work for many of those use cases.”
Electrek’s Take
As a light vehicle fuel – despite the efforts of Hyundai, Toyota, and (more recently) Honda – things aren’t going well for hydrogen. As a fuel for massive semi trucks and even bigger heavy equipment, however, it might stand a chance against current battery technology.
But battery tech isn’t stagnant, and lighter, better, faster charging battery news that used to come every year, and then every month, now seems to be coming every week – and I’d argue that you’d be foolish to assume batteries that are twice as energy dense at half the weight won’t be here well ahead of California’s 2035 ICE ban.
But that’s just me. You guys are smart. Head on down to the comments and let us know what you think.
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