BMW sold over 50,000 EVs in the US last year for the first time
BMW hit a major milestone after selling over 50,000 EVs in the US in 2024 for the first time. Despite higher electric vehicle sales for the full year, BMW’s feat may not be as big as it seems. Here’s why.
BMW EV sales in the US top 50,000 in 2024
With another 13,876 fully electric vehicles sold in Q4, BMW’s EV sales reached over 50,000 in the US for the first time.
In the US, BMW sold a total of 50,981 EVs last year, up 12% from the 45,417 sold in 2023. Something worth noting is that BMW’s fourth-quarter EV sales fell 3.5% from 5,274 in Q4 2023 to 13,876.
BMW is one of the only automakers so far to report lower EV sales in the fourth quarter. Last week, Ford and GM both reported record Q4 and 2024 sales. GM topped its cross-town rival with over 114,400 electric cars sold last year (+50 YOY), compared to Ford’s nearly 97,900 (+35% YOY).
Overseas automakers, like Hyundai and Kia, are quickly outpacing BMW. The South Korean auto giants posted another record year in the US with new EV models rolling out in key segments.
Meanwhile, pure luxury EV players like Lucid and Rivian are also stealing market share. In 2024, Lucid had four straight quarters with record deliveries, delivering 10,241 EVs in total last year.
Although it may not seem huge, Lucid is a direct competitor to BMW. Last year, it only sold one model, the Lucid Air. Now, Lucid is launching its first electric SUV, the Gravity.
Rivian’s deliveries also hit a new high for 2024 in the fourth quarter after overcoming a supply chain issue. With another 14,183 vehicles delivered in Q4, Rivian’s 2024 delivery total reached nearly 51,600. The EV maker is now ramping up production at its Normal, IL manufacturing plant after shutting it down for upgrades last spring.
How will this impact BMW iX sales? After slipping another 20% in the fourth quarter, BMW iX sales were down 11% in 2024, with 15,383 units sold.
BMW also sells three other electric cars in the US: the i4, i5, and i7. Last year, the i4 was BMW’s top-selling model, with over 23,400 units sold. However, sales were only up 3% compared to 2023 (22,583 units). BMW’s i5 notched the most growth, with sales up 310% in 2024, but only 8,763 models were sold.
Electrek’s Take
Although year-over-year sales growth is still an accomplishment, with a wave of new EVs hitting the market, will BMW be able to keep up in 2025?
Jeep is releasing its first luxury electric SUV. Volvo, Kia, and Hyundai are launching flagship three-row electric SUVs. Lucid’s Gravity is rolling out. And then, in 2026, we will finally see Rivian’s lower-cost R2 electric SUV.
BMW believes it has an answer with its Neue Klasse, or “New Class” of EVs, which will hit US showrooms in 2026. The company’s first Neue Klasse EV rolled off the production line last November as it prepares for a new era.
BMW claims its new EV series will have “30% more range, 30% faster charging, and a 25% overall improvement in vehicle efficiency.” The first BMW Neue Klasse model will be a crossover SUV, with five more set to launch by 2028.
One thing is certain: more advanced EVs at a lower price will soon be available. Stay tuned for more.
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Enbridge is going big on solar again in Texas, and Meta is snapping up all the solar power it can get.
Last month, Electrek reported that the Canadian oil and gas pipeline giant just launched its first solar farm in Texas. Now it’s given the green light to Clear Fork, a 600 megawatt (MW) utility-scale solar farm already under construction near San Antonio. The project is expected to come online in summer 2027.
Once it’s up and running, every bit of Clear Fork’s electricity will go to Meta Platforms under a long-term contract. Meta will use the solar power to help run its energy-hungry data centers entirely on clean energy.
The solar farm project’s cost is around $900 million. Enbridge says it expects Clear Fork to boost the company’s cash flow and earnings starting in 2027.
Enbridge EVP Matthew Akman said the project reflects “growing demand for renewable power across North America from blue-chip companies involved in technology and data center operations.”
Meta’s head of global energy, Urvi Parekh, added that the company is “thrilled to partner with Enbridge to bring new renewable energy to Texas and help support our operations with 100% clean energy.”
Meta’s first multi-gigawatt data center, Prometheus, is expected to come online in 2026.
Clear Fork is part of a growing trend: tech giants like Meta, Amazon, and Google are racing to lock down renewable energy contracts as they expand their fleets of AI-ready data centers, which use massive amounts of electricity.
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A fully electric Japanese electric pickup truck? It’s not a Toyota or Honda, but Isuzu’s new electric pickup packs a punch. The D-MAX EV can tow over 7,770 lbs (3,500 kg), plow through nearly 24″ (600 mm) of water, and it even has a dedicated Terrain Mode for extreme off-roading. However, it comes at a cost.
Meet Isuzu’s first electric pickup: The D-MAX EV
After announcing that it had begun building left-hand drive D-MAX EV models at the end of April, Isuzu said that it would start shipping them to Europe in the third quarter.
By the end of the year, Isuzu will begin production of right-hand drive models for the UK. Sales will follow in early 2026.
Isuzu announced prices this week, boasting the D-MAX EV features the same “no compromise durability” of the current diesel version.
The D-MAX EV pickup features a full-time 4WD system, a towing capacity of up to 3.5 tons (7,700 lbs), and an added Terrain Mode, which Isuzu says is designed for “extreme off-road capability.” With 210 mm (8.3″) of ground clearance, Isuzu’s electric pickup can wade through up to 600 mm (24″) of water.
Powered by a 66.9 kWh battery, Isuzu’s electric pickup offers a WLTP range of 163 miles. With charging speeds of up to 50 kW, the D-MAX EV can recharge from 20% to 80% in about an hour.
The electric version is nearly identical to the current diesel-powered D-Max, both inside and out, but prices will be significantly higher.
| Isuzu D-Max EV specs and prices | |
| Drive System | Full-time 4×4 |
| Battery Type | Lithium-ion |
| Battery Capacity | 66.9 kWh |
| WLTP driving range | 163 miles |
| Max Output | 130 kW (174 hp) |
| Max Torque | 325 Nm |
| Max Speed | Over 130 km/h (+80 mph) |
| Max Payload | 1,000 kg (+2,200 lbs) |
| Max Towing Capacity | 3.5t (+7,700 lbs) |
| Ground Clearance | 210 mm |
| Wading Depth | 600 mm |
| Starting Price (*Ex. VAT) | £59,995 ($81,000) |
Isuzu’s electric pickup will be priced from £59,995 ($81,000), not including VAT. The double cab variant starts at £60,995 ($82,500). In comparison, the diesel model starts at £36,755 ($50,000).
The EV pickup will launch in extended and double cab variants with two premium trims: the eDL40 and V-Cross. Pre-sales will begin later this year with the first UK arrivals scheduled for February 2026. Customer deliveries are set to follow in March.
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In this photo illustration, Claude AI logo is seen on a smartphone and Anthropic logo on a pc screen. (Photo Illustration by Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
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OpenAI and Anthropic continue to lead a fundraising bonanza in artificial intelligence, raising historic rounds and stratospheric valuations.
But when it comes to finding AI exits for venture firms, the market looks a lot different.
AI startups raised $104.3 billion in the U.S. in the first half of this year, nearly matching the $104.4 billion total for 2024, according to PitchBook. Almost two-thirds of all U.S. venture funding went to AI, up from 49% last year, PitchBook said.
The biggest deals follow a familiar theme. OpenAI raised a record $40 billion in March in a round led by SoftBank. Meta poured $14.3 billion into Scale AI in June as part of a way to hire away CEO Alexandr Wang and a few other top staffers. OpenAI rival Anthropic raised $3.5 billion, while Safe Superintelligence, a nascent startup started by OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, raised $2 billion.
While Meta’s massive investment into Scale AI amounted to a lucrative exit of sorts for early investors, the overarching trend has been a lot more money going in than coming out.
In the first half, there were 281 VC-backed exits totaling $36 billion, according to PitchBook. That includes the roughly $700 million acquisition of EvolutionIQ, an AI platform for disability and injury claims management, by CCC Intelligent Solutions, and the public listing of Slide Insurance, which builds AI-powered insurance offerings for homeowners. Slide is valued at about $2.3 billion.
“The dominant exit trend right now is frequent but lower-value acquisitions and fewer IPOs with significantly higher value,” said Dimitri Zabelin, PitchBook’s senior research analyst for AI and cybersecurity.
CoreWeave’s IPO, which took place at the very end of the first quarter, was the exception on the infrastructure side. The stock shot up 340% in the second quarter, and the company is now valued at over $63 billion.
Zabelin said the pattern of more investments in applications with smaller deals has been in place for the past year.
“Vertical solutions tend to plug more easily into existing enterprise gaps,” Zabelin said.
The acquisitions wave is being driven, in part, by what Zabelin calls bolt-on deals where larger companies buy smaller startups to enhance their own future valuations, hoping to enhance their value ahead of a future sale or IPO.
“That also has to do with the current liquidity conditions in the macro environment,” Zabelin said.
Outside of AI, activity is slow. U.S. fintech funding dropped 42% in the first half of the year to $10.5 billion, according to Tracxn. Cloud software and crypto have also seen sharp pullbacks.
Zabelin said IPO activity could pick up if economic conditions improve and if interest rates come down. Investors clearly want opportunities to back promising AI companies, he said.
“The appetite for AI, specifically vertical applications, will continue to remain robust,” Zabelin said.
— CNBC’s Kevin Schmidt contributed to this report.
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