Utah electric vehicle market share climbing; 8.33 percent in 2023

Brice Wallace 

Electric vehicle sales in Utah continue to grow, according to a new report.

The “Get Connected Electric Vehicle Report,” released by the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, indicates that in the first three quarters of 2023, EVs represented 8.33 percent of the state’s vehicle market share. The figure was about 4 percent in the 2021 third quarter and 6.66 percent in the 2022 quarter.

For comparison, California led the 2023 first three quarters with a 26 percent market share for EVs. North Dakota was last, at 1.32 percent.

For just the third quarter, Utah’s market share of new EV sales was 9 percent, an increase from 7.1 percent in the prior-year quarter and 7.3 percent in the 2021 third quarter.

Nationally, EVs represented 10.1 percent of overall light-duty vehicle sales in the 2023 third quarter. That’s up from 9.1 percent in in the prior year and 7.1 percent in Q3 2021.

The report indicates that Utah has 43,264 EVs on the road and 2,089 publicly available charging outlets. The state total includes 327 “DC Fast” chargers, which charge battery electric vehicles in 20 minutes to one hour. The figures equate to a ratio of 21 EVs for every public port, putting Utah No. 24 in the ratio of EVs to public chargers. Utah has 137 chargers per 10,000 residents.

Nationally, drivers are behind the wheel of 4 million EVs and have access to 151,303 publicly available charging outlets, a ratio of 26 EVs for every public port. The total includes 34,611 DC Fast chargers.

In the first three quarters of last year, the number of publicly available EV chargers increased 26 percent from the prior-year period, while EV sales increased 59 percent. In the third quarter, 378,097 EVs were sold (an increase of 63 percent year over year) but only 7,800 new public chargers were added.

The report noted that nearly 1.1 million more public chargers are needed to meet the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s necessary infrastructure estimate for 2030. “Put another way, 414 chargers need to be installed every day for the next 7.2 years — or nearly three chargers every 10 minutes — through the end of 2030,” the report states.

The report noted that potential EV buyers have lots of choices. There are 111 EV models available: 61 battery electric vehicles (21 cars and 33 utility vehicles, four pickups and three vans), 48 plug-in hybrid vehicles and two fuel cell electric vehicles. Light truck sales represent 74 percent of the EV market.

Nationally, the cost of the average EV in the third quarter was about $52,500, compared with the average cost of all new light-duty vehicles of about $48,200. EV prices fell more than $13,000 from the 2022 third quarter, while the average cost of all new light vehicles was mostly unchanged.

States in the top third median income bracket have three times the EV market share of states in the lowest third income bracket. States with a more urban population have more than twice the EV market share (10.6 percent) than more rural states (4.2 percent).

Another characteristic noted in the study is that so-called “blue” states, which tend to vote Democratic in presidential elections, have more than three times the EV market share than “red” states. “Purple,” or swing, states have half the market share of “blue” states.

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation represents the full auto industry, from the manufacturers producing most vehicles sold in the U.S. to autonomous vehicle innovators to equipment suppliers, battery producers and semiconductor makers. Details about the alliance and the report are available at www.autosinnovate.org.