The percentage of electric-vehicle owners in the US who switch back to gas is shrinking

The
Tesla Model Y.
Tim Levin/Insider

An increasing percentage of EV owners are choosing EVs over gas as their next car, per data analyzed by Axios.
Between 2021 and 2022, the share of EV owners who went back to gas cars decreased by around 17%.
The number of EV models available in the US market and investment in EV production is growing.

A smaller share of electric-vehicle owners in the US are going back to gas-powered cars when buying another car, according to data from S&P Global Mobility analyzed by Axios.

Between the second quarter of 2021 and 2022, the percentage of households who owned and EV and bought another EV increased from 48% to 65.3%, US vehicle registration data shows. Tom Libby, associate director of industry analysis at S&P Global Mobility told Axios the increase has been consistent throughout 2022, and that it’s “a very positive sign about the future of EVs.”

Despite the growing number of US drivers turning to EVs, China and Europe lead as buyers in the EV market, Axios reports. But car manufacturers are producing more EV models, meaning US vehicle consumers will soon have more options to choose from. S&P Global Mobility found that the number of available EV models in the US went from 27 to 45 between July 2021 and 2022. By 2025, S&P Global Mobility expects the number of EV models to reach close to 150.

Chevy is releasing an electric Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck next year to compete with Ford’s F-150 Lightning electric truck. The car manufacturer is also releasing an electric SUV, the Equinox EV, that will also go on sale next year for $30,000.

The US government is making it cheaper for people to buy EVs too, with President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act giving buyers up to $4,000 to buy a used EV. 

The most famous of EV makers, Tesla, remains a leader in the space, with the S&P Global Mobility data finding just over half of EV registrations in July for the Tesla Model Y and Tesla Model 3. Over 90% of people who already owned a Tesla chose it again when buying another EV, per Axios.

The data found California as the leading market for EVs in the US, but data from between 2012 and 2018 found that around 20% of EV owners in the state switched back to a gas-powered car. The biggest reason for the switch was due to the difficulty of finding EV chargers on the open road.