"Federal incentives for electric vehicles disappeared at the end of the third quarter, leaving the US market to survive on its own merits. So, how did companies perform in this new, realistic environment? Cox Automotive, an industry data provider, has just released EV sales estimates for the fourth quarter on Tuesday, and the numbers reveal which companies thrive and which struggle without government assistance."
"One major reason is that EV companies in the US now have to make the numbers work without government help. A significant part of the equation is volume. Despite a decline in sales recently, Tesla still sold 138,000 EVs in the US during the fourth quarter. That type of volume helps the company maintain relatively low prices while still making money."
"Most rivals don't have that volume, and their EV manufacturing operations just aren't as efficient as Tesla's because they still make other types of cars, which have way more parts than EVs. This can make them more expensive to manufacture and can lead to big losses. "In the volume-driven business of automotive manufacturing, low volume is the enemy; EV profitability remains a distant dream for nearly every automaker," Cox warned last year as federal incentives ended."
Federal incentives for electric vehicles ended after the third quarter, forcing the US EV market to operate without subsidies. Cox Automotive's fourth-quarter estimates show Tesla capturing 59% market share, up from 41% the prior quarter. Tesla sold about 138,000 EVs in the US during the fourth quarter, enabling lower prices and ongoing profitability through volume. Most rival automakers lack comparable volume and face less efficient EV manufacturing because they also produce complex internal-combustion vehicles. Low volumes and higher production costs have produced sizable losses, prompting some automakers to scale back or halt US EV plans and take multibillion-dollar charges.
Read at Business Insider
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