Electric Vehicle Buyers Have the Agony of Choice

For many years, drivers thinking about switching to an electric car have had very limited choices. By the end of 2010, a meager 6 electric vehicle models (incl. plug-in hybrids and fuel cell vehicles) were available to consumers in North America. In recent years however, with the growing acceptance of electric cars, more and more manufacturers decided to enter the EV market.

According to a report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance, consumers had the agony of choice between 65 electric vehicle models, including 29 battery electric vehicles, 32 plug-in hybrids and 4 fuel cell vehicles by the end of 2018. Tesla, one of the very early movers in the market, is still the best-selling EV brand in the United States. In 2018, the company sold roughly 190,000 electric cars in the U.S., beating traditional carmakers like Chevrolet, Toyota, BMW and Ford by a wide margin.

Still accounting for little more than 2 percent of total passenger car sales, electric vehicles still have a long way to go in terms of mass adoption. However, the growing number of consumer choices combined with the steadily improving charging infrastructure will certain help move electric mobility forward.