Cowen analysts led by Itay Michaeli say the EV market has entered the early stages of stabilization as a combination of more self-driving capabilities and elevated gas and diesel prices has shifted consumers toward these vehicles.
“We are still in the early stages of this looming EV comeback,” Michaeli told Bloomberg in an interview on Friday. “EV market coverage, by our estimation, will grow substantially in the next couple of years by existing players.”
A welcome sign of stabilization came as Tesla and Rivian reported third-quarter deliveries above Wall Street expectations.
Tesla reported deliveries of 486,532 EVs in the most recent quarter, a decline of just 2.1% and well ahead of the roughly 464,000 average analyst estimate, while Rivian delivered 19,248 vehicles in the third quarter, well above the roughly 17,600 expected.
Cox Automotive reports that US EV market share has settled near 6% this year, well below the 11% reached during the rush to buy EVs before the federal tax credit expired.
Another signal of stabilization comes from Randy Parker, chief executive officer of Hyundai’s North America business, who said, “Because of the war, because of gas prices, we’ve also seen a rise and a recovery in EV sales,” adding, “I’ve got more and more dealers now asking for EV product.”
Google Trends searches for “used EV for sale near me” skyrocketed this year as gasoline and diesel prices stayed elevated.
Barclays autos analyst Dan Levy recently noted that Tesla’s Full Self-Driving capabilities have become an increasingly important selling point and are driving sales (read note here).