With the Los Angeles Auto Show underway, the debate over the future of electric vehicles is taking the spotlight.
Many manufacturers are touting their EV offerings, even after electric vehicle sales took a steep dip in October after the $7,500 federal tax incentive expired at the end of September.
EV sales declined by nearly 60% nationwide in October, according to J.D. Power, and now represent just 5.2% of total monthly new vehicle sales, down from 12.9% in September.
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But some automotive experts say that while sales might soften with the repeal of the tax credit, electric vehicles aren’t going away.
“People who don’t like EVs might say, ‘Oh my gosh, they’re dead.’ Totally not true,” said Ed Loh, Motor Trend’s head of editorial. “I think right now we’re going to see the strong will survive. So the ones who make really good EVs that are priced right, you’ll see them bounce back.”
Hyundai has several EVs in its lineup, and debuted its Ioniq 6 N high-performance EV at the auto show. The sport sedan can go from zero to 60 mph in under 3.2 seconds.
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Along with its electric offerings, the manufacturer is leaning into a theme of engine choice.
“We want to meet the customer on their journey to mobility,” said Randy Parker, Hyundai North America CEO. “Whether it’s ICE [internal combustion engine], whether it’s hybrid, whether it is EV. And the good thing for us is that we can meet the customers on that journey in any space no matter which direction they want to go in.”
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The luxury EV manufacturer Lucid also has a booth at this year’s LA Auto Show.
Lucid’s interim CEO, Marc Winterhoff, says that while tax incentives for electric vehicles are welcome, the automaker doesn’t need them to compete.
“There is a dip,” said Winterhoff of the company’s current sales figures. “People pulled forward… purchases and now there’s a little bit of a lull I would say. But I really see this as a bump in the road, and it will normalize sometime in Q1 next year.”
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