HBJ "Report: CT’s EV market share grew by 2.8% in Q4"

By Zachary Vasile

Connecticut’s electric vehicle market share grew by 2.8% year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2021, according to a new report from the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, one of the biggest gains of any state in the country.

For the fourth quarter, electric vehicle sales accounted for over 6% of all motor vehicle sales in the state, the alliance found, greater than the 2021 full-year average of around 5%, a sign that interest in electric options had grown by the end of last year.

While Connecticut is not among the top adopters of EVs — a crowd that includes California, Washington, D.C., Washington state, Oregon and Nevada — it remains far ahead of most other states, and its EV market share is greater than the 2021 U.S. average, which sits at 4.4%.

Overall, 187,490 electric vehicles, including battery, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell electric models, were sold in the U.S. in the fourth quarter of 2021, helping nationwide monthly EV market share double between December 2020 and December 2021.

Alliance officials attributed those gains in part to the types of electric vehicles that became available between 2019 and 2021, including crossover SUVs, minivans and pickup trucks.

The group also pointed out that the federal infrastructure package passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden last year sets aside $5 billion to help establish a nationwide EV charging network, and allocates another $2.5 billion in grants to deploy publicly available EV, propane, hydrogen and natural gas fueling and charging stations through 2026, which will likely lead to more rapid adoption of EVs in years to come.

Ann Munley