Environment

2021 saw a 13-fold increase in US EV purchases from 2012

2021 saw a 13-fold increase in US EV purchases from 2012

In 2021, there were almost 647,000 US EV purchases – a nearly 13-fold increase from 2012, according to a new online dashboard launched today by Environment America Research & Policy Center and nonpartisan research center Frontier Group.

The interactive “Renewables on the Rise 2022” dashboard also reveals that the number of EV chargers in the US exceeded 120,000 in 2021 – a nearly 20-fold increase from 2012.

Environment America’s dashboard details progress over the past decade in six areas that are key to transitioning to renewable resources: EVs, EV charging ports, wind, solar, battery storage, and energy efficiency.

California, Florida, and New York top the rankings for both EV sales in 2021 and the rise in public EV charging ports since 2012. 

Meanwhile, seven states now produce enough electricity from wind, solar, and geothermal energy to cover half of their electricity consumption.

In 2016, just five years earlier, not one state had achieved this level of renewable energy progress. 

Ten states, accounting for 22% of US electricity consumption in 2021, have committed to obtaining 100% of their electricity from clean sources over the next several decades, and all 50 states are seeing meaningful clean energy growth.

California, Texas, and Florida saw the most solar and battery storage growth from 2012 to 2021, while Texas, Oklahoma, and Iowa topped the charts for wind power growth.

Johanna Neumann, senior director of Environment America Research & Policy Center’s Campaign for 100% Renewable Energy, said:

Renewables like wind and solar are poised to play a dominant role in America’s energy future.

As clean energy sources produce more and more of our power, they set the stage for other technologies – like electric cars and heat pumps powered by renewable energy – to replace dirty and outdated ones.

Federal clean energy tax credits are expected to turbocharge clean energy’s growth. The Inflation Reduction Act, passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden this summer, offers rebates and tax credits on new and used EVs, rooftop solar, upgrading electrical panels, in addition to heat pumps, water heaters, and more.

Read more: Here’s how the US climate act will lower household energy bills


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