Price, range… Why are sales of electric cars slowing down?

Price, autonomy… Motorists are hesitant to switch to electric cars. A trend that is observed in the growth data. Even Tesla, which was breaking all records, is starting to become disillusioned and has announced the layoff of 500 employees.

In Europe, China and the United States, 100% electric cars have generated less revenue since the start of the year, observes Lorraine Morard, senior analyst at S&P Global. “If we look at last year’s data, for the first quarter of 2023 we had growth of 43% for the electric market in Europe. If we compare with the first quarter of 2024, we have growth of 3. 6%. We can therefore clearly see that the acceleration has slowed down significantly,” she explains at the microphone of Europe 1.

The price, another obstacle to purchasing

Now that the early believers have gone electric, the challenge is the mass market. The price remains a barrier: still 40% or 50% difference compared to thermal models and for Alexandre Marian, partner in charge of automobiles at Alix Partners, who has just published a study on the subject, as much as fears about autonomy have not been lifted.

Long-term trend remains positive

“These doubts are primarily linked to the availability of charging stations. There have been a lot of investments made in recent years but fundamentally, potential customers do not notice it,” he says. he said. However, the long-term trend remains positive: electric vehicle registrations will increase by 21% this year worldwide, according to the International Energy Agency.