Tesla Cybertruck, Honda Prologue, sky-high incentives boost EV registrations

New electric vehicle registrations surged 18 percent in July compared with the same month last year on the strength of newer models such as the Tesla Cybertruck and Honda Prologue, according to the most recent U.S. data from S&P Global Mobility. EV leader Tesla broke a five-month losing streak in July, with its registrations rising 1.2 percent compared with a year earlier on robust Cybertruck deliveries of 5,175 vehicles, the data showed. All other EV pickups combined sold 5,546. The Cybertruck launched in November.

The positive trend was driven by sky-high incentives on popular battery-electric crossovers, including $19,703 on the Kia EV9, $13,015 on Volkswagen's ID 4 and $7,035 on the Honda Prologue, which went on sale in March, according to Motor Intelligence.

The registration data is for fully electric vehicles and does not include hybrids or used vehicles.

"The results are a combination of good performance by EVs that have been in the market for awhile and the addition of several new models," said Tom Libby, an analyst at S&P Global Mobility. Tesla's return to growth removed a drag on the EV segment that had kept gains to single-digit percentages in previous months, he said.

The widespread use of EV incentives, both from the factory and the government, is boosting sales. The discounts allow retailers to offer rough price parity with gasoline and hybrid vehicles that otherwise would be significantly less expensive than their electric counterparts, Libby said.

"The caveat is that at full MSRP prices these EV products will not sell," Libby said. "They are being heavily incentivized to put their price point near internal-combustion vehicles. If the incentives were pulled off, I think sales would drop tremendously."

Total EV registrations in July rose to 118,273 vehicles from 100,620 in the year-earlier month, S&P Global Mobility said. EV share of the broader U.S. light-vehicle market rose to 8.5 percent from 7.6 percent a year earlier.

Registration data serves as a proxy for automaker sales numbers because Tesla doesn't break out its U.S. deliveries and some other automakers don't report EV sales by model.

In the January to July period, EV registrations grew 8.7 percent compared with the same period last year, S&P Global Mobility said. Electric vehicles captured 7.6 percent of the light-vehicle market in the first seven months of the year compared with a 7.2 percent share in same period last year, the data showed.

Tesla continued to dominate the EV segment in July with a 48 percent share of registrations. That was a notable drop from the 56 percent share in the year-earlier month, S&P Global Mobility said.

Registrations for non-Tesla EV models rose 38 percent compared with the same month a year earlier as the segment leader's rivals gained ground, Libby said.

"This is really the second wave of competitor vehicles and these are very solid and very competitive products that are affecting Tesla's position," Libby said.

Hyundai Motor Group had 10,846 registrations among its Hyundai, Kia and Genesis brands, good for second place, the data showed. General Motors, in third, had 9,767 registrations for Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC and Brightdrop. Ford Motor Co. had 9,504, good for fourth, S&P Global Mobility said.

Amid the mostly upbeat results, there were some signs of weakness among the top EV brands.

Tesla's Model 3 sedan saw its registrations fall 31 percent in July compared with a year earlier. In the January to July period, the sedan dropped 45 percent. The base Model 3 lost access to the federal EV tax incentive on Jan. 1 because of tighter battery sourcing requirements.

Registrations for the Rivian R1S crossover, the startup's top-selling consumer vehicle, fell 18 percent in July compared with the year-earlier month to 1,545 vehicles. Kia's EV9, also a three-row electric crossover, had 1,960 registrations in July, overtaking the Rivian R1S. The EV9 went on sale in December.

Combined registrations for Rivian's R1S and R1T pickup, its two consumer models, were down 0.3 percent in July to 2,522. Rivian shut down its Normal, Ill., factory in April to retool for freshened R1 vehicles. Rivian, including its commercial vans, fell to seventh place among EV brands in July from fourth place in June, the registration data showed.