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Despite influx of new models, electric car sales expected to remain low

Flashy new debuts from Ford and others will not lift electric vehicle ownership above 5% by 2025, according to Kelley Blue Book.

Tesla unveiled its Cybertruck at an event in Los Angeles.
Tesla unveiled its Cybertruck at an event in Los Angeles.
Tesla

The Porsche Taycan, Ford Mustang Mach-E and Tesla’s Cybertruck are just some of the electric vehicles pushing into new market categories, hoping to popularize emissions-free driving.

But even nine years after the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt ushered in a new era of plug-in personal transportation, electric vehicle sales are still anemic; Kelley Blue Book predicts that only 1.5% of the 17 million passenger cars sold in the U.S. this year will be electric. Even by 2025, it projects just 5% of new car sales will have plugs.

“We’re not going to see one model hit and change the whole EV market,” said Karl Brauer, executive publisher of Kelley Blue Book. “We’re going to see this long, over time, chipping away of the resistance various consumers have about EVs.”

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