So much emphasis is being placed on drivers making the switch from combustion power to pure EVs, that few people have noticed that a third player is kicking both their butts. While electric cars still only account for a small percentage of vehicle registrations in the U.S. and the take-up rate is advancing relatively gently, sales of hybrids are booming, while those for combustion cars are falling.
Looking at retail registrations, hybrids, and PHEVs accounted for more than 10 percent of the car market in two of the past three months, data collated by S&P Global Mobility shows. The study’s analysts think that buyers are choosing hybrids as a convenient stepping stone into the market for electrified vehicles. PHEVs, for example, can be treated like an EV most days if you’re only doing short journeys, but don’t come with the range anxiety stress of a real EV because the combustion engine is always there to save the day if you run the battery down.
The data reveals that the number of drivers of combustion cars coming back to the market and opting to switch to a hybrid has jumped by 61 percent in the past year, while the EV takeup has hardly increased at all. But what’s really interesting is that the buyers who switch from a gasoline car to a hybrid don’t automatically make what might seem like the logical step, and upgrade to a full EV when the time comes to trade.
Related: Hybrid Sales In The US Expected To Triple By 2028
Hybrid buyers returning to the market are showing their loyalty to the technology by choosing another hybrid. Data shows that 40.1 percent of hybrid drivers changing cars in August swapped into another hybrid, that figure up from around 28 percent in the same month of 2022.
S&P Global Mobility notes that fleet buyers have been instrumental in the sales success of hybrids and PHEVs, tempted by reduced fuel costs, the positive impact on their sustainability drives, and prices that in many cases make electrically-assisted cars no more expensive than a straight combustion vehicle.
More than 13 percent of hybrid purchases were made by fleet operators in the first eight months of this year, but that number soars when you look at domestic U.S. brands. Overall, 29 percent of domestic hybrid registrations came from fleet sales, but 67 percent of the Chrysler Pacificas and 86 percent of Ford Explorer Hybrids went to fleet buyers.