A line of unsold 2024 Mustang Mach-E electric utility vehicles sit at a Ford dealership Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Denver. As the US car market swiftly and steadily goes electric, the Volkswagen ID.4 remains near the front of an increasingly crowded field. Americans bought nearly 6,200 of them in the first three months of this year.
Much of that inventory, though, is ending up in the same few places: along the coasts and in the nation’s busiest auto markets, leaving would-be EV buyers in other regions with precious few options. The dynamic reflects something of a chicken-and-egg situation for automakers: Their ability to push electric vehicles beyond early adopters hinges on second-wave buyers in a broader swath of states.
Those numbers make buying an EV daunting for people like Vincent Rossano, a carpenter who lives near Montpelier, Vermont. Rossano was set on purchasing a Chevrolet Bolt, but the closest one he could find was 360 miles away in upstate New York. “There’s this whole narrative that EV demand is down,” says Joel Levine, executive director of EV advocacy group Plug In America. “This year, EV sales are on track for a 20, 25% increase. The curve has shifted, but it’s not like people aren’t asking for the cars.”
A larger issue may be the auto industry’s franchise dealership model. Volkswagen, for example, says its ID.4 sells well in the Sun Belt — the so-called smile states — and in places like Chicago and Minneapolis, where the brand has long had a strong following.
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