Battery Electric Vehicles, abbreviated BEVs, or simply EVs, though sometimes plug in hybrids are called EVs, which they are not because they do burn gas, and that creates some confusion. I'll use BEV here to avoid ambiguity. BEVs posted about 50% sales growth in the US in 2023! I've seen story after story saying people don't want a BEV, but 50% growth at scale is quite remarkable. Media was exultant about new car sales growth in 2023, saying everyone wants gas cars again, pointing to a growth of 1.6 million units. They didn't mention that about 0.6 million of that growth in new car sales was BEVs. And that the growth was relative to sales posted in 2022, when the post-Covid supply chain crisis resulted in the worst gas car sales in a decade, while BEV sales grew about 50% in 2022 also. Are we now past peak gas car sales? Will the next few years see a steep rise of BEV sales, with their total displacement of new gas cars within a decade? Time will tell!

This was also the year when a BEV became the best selling car in the world, cause for celebration among all BEV proponents. The Tesla Model Y sold an estimated 1.23 million units worldwide, beating Toyota's RAV4 at 1.07 million and Corolla at 1.01 million, both gas cars. It's been a long time since an American nameplate has been the best selling car in the world. Now a US manufacturer is back at the top of the chart, with a BEV no less!

Tesla's best-selling Model Y SUV is followed by their Model 3 mid-sized sedan. The Model 3 has gotten a major update for 2024, something Tesla does only rarely to their models, preferring to do many small running updates throughout the year improving both features and production efficiency. I just took the Updated Model 3 for a test drive. It has many nice refinements, making the car quieter, the design more sleek and elegant, a good step forward over my 2018 Model 3. 

The Chevy Bolt EV/EUV is a popular economical small SUV, much loved by many OEVA members. It seems to have gotten past its battery recall troubles, and as a low cost yet capable BEV has surged into the sales lead for non-Tesla BEVs for 2023. Sadly for many, there is no 2024 Chevy Bolt, as Chevrolet has discontinued the model, so there is no datasheet below. It sounds like it might be back for 2025. Let's hope so! GM is focusing on its Ultium platform BEVs. You have to go quite a ways down the list to 25th place to find the next GM product, the luxury Cadillac Lyric SUV. The massive GMC Hummer EV takes 39th place, with the Chevy Blazer and Silverado just starting out and selling in small numbers. GM has big plans for new Ultium EVs, with the new Cadillac Escalade IQ SUV, and GMC Sierra EV pickup. And the Bolt's successor, the moderately priced yet capable Chevy Equinox EV.

Ford's Mustang Mach-e, Volkswagen's ID.4, and Hyundai's Ioniq5 are the next most popular SUVs, all from legacy automakers, each with their own qualities. Ford has separated out their EV division and seems quite serious about making a go of the transition to electrification. They were the first legacy manufacturer to publicly commit to adopt Tesla's elegant charging connector, which has been adopted as the North American Charging Standard (NACS, SAE J3400). Ford has for a limited time made the adapter available for free for all their Mach-e and Lightning buyers, giving them access to 15,000 of Tesla's 27,000 Superchargers in the US. Virtually all other EV manufacturers have committed to switch to NACS by 2025. Volkswagen is creating some buzz by adding the ID. Buzz van [that pun is required by trademark law, sorry] to their lineup for 2024, as well as moving upscale from the ID.4 with the luxury ID.7 SUV. South Korean Hyundai and it's sister-company Kia offer a wide array of worthy EVs. Hyundai also offers the older Kona Electric, and their newer Ioniq6, and Ioniq7. Kia offers the 11th placed EV6, as well as the new EV9 and older economical Niro.

The Rivian R1S is the SUV version of the R1T pickup truck (five steps down the sales list). The Ford F-150 Lightning is Ford's first fully electric pickup truck. Rivian is a new EV-only US manufacturer, focused on the Adventure Vehicle market. If your needs include traveling off road, Rivian is well worth a look. The F-150 Lightning is the more traditional pickup, and has optional equipment that can enable it to power your home through a blackout, though getting the system to work reliably can be a bit tricky. Nicky Gordon-Bloomfield at Transport Evolved has posted some videos on that. If you're curious you can find them with a search on YouTube. And while Rivians and the F-150 Lightning are expensive, I'd argue that you're still getting a great deal as it costs Rivian and Ford over $30,000 more to make their vehicles than they sell them for. Send your thanks to their long-suffering shareholders. Though Ford and Rivian are hardly alone with negative EV margin problems. Most legacy auto manufacturers don't break out the margins of the EV divisions, so we don't know how badly they are suffering. BEV production volumes are low for most companies and models, so they don't yet enjoy the economies of scale needed for profitability. Companies are struggling with the transition to electric vehicles. It's like going for a swim in a cold Oregon lake. You can ease yourself in, or jump in all at once. But one way or another, you're going to suffer until you acclimate.

I'll wrap up this review of the most popular models quickly, before I completely use up your patience. Thanks for sticking with me. The Tesla Model X and Model S, BMW i4 and iX, and Mercedes EQS and EQE are all premium luxury vehicles. They all offer technology, performance, and comfort in various degrees of copious abundance. Tesla has recently started shipping their Cybertruck. If you see a vehicle on the road that looks like it rolled off the set of Blade Runner 2049, that's the Cybertruck. There is a backlog of about 2 million reservations, so if you need one for hauling mulch for this summer's gardening season, maybe look elsewhere. BMW also has the i5 and i7, and Mercedes also has the EQB.

And finally, the Nissan Ariya, which though seventeenth most popular in 2023, slipped into a slot on this top sixteen list when the Chevy Bolt EV/EUV was discontinued. Nissan also still sells the LEAF, which was first produced in 2010, though of course it's been updated extensively throughout the years.

Your favorite model not mentioned above? I have nothing against Audi or Genesis, Fisker, Jaguar, Lexus, Lucid, Mini Cooper, Polestar, Porsche, Subaru, or Toyota, or anyone else. But a top models list has to have a cutoff line, or it's a comprehensive list. The images below link to printable PDF datasheets for sixteen EVs available in 2024, ranked by how popular those models were in the US in 2023.

The table below that lists all the 2024 datasheets that we have created in order of descending 2023 US vehicle sales. New models without 2023 sales recorded by Kelly Blue Book are at the end of the list in alphabetical order by make and model.

Would you prefer an entirely alphabetical table by make and model? I'll put that table next below.

And finally, would you like table by price? OK, I'll create that one next.

A note on pricing and specifications: Vehicle base prices and specs were as of about February 1, 2024. Prices and specs change, and while we try to be accurate, we're volunteers compiling this, not full-time researchers. Prices can vary wildly with options, and with dealer markups on popular models. Some models get incentives, some don't if you buy them but do if you lease them. It's confusing for everyone. Nail that down when you get closer to buying. So take our data sheets and the tables below as helpful assistance to get you started in your EV search, and verify the details as you narrow your selection.

A note on Plug In Hybrid Vehicles: Those are not included here, for good reasons. For most people, when you get past fear of the new and unfamiliar, BEVs are simply better. If you don't plug it in every day, a PHEV is just burning gas to make it go, and that's what we're trying to get away from. Suppose you promise that you will plug in your PHEV every day, and you only live a short way from work, so you will seldom burn gas. Well, if you can plug in your car every day, congratulations, a BEV will almost certainly work for you! For centuries the only way to cross the Atlantic was on ships. Then there were a few years when commercial airliners were built as flying boats (Google the Boeing 314 Clipper if you're interested). People felt better, telling themselves it was just a familiar boat that also flew. But it was just a few years and it was apparent to everyone that it just wasn't worth the compromises required to make commercial airliners that were also boats. With modern BEV technology, you don't need to carry along a gas engine in your BEV any more than you need your airliner to also be a boat. PHEVs day has passed, and countries that are further along in electrification than us are doing away with incentives for them. Unless your needs are quite unusual, you will be better served by a BEV than a PHEV. If you really want a PHEV, I'm sure you will be able to find a gas car company that will be delighted to sell you one.