Technology

Podcast: The future of electric vehicles – What to expect in 2024

Jan. 16, 2024

In this episode of Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast, Kristin Dziczek and Stephanie Valdez share their insight into the current state of EV manufacturing and where the industry in heading.

Robert Schoenberger

Kristin Dziczek is a policy adviser at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. As part of the research, policy, and public engagement division, she primarily focuses on the economic impacts of the transition to low-carbon and automated transportation. Stephanie Valdez Streaty is director of Industry Insights for Cox Automotive, which focuses on continually improving its products to create faster vehicle transactions. Kristin and Stephanie recently spoke with IndustryWeek editor in chief Robert Schoenberger about electric vehicles, how 2023 shaped up, and what to expect in the new year.

Below is an excerpt from the podcast:

IW: It was an exciting year for the electric vehicle (EV) market. Looking at quarterly sales of electric vehicles going back to about 2019, you can see there is definite growth right to about 8% of auto sales by the end of last year (2023). But at the same time, you see those last couple of quarters had slower to flat growth. So there was definitely a lot of growth in the electric vehicle market last year, but not quite as rapid as the pace in 2022 or 2021. So just starting from there, let's talk about what 2023 looked like and why the market looked like that throughout the year. And if we could maybe start with you, Stephanie.

SVS: 2023, I believe, was the year of the EV. Like you mentioned, there were some slowdowns. There were bumps in the road, some zigzags. But when I think about 2023, what are some of the highlights? As you mentioned, we had a record year where over 1.2 million battery electric vehicles were sold.

The other thing we saw last year were price cuts, which is really good for the consumer. And definitely Tesla was the leader in that. Their prices from last year were down 18%. So they really drove this downward price movement in the EV segment, which is a huge barrier for consumers. So the more we can get that price to go down, the better.

The other thing last year is this whole standardization and adoption of this EV charging network. I think that as we're having more and more manufacturers that have adopted the North American charging standard because infrastructure, as you all know, is critical. It has to be accessible, reliable, interoperable, and it has to be a seamless experience for the consumer.

So, I saw that happening in 2023. And if you want me to go now, I can go into 2024. We're still going to see more products, over 30 plus vehicles for consumers to choose from. We're going to see more infrastructure, more discounts, more incentives. And one key is going to be more sales muscle. We're going to have to have franchised dealers and salespeople really be able to convey the value proposition for the consumer because we're kind of moving now into that majority consumer. And so it's going to be really important to be able to convey that value proposition.

Like this episode? Listen to "How to prevent EV charger infrastructure downtime"

About the Podcast
Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast offers news and information for the people who make, store and move things and those who manage and maintain the facilities where that work gets done. Manufacturers from chemical producers to automakers to machine shops can listen for critical insights into the technologies, economic conditions and best practices that can influence how to best run facilities to reach operational excellence.

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About the Author

Robert Schoenberger

Robert Schoenberger has been writing about manufacturing technology in one form or another since the late 1990s. He began his career in newspapers in South Texas and has worked for The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Mississippi; The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Kentucky; and The Plain Dealer in Cleveland where he spent more than six years as the automotive reporter. In 2013, he launched Today's Motor Vehicles, a magazine focusing on design and manufacturing topics within the automotive and commercial truck worlds. He joined IndustryWeek in late 2021.