Fully electric vehicles could account for 7.6% of U.S. car sales in 2026

The consultancy IHS Markit forecasts that fully electric SUVs of different stripes (especially little ones) are going to start taking off in coming years.

Why it matters: Both types of vehicles are hugely popular with U.S. consumers. So the true mainstreaming of EVs, now a tiny market share, will eventually require batteries to power a chunk of this segment.

The big picture: The number of EVs of various types available in the U.S. market is set to mushroom, IHS projects.

• Overall, they see full EVs accounting for 7.6% of U.S. vehicle sales in 2026.
• "By 2023, IHS Markit forecasts 43 brands will offer at least one EV option — this will include nearly all existing brands as well as new brands entering the market — compared to 14 brands offering EVs in 2018," they said in a note last week.
• IHS expects U.S. electric SUV sales to grow to roughly 757,000 units, or nearly 60% of total EV sales, by 2026.

Where it stands: According to the consultancy BloombergNEF, trucks and SUVs account for over 50% of U.S. car sales, but just 19% of the current EV model offerings in the U.S. are SUVs.

Go deeper: American consumers may start looking at electric SUVs in the future