Georgia rolls on to an electric vehicle future

Electric vehicle ownership in Georgia keeps growing, as consumers' tastes change and a wave of new models hit the market.

• Roughly 30,000 electric vehicles are on the road in Georgia, according to state officials' 2021 estimate.

• Sales rose by 29% in 2021, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy says.

Yes, but: While the gains have been strong, statewide EV ownership still trails national rates.

• EVs made up 5.1% of U.S. vehicle registrations in December 2021, according to S&P Global Mobility.
• In April 2022, EVs made up roughly 3% of registrations in Georgia, the research firm says.

Georgia has 1,500 charging stations, though most are located in metro Atlanta, per the AJC. That makes long road trips using an EV a challenge.

Driving the news: Consumer interest in electric vehicles is at a global tipping point, Axios' Joann Muller writes.

• New research from Ernst & Young shows more than half of car buyers say they want their next car to be an EV.
• EV sales are up in the U.S. by more than 5%.

The big picture: Georgia is angling to become the Detroit of EVs, and has scored major wins by wooing Rivian and Hyundai to build plants here.

• With the big-name car manufacturers come other companies and suppliers that might not be household names but are hugely important in terms of creating jobs and supporting the industry.

Flashback: In the early 2010s, Georgia was one of the EV industry's strongest growth areas thanks in part to a state tax credit that made owning an energy-efficient car very cost-efficient.

• That ended in 2015, when the Georgia General Assembly replaced the tax credit with a user fee. Two years later, EV sales in Georgia had dropped by 80%, Utility Dive reported.

Of note: As for what's on metro Atlanta roads...