Minnesotans are slow to embrace electric vehicles

The Twin Cities have been slower to adopt electric vehicles than other major metro areas across the country, though local sales are picking up.

Driving the news: In April 2022, only about 2.7% of new vehicle registrations in the Twin Cities were electric, lagging far behind other big metros, according to recent numbers from S&P Global Mobility.

• Only about 0.4% of vehicles on Minnesota roads as of April were electric, so new sales levels of 2.7% means progress.

State of play: Gov. Tim Walz created a "clean cars" plan requiring manufacturers to deliver more EVs to Minnesota dealers. The Minnesota Auto Dealers Association is suing to block those rules.

• The rules were modeled after regulations in California, where cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles are seeing 20% and 12% of new vehicle registrations as electric, per the new S&P data.

Zoom out: Gas prices are pushing more drivers toward EVs nationally.

• Globally, more than half of car buyers say they want their next car to be an EV, according to new research from Ernst & Young, writes Axios' Joann Muller.

Yes, but: Minnesotans have been more wary of EVs due to concerns about their range in cold weather and a lack of charging stations.

• Minnesota is set to get up to $68 million in federal funds over the next five years to expand its charging network statewide.
• Plus, dozens more (paid) charging stations are coming to Minneapolis and St. Paul as part of a new partnership with an hourly carshare company.

Zoom in: Tesla remains the dominant player here, and it's doubling down on its presence in the Twin Cities with a massive showroom in Bloomington that is under construction.