With new electric vehicles from Ford, GM and others, Tesla’s share of the US EV market has slid. Today’s newsletter looks at what the alternative models are and who’s buying them. You can read the full version of this story on Bloomberg.com. For unlimited access to climate and energy news, please subscribe. 

The EVs overtaking Tesla

By Kyle Stock

When Artie R. Williams decided it was time to kick his gas habit, he narrowed his search to three options: the Cadillac Optiq, a Porsche Macan EV and the Polestar 3.  — none of which has been on the market for more than a few months. 

Tesla wasn’t on the table.

“Nothing against Elon (Musk), but those vehicles have been out for so long,” said Williams, a healthcare marketer in Dallas, from the driver’s seat of his weeks-old Polestar. “Meanwhile, this thing is new, it’s innovative. It had a funky look to it and I knew people were going to be like ‘What are you driving?’ And I like that.”

Artie R. Williams with his new vehicle. Source: Artie R. Williams

Sales of electric vehicles climbed to 294,000 in the first quarter of the year, a 10.6% increase compared with the year-earlier period. January through March is a relatively slow time for car sales, nevertheless EVs moved off the lot much more frequently than cars and trucks in general. (Total US auto sales were nearly flat in the first quarter).

EV adoption is cruising along in the US, despite a backlash against the industry’s largest player and the Trump administration’s push to wind back clean energy incentives and emissions regulations. Interest is spreading from early-adopters to mainstream consumers, from EV evangelists to the EV-curious. Williams, for example, isn’t concerned about his personal emissions or climate change. He’s just tired of paying for gasoline and oil changes and considers the preponderance of new EVs a better, more reliable form of technology. 

The gains came in spite of (and in some cases because of) struggles at Tesla, the country’s market-leader for battery-powered vehicles. Tesla sold 1.3 million cars in the quarter, a 9% decline from the year-earlier period. Sales of rival brands, meanwhile, collectively notched a gain of 32%. In two years, Tesla’s share of the US EV market has skidded from almost two-thirds to less than half. 

A grassroots boycott of the brand in response to CEO Elon Musk’s heavy-handed efforts to streamline federal employment drove some of the sales swoon. JPMorgan has characterized the backlash as “unprecedented brand damage.” 

Tesla net income slid 71% in the first quarter and the company widely missed analyst estimates on revenue. Tesla Chief Financial Officer Vaibhav Taneja said vandalism and hostility were to blame, in part, for double-digit percent declines in vehicle deliveries. 

However, there is also a crowd of EV converts that aren’t so much put off by Musk as they are attracted to a parade of newer products. Of the 63 or so fully electric cars and trucks on the US market, one quarter weren’t available a year ago. The product blitz includes the first EV offerings from Acura, Dodge and Jeep, second models from Mini and Porsche and two more battery-powered machines each from Cadillac and Volvo.

Many of the new EVs are relatively affordable. Cox estimates the price spread between EVs broadly and internal combustion cars and trucks has shrunk to just $5,000. General Motors, meanwhile, plans to resurrect its Chevrolet Bolt later this year with a price point around $30,000.

“We’re about giving customers a choice,” CEO Mary Barra told Bloomberg. “Over the long term, we think EV demand will grow.”

Hayden Jones, a Microsoft retiree in Seattle, loved his two Tesla Model Ys, but traded them both in a few weeks ago. He’s come to consider Elon Musk “a bit of a lunatic.”

“I was getting post-it notes when I parked,” he explained, “and it’s a slippery slope from putting a sticker on someone’s car and setting it on fire.”

Jones said both of his new cars – a BMW iX and a Polestar 3 – seem higher quality than his Teslas and comfortably haul his two massive dogs, a 170-pound Newfoundland and a 70-pound mutt. Polestar knocked $5,000 off as part of a new marketing program to lure Tesla refugees like Jones.

“There’s just a lot of competition now,” explained Stephanie Valdez Streaty, director of industry insights at Cox Automotive. “And it’s not just one make or model that’s filling in that (Tesla) gap.”

How could tariffs broadside EV-curious shoppers. Read the full story on Bloomberg.com to understand which carmakers are most exposed to Trump’s trade war.

This week we learned

1. Robotic beehives could help save the world’s pollinators. In a bid to protect bees from climate change, Beewise has developed a robotic hive that insulates them from harmful weather and uses AI to monitor their health. The startup is one of BloombergNEF Pioneers competition winners announced this week. 
2. The fashion industry is responsible for up to 10% of global emissions. This is more than aviation and shipping combined. BNEF Pioneers winners also included two textile-focused startups focused on this problem: Circ, which turns mixed-fiber fabric back into its reusable raw materials, and EverDye, which has developed a lower-impact textile dyeing process. 
3. ESG funds are still in BP despite its green pivot. Since the oil giant announced on Feb. 26 it was abandoning earlier green transition plans, more than 60 funds that commit to a sustainability objective in their prospectus have added to their existing stakes in the company, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. 
4. World leaders from China to the EU held a climate meeting without the US. In a virtual gathering organized by the United Nations and COP30 host Brazil, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged that regardless of changes in the international landscape, his country’s efforts to combat climate change will not slow down.
5. Pope Francis was a key figure behind the Paris Agreement. The spiritual leader, who died this week at age 88, was said to have added “soul” to the landmark emissions accord. Its preamble addresses climate justice, intergenerational equity and the rights of Indigenous peoples — all central to Francis’s platform.

Pope Francis reacts as he was presented a new fully electric popemobile, at the Vatican in December 2024. Photographer: Filippo Monteforte/AFP

A growing slate of startups are tapping everything from fungus to sawdust to make more environmentally friendly fats and oils. There’s an increasing need for solutions as traditional agricultural businesses face tougher scrutiny over their impact on the planet, with regulators rolling out new laws such as the European Union’s  ban on food items linked to deforestation. At the same time, some types of fat are becoming scarcer and more expensive as climate change decimates the crops used to make them. Alternative fat startups say their products can fill that gap while cutting back carbon emissions. Read more about the options being developed on Bloomberg.com. 

Bill Gates-backed biotech startup Savor plans to sell its synthetic vegan butter — made from captured carbon dioxide — to US restaurants and bakeries in the coming months. Source: Savor

Global investment in clean energy hit a record $2 trillion last year, according to BloombergNEF. But developing countries see only a sliver of that funding. Private investors are wary of unfamiliar markets, currency risks and perceived instability. So how do we change that? Avinash Persaud, special adviser on climate risks to the president of the Inter-American Development Bank, joins Zero to explore how we can de-risk investments, unlock private capital, and supercharge the global clean energy transition. From carbon markets to sustainability-linked bonds, where should the focus be to make the biggest impact?

Listen now, and subscribe on Apple,  Spotify, or YouTube to get new episodes of Zero every Thursday.

Avinash Persaud. Photographer: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg

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Battery Smart stations in India Courtesy: Battery Smart

Do you have a compelling story you want to tell? The Bloomberg Green Docs competition is open to all eligible filmmakers who would like to compete to win a $25,000 grand prize for a short climate documentary. The aim is to explore our climate future with documentaries that reveal the world we are making today. Films must be under 10 minutes and submissions will be accepted through May 23. The winner will be announced at the Bloomberg Green Docs Film Festival in Seattle on July 16. Visit the Bloomberg Green Docs official site for more information and rules.

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