4 New Electric Cars That Are A Tough Sell
Although most of the candidates in our best EVs of 2022 had a good year sales-wise, others struggled to find willing buyers for one reason or another. The South Korean twins, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6, sold briskly — nearly 23,000 Ioniq 5s and about 20,500 EV6 electric crossovers. It's a similar story with the Tesla Model S (23,464), Ford Mustang Mach E (28,089), Chevy Bolt EUV (38,120), and the top-selling Tesla Model Y (191,451 sold).
Other vehicles were on the opposite side of the fence and didn't fare very well on the sales charts. For example, the Mazda MX-30 is a quirky and compact Japanese EV with suicide rear doors and a clean body style. However, its sales struggles (reportedly in the single digits for some months) are pretty easily explained — it was rendered undesirable by a dinky 35.5 kWh battery that enables only 100 miles of range and was only for sale in the state of California. It is a plug-in hybrid, but the engine inside only acts as a generator for the battery and can't actually drive the car. For $35,000, 100 miles is a huge shortcoming, which seems to be a pattern with the poorest-selling EVs. Mercifully, Mazda discontinued the MX-30 in July 2023.
Higher range numbers = higher sales figures
Next up, we've got a trio of vehicles from Toyota, each with the same fundamental problem as the Mazda MX-30 — not enough battery range for the price. The price-to-range difference between the best-selling EVs and the worst is stark. This seems to prove that range anxiety is a genuine concern among potential EV buyers.
After dragging its tail on EV adoption, Toyota introduced the bZ4X in 2022, while Subaru unveiled a rebadged bZ4X called the Solterra. These had an additional problem hampering sales — the automaker recalled both EVs soon after launch for possible loose-fitting wheels. The results are dismal sales numbers, with Toyota selling only 1,220 bZ4Xs and Subaru with 919 units of the Solterra. It didn't help that a Toyota bZ4X starts at about $44,000 for 222 to 252 miles of range. For the same money, the Kia EV6 is available with up to 310 miles of range.
The same problem plagues the Lexus RZ, with reports saying only 185 units left the factory for North America in 2022. With its sub-$65,000 MSRP and EPA-rated 196 miles of driving range, it's easy to see why the Lexus RZ 450e is a hard sell.