Despite Tesla Motors building the largest battery factory, and perhaps one of the largest factories in the world, recent EV sales numbers they are decreasing. US interest in electric cars appears to be stalling. So why would Tesla, a company that designs, manufactures and sells high-performance electric vehicles and powertrain components, develop the capacity to produce and supply half a million car batteries per year when the accompanying demand doesn't exist? Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay According to Edmunds.com senior analyst Jessica Caldwell, “This was a market that was expected to grow, relatively quickly, as people embraced these new technologies… that hasn't happened.” This is mainly due to the decline in demand for traditional hybrids, which constitute the largest segment of the electric car market. However, the pure electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid segments have seen substantial gains, respectively Demand for these segments constitutes only a small portion of the market. Despite the success of the Toyota Prius and the stepped-up efforts of vehicle manufacturers, the market is occurring entirely in the traditional hybrid vehicle category hybrids in introducing new models, which would indicate that sales are doing well. Well, the slowdown in demand for traditional hybrid vehicles is occurring in a year when overall car sales have been booming Declining demand for traditional electric vehicles could be the stability of gas prices and the creation of gas-powered vehicles with better fuel efficiency by automakers. However, Tesla shares have soared, with more vehicles on the road and a surge in Supercharger stations. Traditional hybrid vehicles are equipped with gasoline engines, complemented by fuel-saving battery drive systems. These batteries are found in mainstream hybrid vehicles, such as the Toyota Prius. These batteries are not the highly efficient lithium-ion batteries that Tesla co-founder Elon Musk intends to conquer the market with. While the US plug-in category is still small compared to traditional hybrids, the rise of this EV category has been exponential, as shown in the chart below. Light purple indicates monthly sales, while dark purple indicates cumulative sales since December 2010. The plug-in vehicle market is on the rise, and Musk has created the largest battery factory to prepare to become the first competitor in the battery industry. pure electric vehicles. market. Plug-in SUVs are just starting to hit the market, which could cause an exponential increase in demand as SUVs are very popular among traditional US consumers. While plug-ins currently average about 1.5% of cars sold in the United States, Musk is banking on exponential growth in this sector. However, several market forces would need to increase demand. The biggest obstacles facing the plug-in market are the availability of charging stations, the range these cars can be driven without having to be plugged in, the time required to charge the vehicles and the premium costs required by the suppliers of these vehicles. According to the US Department of Energy, by the end of 2014 there will be more than.