Technology
Visualizing the Race for EV Dominance
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Electric Car Companies: Eating Tesla’s Dust
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Tesla has reigned supreme among electric car companies, ever since it first released the Roadster back in 2008.
The California-based company headed by Elon Musk ended 2020 with 23% of the EV market and recently became the first automaker to hit a $1 trillion market capitalization. However, competitors like Volkswagen hope to accelerate their own EV efforts to unseat Musk’s company as the dominant manufacturer.
This graphic based on data from EV Volumes compares Tesla and other top carmakers’ positions today—from an all-electric perspective—and gives market share projections for 2025.
Auto Majors Playing Catch-up
According to Wood Mackenzie, Volkswagen will become the largest manufacturer of EVs before 2030. In order to achieve this, the world’s second-biggest carmaker is in talks with suppliers to secure direct access to the raw materials for batteries.
It also plans to build six battery factories in Europe by 2030 and to invest globally in charging stations. Still, according to EV Volumes projections, by 2025 the German company is forecasted to have only 12% of the market versus Tesla’s 21%.
| Company | Sales 2020 | Sales 2025 (projections) | Market cap (Oct '21, USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tesla | 499,000 | 2,800,000 | $1,023B |
| Volkswagen Group | 230,000 | 1,500,000 | $170B |
| BYD | 136,000 | 377,000 | $113B |
| SGMW (GM, Wulling Motors, SAIC) | 211,000 | 1,100,000 | $89B |
| BMW | 48,000 | 455,000 | $67B |
| Daimler (Mercedes-Benz) | 55,000 | 483,000 | $103B |
| Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi | 191,000 | 606,000 | $39B |
| Geely | 40,000 | 382,000 | $34B |
| Hyundai -Kia | 145,000 | 750,000 | $112B |
| Stellantis | 82,000 | 931,000 | $63B |
| Toyota | 11,000 | 382,000 | $240B |
| Ford | 1,400 | 282,000 | $63B |
Other auto giants are following the same track towards EV adoption.
GM, the largest U.S. automaker, wants to stop selling fuel-burning cars by 2035. The company is making a big push into pure electric vehicles, with more than 30 new models expected by 2025.
Meanwhile, Ford expects 40% of its vehicles sold to be electric by the year 2030. The American carmaker has laid out plans to invest tens of billions of dollars in electric and autonomous vehicle efforts in the coming years.
Tesla’s Brand: A Secret Weapon
When it comes to electric car company brand awareness in the marketplace, Tesla still surpasses all others. In fact, more than one-fourth of shoppers who are considering an EV said Tesla is their top choice.
“They’ve done a wonderful job at presenting themselves as the innovative leader of electric vehicles and therefore, this is translating high awareness among consumers…”
—Rachelle Petusky, Research at Cox Automotive Mobility Group
Tesla recently surpassed Audi as the fourth-largest luxury car brand in the United States in 2020. It is now just behind BMW, Lexus, and Mercedes-Benz.
The Dominance of Electric Car Companies by 2040
BloombergNEF expects annual passenger EV sales to reach 13 million in 2025, 28 million in 2030, and 48 million by 2040, outselling gasoline and diesel models (42 million).
As the EV market continues to grow globally, competitors hope to take a run at Tesla’s lead—or at least stay in the race.
AI
Visualizing the Top U.S. States for AI Jobs
Nearly 800,000 AI jobs were posted in the U.S. throughout 2022. View this graphic to see a breakdown by state.
Visualizing the Top U.S. States for AI Jobs
Much ink has been spilled over fears that artificial intelligence (AI) will eliminate jobs in the economy. While some of those fears may be well-founded, red-hot interest in AI innovation is creating new jobs as well.
This graphic visualizes data from Lightcast, a labor market analytics firm, which shows how many AI-related jobs were posted in each state throughout 2022.
In total there were 795,624 AI jobs posted throughout the year, of which 469,925 (59%) were in the top 10. The full tally is included in the table below.
| Rank | State | Number of job postings | % of total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 142,154 | 17.9% |
| 2 | Texas | 66,624 | 8.4% |
| 3 | New York | 43,899 | 5.5% |
| 4 | Massachusetts | 34,603 | 4.3% |
| 5 | Virginia | 34,221 | 4.3% |
| 6 | Florida | 33,585 | 4.2% |
| 7 | Illinois | 31,569 | 4.0% |
| 8 | Washington | 31,284 | 3.9% |
| 9 | Georgia | 26,620 | 3.3% |
| 10 | Michigan | 25,366 | 3.2% |
| 11 | North Carolina | 23,854 | 3.0% |
| 12 | New Jersey | 23,447 | 2.9% |
| 13 | Colorado | 20,421 | 2.6% |
| 14 | Pennsylvania | 20,397 | 2.6% |
| 15 | Arizona | 19,514 | 2.5% |
| 16 | Ohio | 19,208 | 2.4% |
| 17 | Maryland | 16,769 | 2.1% |
| 18 | Minnesota | 11,808 | 1.5% |
| 19 | Tennessee | 11,173 | 1.4% |
| 20 | Missouri | 10,990 | 1.4% |
| 21 | Oregon | 10,811 | 1.4% |
| 22 | Washington, D.C. | 9,606 | 1.2% |
| 23 | Indiana | 9,247 | 1.2% |
| 24 | Connecticut | 8,960 | 1.1% |
| 25 | Wisconsin | 8,879 | 1.1% |
| 26 | Alabama | 7,866 | 1.0% |
| 27 | Kansas | 7,683 | 1.0% |
| 28 | Arkansas | 7,247 | 0.9% |
| 29 | Utah | 6,885 | 0.9% |
| 30 | Nevada | 6,813 | 0.9% |
| 31 | Idaho | 6,109 | 0.8% |
| 32 | Oklahoma | 5,719 | 0.7% |
| 33 | Iowa | 5,670 | 0.7% |
| 34 | South Carolina | 4,928 | 0.6% |
| 35 | Louisiana | 4,806 | 0.6% |
| 36 | Kentucky | 4,536 | 0.6% |
| 37 | Nebraska | 4,032 | 0.5% |
| 38 | Delaware | 3,503 | 0.4% |
| 39 | New Mexico | 3,357 | 0.4% |
| 40 | Rhode Island | 2,965 | 0.4% |
| 41 | New Hampshire | 2,719 | 0.3% |
| 42 | Hawaii | 2,550 | 0.3% |
| 43 | Mississippi | 2,548 | 0.3% |
| 44 | Maine | 2,227 | 0.3% |
| 45 | South Dakota | 2,195 | 0.3% |
| 46 | Vermont | 1,571 | 0.2% |
| 47 | North Dakota | 1,227 | 0.2% |
| 48 | Alaska | 970 | 0.1% |
| 49 | West Virginia | 887 | 0.1% |
| 50 | Montana | 833 | 0.1% |
| 51 | Wyoming | 769 | 0.1% |
The following chart adds some context to these numbers. It shows how the percentage of AI job postings in some of the top states has changed since 2010.
We can see that California quickly became the primary destination for AI jobs in the early 2010s, presumably as Silicon Valley companies began developing the technology.
California’s share has since declined, with a significant number of jobs seemingly moving to Texas. In fact, many tech companies are relocating to Texas to avoid California’s relatively higher taxes and cost of living.
The 10 Most In-Demand Specialized Skills
Lightcast also captured the top 10 specialized skills that were required for AI-related jobs. These are listed in the table below.
| Skill | Frequency (number of postings) | Frequency (% of postings) |
|---|---|---|
| Python | 296,662 | 37% |
| Computer Science | 260,333 | 33% |
| SQL | 185,807 | 23% |
| Data Analysis | 159,801 | 20% |
| Data Science | 157,855 | 20% |
| Amazon Web Services | 155,615 | 19% |
| Agile Methodology | 152,965 | 19% |
| Automation | 138,791 | 17% |
| Java | 133,856 | 17% |
| Software Engineering | 133,286 | 17% |
If you’re interested in a career that focuses on AI, becoming proficient in Python is likely to be a good first step.
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