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Watch the U.S. Electricity Grid Evolve Before Your Eyes

Published

8 years ago

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In a previous post, we looked at the evolution of America’s energy supply, showing how the country’s energy mix has changed from 1776 until today. There were many changes in technology and society over this extended time period, and the changes are quite eye-opening. Wood dominated until steam engine technology developed, and coal took over. Then electricity was discovered, and that gave rise to generating power in all kinds of ways: nuclear, hydro, gas, wind, solar, and more.

While the magnitude of such changes is obvious over centuries, there is even a surprising number of developments just in recent decades.

The below animated .gif, which starts with data from 1990, displays the evolution of how electricity is generated in every U.S. state up until 2014.

In this stretch of just 24 years, the way we generate electricity has evolved dramatically:

Watch the U.S. Electricity Grid Evolve Before Your Eyes
Even in 2006, the country got about 50% of its electricity from coal. As we noted in our post that visualized every power plant in the United States, the share that coal now has is closer to 34%.

Why is coal declining? The surge in the use of natural gas and renewables.

Natural gas power now generates 30% of the U.S. electricity, and renewable sources such as solar and wind have grown significantly in the last decade.

In 2005, there were zero states that generated more than 10% of their electricity from renewables. Today, that number is up to 11 states.

Original graphics by: Synapse Energy, RenewEconomy

 

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Energy

Ranked: Electric Vehicle Sales by Model in 2023

Today, electric vehicle sales make up 18% of global vehicle sales. Here are the leading models by sales as of August 2023.

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7 days ago

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December 1, 2023

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The Highest Electric Vehicle Sales, by Model

Ranked: Electric Vehicle Sales by Model in 2023

Electric vehicle (EV) sales are gaining momentum, reaching 18% of global vehicle sales in 2023.

As new competitors bring more affordable options and new performance features, the market continues to mature as customers increasingly look to electric options.

This graphic ranks the top-selling EVs worldwide as of August 2023, based on data from CleanTechnica.

The Best Selling EVs in 2023 (Through August)

Below, we show the world’s best selling fully electric vehicles from January to August 2023:

ModelCountryVehicles Sold
(Jan-Aug 2023)
Tesla Model Y🇺🇸 U.S.772,364
Tesla Model 3🇺🇸 U.S.364,403
BYD Atto 3 / Yuan Plus🇨🇳 China265,688
BYD Dolphin🇨🇳 China222,825
GAC Aion S🇨🇳 China160,693
Wuling HongGuang Mini EV🇨🇳 China153,399
GAC Aion Y🇨🇳 China136,619
VW ID.4🇩🇪 Germany120,154
BYD Seagull🇨🇳 China95,202

As we can see, Tesla‘s Model Y still holds a comfortable lead over the competition with 772,364 units sold. That’s more than double the sales of the #2 top selling vehicle, Tesla’s Model 3 (364,403)

But it’s hard to ignore the rising prevalence of Chinese EVs. The next five best selling EV vehicles are Chinese, including three from BYD. The automaker’s Atto 3 (or Yuan Plus, depending on market), is being sold in various countries including Germany, the UK, Japan, and India.

Meanwhile, Chinese automaker GAC Group also had two models of its Aion EV brand make the rankings, with the Aion S selling 160,693 units so far.

Regional market strength is also clear. For Volkswagen’s ID.4 model (120,154 units sold), Europe and China account for the majority of sales.

Given growing cost efficiencies and changing consumer behavior, global EV sales are projected to make up half of new car sales globally by 2035, according to forecasts from Goldman Sachs.

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