Written by Josh Fried
The number of Electric Vehicle (EV) broadcast ad airings grew by over 392% between 2020 and 2023. In August 2021, President Biden announced his administration would aim for EVs to make up 50% of new US vehicle sales by 2030. With this announcement, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) soon followed with written statements pledging 100% EV production in the US within the next 25 years. Dodge announced they would end production of their gas-powered vehicles this year, General Motors pledged 100% EV production in the US by 2035, and Honda and Hyundai each committed to 100% US EV production by 2040. Ford committed to producing 600,000 US EVs in 2024, while Toyota announced it will aim for EVs to make up 70% of its US sales by 2030. In 2020, EV broadcast advertisements made up only 1% of Tier 1 automotive ad airings. In 2023, that figure rose to more than 7%.
Automotive advertising consists of three generic ad Tiers. Tier 1 ads are national advertisements paid for directly by the OEMs. They typically air on broadcast and cable but are expanding into the Connected Television (CTV) space. Tier 2 ads are regional advertising initiatives paid for by Dealer Groups, while Tier 3 ads provide brand awareness for individual dealerships. Over the last four years, Tier 1 advertisers have attempted to establish themselves as the EV automaker of choice. While the total number of Tier 1 broadcast airings has decreased by 29% since 2020, EV airings have increased over 392%: from 56.9K in 2020 to over 280K in 2023. Despite the total number of Tier 1 automotive ads remaining steady between 2022 and 2023, EV ad airings increased by 7.4%.
2022 marked the first time that OEMs had at least 200K Tier 1 EV ad airings, as the 261K EV airings made up 6.8% of all Tier 1 airings. In 2023, Tier 1 EV ads aired 280K times and made up a record 7.3% of total Tier 1 airings. In both 2022 and 2023, Nissan aired the most Tier 1 EV ads of any OEM. Their 74K airings in 2023 were more than the next two OEMs combined: Lexus (32K) and Toyota (31K). Last year, eight different OEMs had at least 10K Tier 1 EV broadcast airings, compared to only five with at least that many in 2022. New OEMs entered the EV advertising space in 2023, as five OEMs entered the top 10 in total EV airings despite each not having over 2K such airings in 2022: Lexus (32K), Dodge (17K), BMW (10K), Polestar (9K), and Kia (8K).
Nissan’s most aired 2023 EV ad, featuring actress Brie Larson, highlighted the Ariya’s 389 horsepower and all-wheel drive. The ad aired nearly 28K times across the country, meaning it saw more airings than every other OEM’s total 2023 EV airings outside of Lexus, Toyota, and Volkswagen. Lexus’ top EV ad showcased its fleet of electric offerings while Toyota featured its bZ4X as part of its National Sales Event in its most aired EV ad.
According to Kelley Blue Book, Americans bought nearly 1.2M EVs in 2023, making EVs the fastest-growing car sales category. While Tesla’s dominance in the EV market continued in 2023, its share of EV sales dropped by 10% to 55% compared to 2022. Since the Biden administration’s 2021 announcement, EV broadcast airings have grown significantly, making up over 7% of all Tier 1 automotive airings last year. Although total Tier 1 airings have declined significantly compared to 2020 and 2021, EV airings have continued to grow. This trend of EV airings is sure to continue as OEMs strive to make their mark in the EV space over the coming decade.
