Orlando resident Tyrik Greene has bought an electric vehicle to bypass gas pumps and loves to be on the cutting edge of transportation.
“I think everyone should get an electric car because there may not be so many gas cars in 20-25 years from now,” says Green, which drives the Tesla Model 3 performance. I said that. “You can’t beat the future. You just have to ride with it.”
In central Florida, the number of electric vehicle registrations rose by more than 15% from November 2023 to November 2024, according to S&P Global Mobility, a vehicle data and analytics company.
More than 17,000 electric vehicles, often called EVs, have been newly registered in Brevard, Flagler, Lake, Marion, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Sumter and Volsia counties during that period, the company said.
Despite its growth, electric vehicles are only a small part of what’s on the road. As of October 1, 2024, 4,086,502 vehicles were in operation for all fuel types, of which about 63,270, or 1.5%, according to S&P.
Still, according to S&P data, adoption of electric vehicles in central Florida has generally grown fast across Florida and across the country, with a regional growth of 15.2% above the national rate of 9.4% last year. .
In Orange County alone, the number of fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicle registrations rose by 46%, rising from 21,438 in April 2023 to 31,280 in April 2024.
Michael Brown moved to central Florida last year to study cybersecurity at FullSale University. A new Winter Park resident dumped his pickup truck and bought an electric vehicle to avoid high gas prices. Because the car is a symbol of what he considers a high-tech future.
“Do you know how they say if you want to be something, you have to work towards it?” Brown said of his Tesla Model 3.
According to the Kelley Blue Book, electric vehicles accounted for 8.1% of total vehicle sales in the US last year. Over 1.3 million people sold last year, up about 7% from 1.2 million people sold in 2023, the car website said.
However, it is not clear what the upcoming EV market will be in the nationwide EV market as the Trump administration moves to tax incentives for vehicle purchases and government subsidies for new charging stations.
Electric cars remain more expensive purchases. According to the Kelley Blue Book, the average price for an electric vehicle was $55,544 in December, while the average price for a gasoline vehicle was $49,740.
Green said he likes the ability to avoid gas prices and gas stations with electric vehicle charging stations.
“Electric charging stations can be found in a lovely area,” he said. “There’s no need to worry about gas stations. Those little things are cool.”
Crystal Styles, executive director of development at Florida Power & Light, said Florida is the second in the country to adopt EVs after California.
“If you’re like the average American, you probably only drive 40 miles a day, so that’s pretty affordable,” she said. “So, I think that’s why the industry has grown in double digits over the last few years.”
However, due to its rapid growth, public EV chargers are lacking. Florida needs about 1,600 public chargers more than that, according to data from the National Institute of Renewable Energy.
The FPL is adding fast charging stations across the state, including two new sites, Deltena and Ingilanticun, and is planned for Daytona Beach and Port Canaveral later this year, Styles said. But there’s more to be needed, she said, and other “private sector investors” need to help, she added.
Orlando has at least 35 public EV charging stations, including the Recharge Mobility Hub located downtown of the Orlando Utility Commission.
There are also Tesla superchargers locations at some Wawa and Target locations in the city.
At the target of University Boulevard and Goldenrod Road, Tesla owner Ismael Rosario recently stopped charging before heading for shopping. He raved about the durability of the Model 3.
“They say every 3,000 to 3,500 miles you need to do some oil changes and basic adjustments, but they don’t do any adjustments,” he said. “Since 2021, I’ve put over 100,000 miles on this and have only invested in two sets of tires and six gallons of windshield wiper fluid. There’s nothing else.”
The Tesla Model 3 and Tesla Model Y are the most popular electric vehicles on Florida roads, accounting for 46.7% of registered EVs until November 2024.
Stiles said Floridians’ interest in EVs is likely to dim. “We expect it to continue to accelerate in the future.”
