Green Transportation Rally on Oct. 8, in Oak Park. Video by Cassandra West.

By Cassandra West

If you think you're seeing more electric vehicles (EVs) on your local streets, you are. If you think this constitutes a boon for the EV market, not exactly.

On Nov. 28, the Wall Street Journal reported, some 3,900 U.S. car dealers sent a letter to President Biden seeking relief “from his onerous and unrealistic EV sales mandate.” The dealers say electric vehicles are piling up on their lots. Demand for EVs just isn't keeping up with production.

"Dealers have a 103-day supply of EVs compared to 56 days for all cars," the Journal reported.

American auto manufacturers revved up production of EVs in the last year largely for two reasons. Governors and lawmakers are eager to show their states are on the road to greener economies. States and the federal government are pushing incentives like rebates and tax credits to encourage more EV purchases.

Laurie Casey charged her Nissan Leaf at the Green Transportation Rally.

In Illinois, rebates have proved a powerful incentive. The state in July began offering $4,000 rebates to buyers of electric vehicles. By November, the Illinois Electric Vehicle Rebate Program had run out of funds, as the number of applications surpassed the $12 million appropriated by the General Assembly.

When the Casey family of Oak Park purchased a used Nissan Leaf in September after their 20-year-old "mom van finally kicked the bucket," the prospect of a rebate made the switch to an EV an even better deal. "We are expecting to receive a $4,000 federal tax credit on our 2023 taxes, and applied for the $4,000 state of Illinois rebate, but we are not 100% sure we will get that one."

The Leaf "had less than 15,000 miles on it, was still under warranty, and cost around $18,000, including tax," says Casey. The tax credit and rebate would have brought the price down even more.

Illinois’ electric vehicle rebate program issued $19.5 million in rebates for 4,873 vehicles in fiscal year 2023.

Happy to no longer be driving a fossil-fuel powered vehicle, Casey was among a dozen or so people who put their sedans and SUVs on display during a "Green Transportation Rally" in October. Oak Park Climate Action Network (OPCAN), which advocates for climate friendly policies and practices, put on the rally to showcase the variety of EVs now available beyond the more recognizable Teslas. Vehicles brought to a church parking lot for the rally included several Kia models, a BMW, Volvo, Nissan, Tesla and Volkswagen.

An OPCAN member like Casey, Tesla owner Nick Bridge thinks electrification is the way to go. "I bought an EV to lessen our carbon footprint. We had solar panels installed (on their house) last February, along with a charging station, so it made sense to get an electric car since we would be paying less for electricity."

Oak Park Climate Action Network hosted the Green Transportation Rally in a local church parking lot.

The move to EVs aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. To do that , Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is championing an ambitious goal of 1 million registered EVs on the road by 2030. And he has encouraged all Illinoisans to help make it happen. As of Nov. 15, Illinois had 88,632 electric vehicles on the road, according to the Office of the Illinois Secretary of State. Cook and DuPage counties have the highest numbers of EVs statewide, with 24,294 and 13,608, respectively.

Undoubtedly, it will take more than tax credits and rebates to get drivers behind the wheels of an EV, and some think that state and local governments can take more proactive steps.

"Oak Park and the State of Illinois can increase efforts to install EV charging stations," says Susan Buchanan, a Village of Oak Park trustee and co-founder of OPCAN. "This can be via efforts by the public works department in Oak Park to place more chargers in public places. Both governing entities can provide incentives for EV purchases. Oak Park could decrease the vehicle license cost fee for EVs and could provide priority parking in public areas."

On the charging front, high-speed chargers along major highways are rolling out slowly, Axios reports.

More than half of states in the country are leading efforts to build new EV charging stations under the $5 billion National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program.

Cost is another factor along with high interest rates on car loans that may be giving buyers pause. Annual percentage rates currently range anywhere from 5.07% to 21.38%, depending on credit scores. Not everyone wants a luxury Lucid, which will set you back $87,500 for the Air Touring model. But a price war among EV makers forced average prices down to $50,683 in September, a Cox Automotive report showed.

Despite the slow-moving inventory in dealer showrooms, EV sales nationwide this year are on track to surpass 1 million annually for the first time.