Photo by Logan Ingalls
A new report from S&P Global Mobility states that the average age of vehicles on US roadways continues to rise, currently at an average of 12.6 years in age, up 16% (two months) compared to 2023.
In January, the US vehicle fleet reached 286 million vehicles, up by 2 million from 2023. Despite this growth, the age distribution of vehicles is shifting. Vehicles under six years old, which were 98 million in 2019, now number less than 90 million and are projected to remain below this level until 2028, representing about 30% of the total vehicle fleet. The majority of the vehicle fleet’s growth will come from vehicles aged 6-14 years and older, which are expected to make up around 70% of the fleet over the next five years.
Electric vehicle (EV) adoption is on the rise, with 3.2 million in operation as of January. EV registrations exceeded one million units in 2023, marking a 52% increase compared to 2022. However, the rate of EV growth is slower than expected, and the average age of EVs may increase as consumer adoption slows, currently averaging 3.5 years.
Vehicle scrappage rates remain steady, at about 4.6% both in 2023 and 2024. Since 2020, over 27 million passenger cars and 26 million light trucks have been scrapped in the US. However during the same period, only 13 million new passenger cars were registered. Light truck registrations increased to nearly 45 million units.