US Could Finish Last In Vehicle Electrification As Brazil And Uruguay Surge

On 30 September, CleanTechnica asked whether the US will finish last in vehicle electrification. The outlet pointed to Uruguay's 50 percent battery-electric share and Brazil's rapid rise. The US BEV share was 5.9 percent in the first half of 2026. The same piece said China hit 45 percent BEV share in August and Europe sat at 26 percent in July.

That gap has a policy side. The US maintains extreme protectionism against Chinese companies, CleanTechnica said, while Canada opens itself to Chinese EV imports. Policy changes and automaker apathy have also led to EV project cancellations.

The demand side is moving anyway. On 30 September, Electrek reported that Toyota took a 1,675 lb (760 kg) caravan, hoisted it 30 feet at Bentwaters airfield in Suffolk and dropped it on its electric Hilux. The pickup drove off. The Hilux BEV is Toyota's first electric pickup and body-on-frame EV. It has a 59.2 kWh water-cooled lithium-ion battery, a WLTP range of up to 160 miles and a UK base price from £42,170 ($56,500) excluding VAT.

Grids become the constraint

Electric vehicles are only half the calculation. On 30 September, NL Times reported that most European data centers refuse to disclose water and electricity use, citing a study by Lighthouse Report with Trouw and other media. In the Netherlands, the Dutch Datacenter Association counted 186 commercial data centers of 500 kW or more at the end of last year. The Netherlands Enterprise Agency holds data on only 104 of them. Public figures exist on electricity use for 44 centers and water use for 47.

Statistics Netherlands data show Dutch data centers used 5.1 billion kWh in 2024, or 4.6 percent of national electricity consumption, nearly double the level five years earlier. Grid operator TenneT projects 10 to 15 percent by 2030. RVO data revealed this summer that Microsoft's largest Dutch data center alone accounts for 1 percent of national electricity consumption.

Space weather adds another risk layer. Microsoft Research said on 30 September that a machine learning pipeline forecasts risk across 66,935 substations in the continental United States. It detected nearly 80 percent of major space-weather events during evaluation, giving operators 30 to 60 minutes of warning.

The investment side is moving too. Seeking Alpha reported on 30 September that President Donald Trump is expected to unveil roughly $200 billion in South Korean investments in the United States, including about $54 billion tied to the Alaska LNG project. Shipbuilding, energy infrastructure and nuclear energy are targeted.

OilPrice asked on 30 September whether the world can hit 35 percent electrification by 2035. Its market data put Brent at $102.30 and Murban at $109.40.

What the road cars show

On 29 September, WIRED reported that JLR's Range Rover Sport Electric starts at £109,810 with no US prices yet. It uses two 260-kilowatt motors, up to 550 PS and 850 Nm, and a claimed 374 miles on WLTP. InsideEVs reported the same day that the 118.5 kWh, 800-volt pack supports 350 kW charging and a 22-minute 10-to-80 percent session. The model is not coming to the United States as a 2027 model.

The patent record offers a different view of American ambition. Electrek reported on 29 September that the USPTO granted Tesla patent US 12,746,987 B1 for an "Electric Fan Car" with four ducted fans in the rear diffuser. It was filed in January 2024 and tied to a provisional from 17 January 2023. The drawings show a Model S, which Tesla stopped building in April.

Not every number points one way. Asterisk Magazine argued on 30 September that college graduates still out-earn non-graduates. Trades wages have not risen rapidly outside a narrow range of subtrades during the COVID period. That matters to grid electrification because the sector needs both engineers and electricians, and the dossier offers no firm figure on how many either side will supply.