REGIONAL — There was a time, back in the year 1900, when electric-powered automobiles constituted a third of all vehicles on U.S. roads. Cheaper gasoline models with greater range eventually led to their demise, and it wouldn’t be until 1996, with the manufacture of the lease-only General Motors EV1, that the driving public once again had access to electric vehicles.
It’s been a slow push since then for electrics to gain a foothold in the U.S. market and here in Minnesota, where electrics represent only about one percent of light-duty vehicles registered, with the greatest concentration unsurprisingly in metro areas. But recent trends show an uptick in consumer interest, with seven percent of all vehicles purchased in the state in 2023 being electric, according to the Minnesota Department of Commerce.
But adoption of electric vehicles in the North Country remains lethargic, an assessment based on the Timberjay’s analysis of vehicle registration data released recently by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission.
Across the area routinely covered by the Timberjay, only 52 electric cars and trucks were registered as of November 2024, the latest data available.
The oldest electric vehicle still on the road is a 2002 Global Electric Motorcars Neighborhood Electric Vehicle in Babbitt, a model termed by some as a “glorified golf cart” that was designed for local street travel only with a top speed of 25 mph. The first model year with multiple registrations is 2013, with three, including two Tesla Model S cars, the version that first put the premier manufacturer of electric cars on the map in 2012.
While current registrations don’t reflect actual historic sales data due to older model owners selling or retiring their vehicles, more recent model years are more reflective of current interest. In that regard 2021 appears to have been a small but significant turning point in North Country interest, with nine North Country EVs listed for that year, and ten for 2022 models, about 36 percent of those registered.

Where they are
The greatest concentration of registered EVs is in Ely and surrounding Morse Township, with 11 in Ely, one in Winton, and 14 in Morse Township, a total of 26. Cook and Beatty Township have a combined nine registrations, while Babbitt has six and Tower three.

What they are
Like the country and state as a whole, North Country drivers own more Teslas, 14, than any other make, but that represents only 26 percent of the vehicles registered. Only one of the ten 2023 and 2024 vehicles registered is a Tesla. That’s reflective of a statewide trend in declining Tesla registrations as more and cheaper models from other manufacturers have entered the market. Tesla’s share of statewide registrations in 2020 was over 50 percent but declined to around 31 percent in 2024.
Chevrolet, with its Bolt and Volt models, is the second-most popular choice in the region with seven vehicles, with Jeep in third with six, and Ford fourth with five. But North Country buyers aren’t leery of considering other options, with Chrysler, Dodge, Hyundai, Kia, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Rivian, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo all finding spots on the list of area registrations.

Prospects for growth
Minnesota’s roadmap for electric vehicles set an ambitious target back in 2019, with a goal of 20 percent of the state’s light-duty fleet running on electricity by 2030, but the state has failed to keep pace with that objective, missing the interim goal of five percent by 2025 by a large margin at only one percent.
And an already challenging landscape has gotten even tougher since President Donald Trump took office in January. In the context of an administration that is prioritizing oil, gas, and coal over clean energy options, federal support for electric vehicle growth has withered.
The Trump administration has rolled back California’s authority to set tougher emissions and EV mandates, undermining Minnesota’s ability to follow suit with stronger regulatory pushes to promote EV adoption. At the same time, federal tax credits for new and used EVs are set to vanish by the end of September, with no apparent interest in the Republican-controlled Congress to renew them. Analysts warn the fallout could be significant, with slower EV sales, canceled investments, and millions of additional tons of carbon emissions nationwide.
Federal funding from the $5 billion National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program was briefly halted by the administration, and although a judge ordered money released in most states, Minnesota was left off the list because the state did not adequately demonstrate that the state would face “irreparable harm.” That means the state’s plans for highway charging corridors remain in limbo.
The loss of federal support puts even more pressure on state agencies, utilities, and private partners to keep momentum alive. Without that, electric vehicles in the North Country may remain more of a novelty than a significant means of transportation.