Electric vehicles registered in the US

Costco's annual revenue and the number of electric vehicles registered in the US have grown together with the mathematical precision of two curves that were clearly drawn by the same economy. The correlation is 0.970 across thirteen years, which suggests that the same Americans buying 48-packs of toilet paper are also buying Teslas, and honestly, this tracks. The Costco parking lot has always been the most dangerous place in American retail; it was only a matter of time before it went electric.

Costco's revenue grew from about 89 billion dollars in 2011 to over 242 billion by 2023, driven by membership growth, warehouse expansion, and the American conviction that buying in bulk is always a rational decision even when your garage is already full. EV registrations grew from 17,000 to over 3 million during the same period as the vehicles became mainstream consumer products. Both trends track the same demographic: affluent suburban households with garages (for the EV charger) and pantries (for the Costco haul). The shared variable is household income and homeownership—you need a house to charge an EV and a house to store 36 rolls of paper towels, and increasingly, the same houses have both.

Thirteen years of Costco and EVs rising together is a portrait of suburban American prosperity: bigger garages, bigger shopping carts, bigger batteries. Both purchases require an upfront investment justified by long-term savings, and both appeal to the particular brand of optimism that says buying more now will cost less later. The membership fee and the federal tax credit serve the same psychological function. Savings, in bulk.