U.S. electric vehicle sales have grown for three straight quarters after plunging when purchase tax credits were canceled last year. EVs reached a 6.1% market share in the third quarter, their best result since the third quarter of 2025, according to a new report from Cox Automotive.
More competitive EV prices and high gas prices have brought back consumer interest, according to Stephanie Valdez Streaty, Cox Automotive’s director of industry insights. In her analysis of the report, she described the market as “finding its footing again.”
Leading the pack were Toyota, Rivian, and Subaru. Sales roughly doubled for the Toyota bZ and Lexus RZ after refreshed versions reached dealerships late last year. Both models received larger batteries and more powerful motors, along with Tesla-style charging ports and faster charging.
That recovery didn’t extend to Tesla, whose sales fell 20% compared with a year earlier. Even so, its first-mover advantage persisted: Tesla sold more than half of all EVs in the U.S. during the third quarter.
A similar decline and recovery played out in Germany. The government stopped EV purchase incentives in November 2023, a year earlier than expected, and sales fell by more than half in the following month. From that low, the market recovered steadily.
By August, the most recent month with available data, German EV sales had reached their second-highest level on record.
Posted: 1:12 PM PDT · October 14, 2026
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