The loss of $7,500 federal tax credits should, in theory, have put every EV brand on an even footing, but Tesla and its customers decided to write their own script. While most electric car values have dropped since last fall, Tesla values are actually climbing.

According to a new study, used Tesla prices have risen 4.3 percent since the EV credit disappeared at the end of September 2025. Over the same period, nearly every other used EV dropped an average of 3.6 percent.

More: EV Sales Fell Off A Cliff, Yet New Car Prices Still Set Another Record

Because Teslas make up such a huge slice of the used EV pie, the average price of all used EVs actually went up 3.5 percent, painting a superficially rosy picture. Strip Tesla out of the equation and things look very different. Non-Tesla EVs slid from an average of $24,629 to $23,738. Meanwhile, used combustion cars dipped 2 percent.

Declining Share

The iSeeCars study also found that used EV market share fell 20 percent between September and January, dropping from 3.5 percent to 2.8 percent. A year earlier, that share had been climbing, but now it is heading the other way. The early adopters already have their EVs. Mainstream buyers are apparently thinking harder about price, charging, and range.

Average Prices For 1- To 5-Year-Old Used Cars

Look at individual models and the pattern gets clearer. Lower-cost EVs like the Hyundai Kona Electric, Volkswagen ID.4, Kia Niro EV and Nissan Leaf all lost between roughly five and six percent of their value. Meanwhile Tesla Model 3 and Model Y prices ticked up, as did those for the Porsche Taycan, the only non-Tesla EV to experience a jump in values.

New EV Prices Down

New EVs tell a similar story. Excluding Tesla, which iSeeCars doesn’t have data for, average new EV prices dropped 2.3 percent, while new internal combustion vehicles rose 2.5 percent. Some mainstream EVs like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Chevrolet Equinox EV saw even steeper cuts.

Carmakers are clearly trying to replace that vanished tax credit with old fashioned discounting, but falling EV sales figures since tax credits disappeared tells us it’s not a complete fix.

Average Used EV Prices

Average New EV Prices

After years of sparring with California regulators, Tesla has agreed to stop using its famous Autopilot term in the state, neatly sidestepping a 30-day suspension that would have frozen sales in its biggest US market with nearly 180,000 deliveries last year.

More: Tesla Quietly Kills Standard Autopilot, Now Wants $99 A Month To Give It Back

The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) wasn’t amused by Tesla’s marketing language, arguing that phrases like “Autopilot” and “Full Self Driving Capability”, later softened to “Full Self-Driving (Supervised)”, gave buyers the impression their cars could drive themselves. The DMV pointed out that they can’t now, and never could, operate as autonomous vehicles.

The formal accusations were filed in 2023, though regulators traced the issue back to marketing language used as early as May 2021. At the time, Tesla described its system as capable of handling short and long-distance trips with no action required by the person in the driver’s seat, a claim the DMV said crossed a legal line.

60 Days To Find A Fix

A judge agreed and proposed suspending Tesla’s dealer and manufacturer licenses for a month. That would have been awkward timing for a company trying to convince the world that robotaxis are just around the corner. The DMV offered Tesla 60 days to fix the issue before the suspension started, and instead of digging in, Tesla wisely took corrective action.

“The DMV is committed to safety throughout all California’s roadways and communities,” said DMV Director Steve Gordon. “The department is pleased that Tesla took the required action to remain in compliance with the State of California’s consumer protections.”

So Autopilot, as a marketing term, is now gone in California (though you’ll still find it on the brand’s EVs elsewhere in the world). The company had already softened Full Self Driving into Full Self Driving Supervised to make it crystal clear that, no, the car is not fully autonomous. By complying with the deadline, Tesla avoided the suspension and kept the revenue rolling in.

Autopilot Feature Phased Out

This is not just a word swap, though. We reported last month that Tesla had already begun phasing out the previously standard Autopilot system on its cars, replacing it with Traffic Aware Cruise Control and pushing buyers toward a $99 per month Full Self Driving subscription.

Lane centering that rivals include as standard now lives behind a paywall, and CEO Elon Musk has hinted that the subscription price could rise over time. From a business perspective, it’s clever, but from a branding perspective, it looks like a climbdown.

Autopilot was one of Tesla’s most recognizable terms, though it was also one due to be left behind in the coming years as the far more sophisticated FSD improves to the point where it really can deliver full self-driving.