Officials in Milwaukee want to pass a city ordinance that would ban the sale of hookah products to anyone under the age of 21.
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The latest data shows producers intend to put a lot fewer acres of soybeans in the ground, amid retaliatory tariffs from China and higher production costs.
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Environmental advocates and legal experts say the outcome of this month's Wisconsin Supreme Court election will affect a number of cases coming before the court.
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The shifting rollout of Trump’s tariffs has made it hard for manufacturers to plan for the future.
The post Trump says tariffs will bring back manufacturing, but Wisconsin’s labor shortage may stand in the way appeared first on WPR.
From Manila’s jeepneys and bamboo bikes to Catholic fiestas and family feasts, Martin explores the sights of the Philippines, which also includes tribal burials, rice god rituals, shamans and tarsier […]
The post Martin Clunes: Islands of the Pacific:The Philippines appeared first on WPR.
Colombian musician Juanes performs a career-spanning set that includes songs from “Vida Cotidiana.”
The post Austin City Limits:Juanes appeared first on WPR.
A World War II WASP archive; a fire helmet and fire parade hat; a 1956-1968 Al Oerter Olympic collection.
The post Antiques Roadshow:Denver Botanic Gardens Chatfield Farms Hour 3 appeared first on WPR.
MILWAUKEE (AP) — A Wisconsin teenager charged in the deaths of his parents faces wider allegations that he killed them to “obtain the financial means” to assassinate President Donald Trump and overthrow […]
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A complex of data centers in Ashburn, Va. (Photo by Gerville/Getty Images)
This is the first of two States Newsroom stories examining the implications of the growing need for electricity largely from artificial intelligence and data centers. Read the second here.
The next time you’re on a Zoom meeting or asking ChatGPT a question, picture this: The information zips instantaneously through a room of hot, humming servers, traveling hundreds, possibly thousands of miles, before it makes its way back to you in just a second or two.
It can be hard to wrap your mind around, said Vijay Gadepally, a senior scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Lincoln Laboratory, but large data centers are where nearly all artificial intelligence systems and computing happens today.
“Each one of these AI models has to sit on a server somewhere, and they tend to be very, very big,” he said. “So if your millions or billions of users are talking to the system simultaneously, the computing systems have to really grow and grow and grow.”
As the United States works to be a global AI superpower, it’s become a home to hundreds of data centers — buildings that store and maintain the physical equipment needed to compute information.
For users of the new and increasingly popular AI tools, it might seem like the changes have been all online, without a physical footprint. But the rise of AI has tangible effects — data centers and the physical infrastructure needed to run them use large amounts of energy, water and other resources, experts say.
“We definitely try to think about the climate side of it with a critical eye,” said Jennifer Brandon, a science and sustainability consultant. “All of a sudden, it’s adding so much strain on the grid to some of these places.”
As society traded large, desktop computers for sleek laptops, and internet infrastructure began supporting AI models and other software tools, the U.S. has built the physical infrastructure to support growing computing power.
Large language models (LLMs) and machine learning (ML) technologies — the foundation of most modern AI tools — have been used by technologists for decades, but only in the last five to seven years have they become commercialized and used by the general public, said David Acosta, cofounder and chief artificial intelligence officer of ARBOai.
To train and process information, these fast-learning AI models require graphic processing units (GPUs), servers, storage, cabling and other networking equipment, all housed in data centers across the country. Computers have been storing and processing data off-site in dedicated centers for decades, but the dot-com bubble in the early 2000s and the move to cloud storage demanded much more storage capacity over the last decade.
As more things moved online, and computing hardware and chip technology supported faster processing, AI models became attainable to the general public, Acosta said. Current AI models use thousands of GPUs to operate, and training a single chatbot like ChatGPT uses about the same amount of energy as 100 homes over the course of a year.
“And then you multiply that times the thousands of models that are being trained,” Acosta said. “It’s pretty intense.”
The United States is currently home to more than 3,600 data centers, but about 80% of them are concentrated in 15 states, Data Center Map shows. The market has doubled since 2020, Forbes reported, with 21% year over year growth. For many years, nearly all of the country’s data centers were housed in Virginia, and the state is considered a global hub with nearly 70% of the world’s internet traffic flowing through its nearly 600 centers. Texas and California follow Virginia, with 336 and 307 centers, respectively.
Tech companies that require large amounts of computing power, the private equity firms and banks that invest in them and other real estate or specialized firms are the primary funders of data centers. In September, BlackRock, Global Infrastructure Partners, Microsoft and AI investment fund MGX invested $30 billion into new and expanded data centers primarily in the U.S, and said they will seek $100 billion in total investment, including debt financing.
Investment in American data center infrastructure is encouraging considering the global “AI arms race,” we’re in, Acosta said.
“If you own the data, you have the power,” Acosta said. “I just think we just make sure we do it ethically and as preemptive as possible.”
The shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear power plant stands in the middle of the Susquehanna River on October 10, 2024 near Middletown, Pennsylvania. The plant’s owner, Constellation Energy, plans to spend $1.6 billion to refurbish the reactor that it closed five years ago and restart it by 2028 after Microsoft recently agreed to buy as much electricity as the plant can produce for the next 20 years to power its growing fleet of data centers. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Current estimates say data centers are responsible for about 2% of the U.S.’ energy demand, but Anthony DeOrsey, a research manager at sustainable energy research firm Cleantech group, projects data centers will be about 10% of demand by 2027.
As data centers are developed in new communities across the country, residents and their state legislators see a mix of financial benefits with energy and environmental challenges.
The development of data centers brings some infrastructure jobs to an area, and in busy data center communities, like Virginia’s Loudoun and Prince William counties, centers can generate millions in tax revenue, the Virginia Mercury reported.
Local governments can be eager to strike deals with the tech companies or private equity firms seeking to build, but the availability and cost of power is a primary concern. New large data centers require the electricity equivalent of about 750,000 homes, a February report from sustainability consultancy firm BSI and real estate services firm CBRE.
Under many state’s utilities structures, local residents can be subjected to electric price increases to meet big electric needs of data centers. Some legislators, like Georgia State Sen. Chuck Hufstetler, have sought to protect residential and commercial customers from getting hit with higher utility bills.
Granville Martin, an Eastern Shore, Connecticut-based lawyer with expertise in finance and environmental regulation, said the same problem has come up in his own community.
“The argument was, the locals didn’t want this data center coming in there and sucking up a bunch of the available power because their view — rightly or wrongly, and I think rightly — was well, that’s just going to raise our rates,” Martin said.
Some states are exploring alternative energy sources. In Pennsylvania, Constellation Energy made a deal to restart its nuclear power plant at Three Mile Island to provide carbon-free electricity to offset Microsoft’s power usage at its nearby data centers.
But climate experts have concerns about data centers outside of their power demand.
“The general public is largely unaware that cooling industrial facilities, whatever they might be, is actually a really, really important aspect of their function,” Martin said.
The equipment in data centers, many of which run 24/7, generate a lot of heat. To regulate temperature, most pump water through tubing surrounding the IT equipment, and use air conditioning systems to keep those structures cool. About 40% of data center’s energy consumption is used for cooling, the Cleantech group found.
Some have a closed-loop system, recycling grey water through the same system, but many use fresh drinking water. The amount of water and energy used in cooling is enormous, Brandon, the sustainability consultant. said.
“The current amount of AI data centers we have takes six times the amount of water as the country of Denmark,” she said. “And then we are using the same amount of energy as Japan, which is the fifth largest energy user in the world, for data centers right now.”
Energy is now a material issue to running an AI company, DeOrsey said, and unrestrained, quickly evolving AI models are very expensive to train and operate. DeOrsey pointed to Chinese AI company DeepSeek, which released its attempt at a cost-conscious, energy efficient large language model, R1, in January.
The company claims it trained the model on 2,000 chips, much fewer than competitors like Open AI, ChatGPT’s parent company, and Google, which use about 16,000 chips. It’s not yet clear if the model lives up to its claims of energy efficiency in use, but it’s a sign that companies are feeling the pressure to be more efficient, DeOrsey said.
“I think companies like DeepSeek are an example of companies doing constrained optimization,” he said. “They’re assuming they won’t just get all the power they need, they won’t be able to get all of the chips they need, and just make do with what they have.”
For Gadepally, who is also chief tech officer of AI company Radium Cloud, this selective optimization is a tool he hopes more companies begin using. His recent work at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory Supercomputing Center focused on the lab’s own data center consumption. When they realized how hot their equipment was getting, they did an audit.
Gadepally said simple switches like using cheaper, less-robust AI models cut down on their energy use. Using AI models at off-peak times saved money, as did “power capping” or limiting the amount of power feeding their computer processors. The difference was nominal — you may wait a second or two more to get an answer back from a chatbot, for example.
With Northeastern University, MIT built software called Clover that watches carbon intensity for peak periods and makes adjustments, like automatically using a lower-quality AI model with less computing power when energy demand is high.
“We’ve been kind of pushing back on people for a long time saying, is it really worth it?” Gadepally said. “You might get a better, you know, knock-knock joke from this chatbot. But that’s now using 10 times the power than it was doing before. Is that worth it?”
Gadepally and Acosta both spoke about localizing AI tools as another energy and cost saving strategy for companies and data centers. In practice, that means building tools to do exactly what you need them to do, and nothing more, and hosting them on local servers that don’t need to send their computing out potentially hundreds of miles away to the nearest data center.
Health care and agricultural settings are a great example, Acosta said, where tools can be built to serve these specialized settings rather than processing their data at “bloated, over-fluffed” large data centers.
Neither AI developer sees any slowdown in the demand for AI and processing capabilities of data centers. But Gadepally said environmental and energy concerns will come to a head for tech companies when they realize they could save money by saving energy, too. Whether DeepSeek finds the same success as some of its American competitors is yet to be seen, Gadepally said, but it will probably make them question their practices.
“It will at least make people question before someone says, ‘I need a billion dollars to buy new infrastructure,’ or ‘I need to spend a billion dollars on computing next month,” Gadepally said. “Now they may say, ‘did you try to optimize it?’”
There is no question the winters of our childhood are disappearing. In 2024, a rainy January gave way to tornadoes in February, flooding in June and drought in July and August.
So what is next for Wisconsin and how can we prepare? In this episode, Amy talks with Wisconsin's state climatologist about what could be the new normal for our state.
Host: Amy Barrilleaux
Guest: Steve Vavrus, Wisconsin State Climatologist
Resources for You:
Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts
Wisconsin 2024 Annual Climate Summary
Electric dreams don’t always go according to plan, especially when you’re trying to replace roaring V8s with silent speed. The transition from combustion powertrains to all-electric ones was supposed to be a one-way trip for automakers, the future most agreed was inevitable. But Dodge’s recent experience suggests the road ahead is a lot bumpier than expected.
In fact, the Charger Daytona, which abandoned the ICE powertrains of the previous-gen muscle car, has been underperforming both in tests and, more crucially, in sales.
More: Dodge Sold More Old Challengers And Chargers Than New Daytona EVs In Q1
The situation appears to be so bad that Dodge, which introduced the Charger Daytona EV at the end of last year, is now offering buyers a $6,500 National Retail Consumer Cash rebate, according to Cars Direct, which cites a bulletin sent to dealerships. That’s in stark contrast to what usually happens when a brand new sports car is launched, as dealers are more than eager to slap huge markups on them provided, of course, there is sufficient demand.
However, fans haven’t warmed up to the EV at all, as they still miss the Hemi V8, leaving Dodge with a serious problem on its hands. That challenge is further complicated by reports that the ICE-powered Sixpack could be delayed, as Stellantis has idled the Windsor plant, where it’s set to be built, in response to Trump’s 25% import tariffs.
Even if the Sixpack is launched on time and gets well received by buyers, Dodge still has to sell the electric Daytona as well. Apparently, that’s easier said than done, and its dealers know it all too well as they’ve been offering much bigger discounts on their own way before the brand announced its $6.5k rebate.
More: Dodge Charger Still Thinks It’s 1970 And Racing Ford’s Fastest EV Just Proved It The Hard Way
This started in December 2024, but only last month, we found a 2025 Charger Daytona R/T on sale for $39,945. Since this car stickers at $62,685, that’s a discount of $22,740 – and it’s not the largest we’ve seen. In fact, another example that originally retailed for $61,590 was being offered for $36,932, which is $24,658 below MSRP.
Having sold more old, ICE-powered Chargers and Challengers than electric Charger Daytonas in Q1, Dodge has definitely heard the message buyers are sending loud and clear. Thus it falls to the Sixpack to save the day, which is a tall order indeed. The EV lacks anything but power, so that’s not an issue; the character of its ICE predecessor, however, sure is.
Sticker Shock Doesn’t Help
Beyond the lack of emotional connection, there’s the price tag. The Daytona’s pricing strategy follows the same playbook Dodge used with the Challenger, where upper trims stretched into premium territory. But with the new Charger, the starting price has jumped to $59,595 for the R/T and $73,985 for the Scat Pack. Some well-optioned examples are approaching, or even surpassing, the $100,000 mark in terms of MSRP.
More: New Age Charger Daytona Vs. Old-School Mustang V8 In U-Drag Showdown
At that point, the Daytona isn’t just competing with muscle cars, it’s going head-to-head with more refined and tested performance rides. The Ford Mustang GT starts at $46,560. A BMW 440i Coupe runs about $65K. Even the M4, a benchmark in the segment, starts at $80K. It’s hard to imagine what Stellantis was thinking pricing the Daytona this far north, especially with electric performance still a tough sell.
Can A Hemi Save The Day?
So what can Dodge do? The new platform wasn’t built for a V8, but Stellantis might not have a choice. Recent reports suggest the company is already exploring ways to cram a Hemi into the new Charger’s engine bay, possibly as soon as 2026. Whether that move comes in time to save the brand’s muscle legacy is another question entirely. Here’s hoping it’s not too late.
Lexus isn’t exactly known for rushing into things, but when it moves, it tends to do so with quiet confidence. Now, it looks like the Lexus family is set to expand once again with the addition of a new all-electric three-row SUV. We’re getting an early sense of what it might look like, and it’s shaping up to be an interesting electric counterpart to the brand’s existing offerings.
More: Toyota And Lexus Will Launch 15 EVs By 2027 And That’s Just The Start
The new model, likely to be called the TZ, will share its underpinnings with a Toyota-branded sibling known as the bZ5X. It’s expected to fill the role of a three-row alternative to the gas-powered Lexus TX, stepping into a space that’s growing fast in the EV market, where size, range, and badge cachet all matter.
To show how this new model may look, designer Theophilus Chin, also known as Theottle, has taken the Lexus Electrified SUV concept unveiled back in 2021 and made some production adjustments to it. While we won’t know how the TZ looks until Lexus starts testing some prototypes out in public, it would make sense for the brand to base it heavily on this concept.
A Familiar Face With Slight Tweaks
At the front, Theottle’s rendering swaps out the concept’s dramatic headlights for more conventional units, ones more in line with the current Lexus design language. The lighting elements below them, along with the shape of the front bumper, remain untouched, suggesting Lexus might not stray too far from its conceptual roots.
Moving along the sides, a few practical changes appear. The flush door handles of the concept are gone and have been replaced with more traditional hardware. A new set of wheels has also been added, and normal wing mirrors have been installed. It’s all standard production-car stuff, but necessary if this thing is going to hit a dealership lot.
The most obvious change made to the rear of the TZ is the fitment of smaller taillights that do not stretch as far down the rear quarter panels. Despite this, we think the rear of the new three-row Lexus still looks a little busy, and we hope Lexus’s designers come up with something more attractive than this.
Read: Lexus Kills Off The RC And RC F Coupes After 11 Years
Little is known about the production model, but in 2023, Lexus applied to trademark the TZ450e and TZ550e names, indicating that at least two electric models are being prepared. Lexus could use the same 77 kWh battery offered in the new RZ, but given the size and expected weight of this three-row SUV, it seems likely the TZ550e will need a pack with increased capacity. For comparison, the Kia EV9, one of the few EVs in this segment already on sale, offers a choice between 76.1 kWh and 99.8 kWh battery packs.
Talking about the RZ, the entry-level version is the RZ 350e that features a single electric motor at the front axle with 224 hp (167 kW) and 198 lb-ft (269 Nm) of torque and has a 357-mile (575 km) range. The RZ 500e packs two electric motors that deliver 375 hp (280 kW) for a 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) time of 4.6 seconds and has a lower estimated range of 311 miles (500 km).
For the 2026 model year, Lexus added the RZ 550e F Sport to the lineup. It produces 402 hp (300 kW) from its dual-motor setup and accelerates to 100 km/h (96 mph) in 4.4 seconds. That added performance, however, comes at a cost as range drops to 280 miles (450 km). Since the TZ will be larger and heavier than the RZ, to quote Jaws‘ most iconic line, Lexus is gonna need a bigger boat – em, I mean battery.
Here are three things you probably already know but, in light of what will follow, are worth repeating. First, Tesla is not your average car company. Second, the Cybertruck is as far removed from your average truck as can be. And third, Elon Musk is definitely not your average CEO, seems to have an opinion about everything, and makes sure that it’s heard. Loud and clear.
Tesla’s success story and how it managed to disrupt the automotive industry has been told so many times that we won’t bore you with it. The Cybertruck, though, is worth exploring because it’s a relatively new product and was touted as the truck to end all trucks, electric or not. So, did it?
More: Vandals Attack 5 Cybertrucks At Shopping Mall Triggering Police Hunt
When it comes to publicity, the answer is a resounding “yes”. Hardly a day goes by without a story (or five) involving Tesla’s angular pickup truck, whether it be how ugly divisive its looks are, how its frame snaps in a YouTuber’s test while an old Ram’s doesn’t, the time a terrorist chose one to detonate an explosive device outside a Trump Hotel, and so on and so forth.
The Hype Is Still On, But Sales Are Falling
But first, let’s take a small trip down memory lane to October 2023. A month before the Cybertruck’s launch, Musk boasted that Tesla had already received “over 1 million reservations” and demand for the unconventional truck was “off the charts”. Of course, you could make a reservation for a refundable $100 (later raised to $250) deposit, but that was a minor detail…
Naturally, no one, not even Musk himself, expected all those reservations to translate into actual orders. In fact, Stephanie Valdez Streaty, director of industry insights for Cox Automotive, told Wired that “The automotive industry aims for a conversion rate of around 2 to 16 percent”. Since a couple of weeks ago Tesla revealed, as part of a recall campaign, that it has delivered 46,096 Cybertrucks from November 13, 2023, to February 27, 2025, it represents a conversion rate of less than 5 percent. That’s within the aforementioned range, but not exactly music to Musk’s, or Tesla fanboys’, ears.
While nobody would dare accuse the world’s richest man of making misleading statements (except, maybe, the “crooked” SEC), 46,000 sales do not indicate that demand is “off the charts”. Granted, initially it was the new shiny toy everyone who’s someone had to have, and in the first half of 2024 the Cybertruck was America’s sales leader in the six-figure-priced car club. However, compared to the sub-$100k one, which is most carmakers’ that aren’t called Ferrari, Bentley, Aston Martin or Lamborghini, bread and butter, it’s quite an exclusive club, wouldn’t you agree?
Model Y Production Is Prioritized Over That Of The Cybertruck
In early January, Business Insider reported that, according to its sources, declining sales led to Tesla moving some of its workers in the Austin plant from the Cybertruck to the Model Y production line. The company told its workers in a survey where it asked them about their reassignments that “As we continue to assess schedules to meet business needs, we’ll be making a change to Model Y and Cyber schedules and we want to ensure that your preferences are considered”.
More: Musk Could Soon Leave Trump’s Administration, But The Drama May Still Follow Tesla
Two workers said that this was an unusual move as such changes are only implemented for new vehicles. Then again, maybe the brand considers the Model Y Juniper an all-new model, so this was justified. After all, the Model Y is Tesla’s bread and butter product – and an extremely successful one, at least until last year when sales dropped sharply. But that was natural as everyone knew the updated Juniper was soon coming our way, so they probably decided to wait a few months rather than buy the “old” model.
Forget Tesla And Sales, Let’s Talk About Robots Instead
As we’ve come to expect, though, the really hot stuff usually comes not from the company or its products, but from its head honcho who’s not afraid to speak his mind – and then some – at any given opportunity. Never mind the Cybertruck’s performance or Tesla’s rapidly declining sales; at a staff meeting on March 20, Musk focused on a non-automotive product: Optimus.
“This year, we hopefully will be able to make about 5,000 Optimus robots,” he declared. “That’s the size of a Roman legion. Which is like a scary thought. Like a whole legion of robots. I’ll be like, ‘whoa.’” Then he upped that target by stating that Tesla will make “probably 50,000-ish [Optimus robots] next year” (so, 10 legions), and subsequently corrected himself, saying that his company would actually make “maybe 100 million robots a year”.
Veni, Vidi, Vici – And Then, What?
Now, I don’t care to do the math, I don’t know whether Musk’s promises will turn out to be true (though he does have a less that perfect track record on that) and, last time I checked, I don’t have an BA in History. I’m no gambler either, but I’m willing to bet not even Julius Caesar had that many legions at his disposal when he crossed the Rubicon to march towards Rome.
After emerging victorious in the ensuing civil war, he was declared dictator perpetuo – that’s “dictator for life” in Latin – in January, 44 BC. Little did the great general know how short-lived that title would turn out to be; he was assassinated two months later, in March.
Well, the only sure thing is life is death (and taxes…), so it all boils down on how you wanna be remembered. Julius Ceasar, apart from his conquests, is also famous about his one-liners – even the one uttered while he was being stabbed to death (“You as well, Brutus?”). I believe Elon Musk will also go down in history, though I can’t predict for what. Perhaps you care to speculate in the comments?
The electric-versus-combustion debate isn’t just about performance or emissions anymore—it’s also about dependability. And according to Europe’s largest roadside assistance organization, the German Automobile Club (ADAC), electric cars might be quietly winning that fight.
More: The Most Reliable And Longest Lasting Used Cars
Its workers, sometimes known as “Yellow Angels” thanks to their bright uniforms, responded to more than 3.6 million breakdowns over the last year making this study. They recorded the details of each call, and that mountain of data shows that electric vehicles are breaking down less often than internal combustion cars.
EVs Show Fewer Breakdowns
For the first time in 2024, the ADAC said it had enough data to make a confident call on EV reliability, and that call favors electric. With another year of data behind them, the case has only grown stronger. While it responded to more EV calls for service than ever before, those accounted for just 43,678 out of the 3.6 million total or just 1.2%.
The organization pointed out in its recent study that the rise is likely due to the increased popularity of electric vehicles. In addition, the results should be more accurate since some of the EVs on the road are a year older now.
Crucially, 2024 marked the first year ADAC felt it had enough data to confidently say EVs were more reliable. With another year of records, that finding looks even stronger. “For cars first registered between 2020 and 2022, electric vehicles experienced 4.2 breakdowns per 1,000 vehicles,” German outlet Handelsblatt reports. For combustion cars in the same age range, that figure was 10.4.
Common Weak Spot For ICE and EVs
Interestingly, the most common issue for both types of propulsion was the same: the 12-volt batteries. They were the issue in 50 percent of the breakdowns for EVs and 45 percent of the breakdowns for combustion cars. In almost every single category over the last few years, combustion cars have seen more or equal issues when compared to EVs, including the electrical system, engine management, and lighting.
The one area where EVs seem to have more problems is when it comes to tires. Specifically, 1.3 calls for service out of 1000 were due to an EV with tire issues, while combustion cars saw just 0.9 in the same population. It’s worth pointing out that newer EVs do not seem to suffer from the same problem.
Of course, EVs are also devoid of potential ICE issues regardless of age. They don’t have oil to replace, nor the complex propulsion system that an internal combustion engine is, and as a result, they have fewer pieces that can break.
The ADAC acknowledges the challenges with comparing EVs and ICE cars at this point. The data is limited since all-electric vehicles just haven’t been around all that long, thus we can’t know just yet how reliable they’ll all be after they’re 10+ years old. Still, this is a good indication that EVs are improving and could indeed be a more practical mode of transportation, even when we ignore their effect on sustainability. For more detailed information.
Electric vehicle sales in the United States are gaining ground, but the road to mainstream dominance is still a long one. While EVs made a notable leap forward in the first quarter of 2025, they continue to account for only a fraction of total new car sales. Some automakers rode a wave of growth with new models and fresh demand, while others—Tesla included—faced early-year setbacks.
Read: Tesla’s Q1 Collapse Fueled VW’s Shock Rise In The EV Race
In total, 296,227 electric vehicles were sold nationwide between January and March, marking an 11.4 percent increase over the 265,981 units delivered during the same period last year. New data shows that General Motors had a particularly strong showing, with more than 30,000 GM EVs finding buyers in Q1—nearly doubling its output from a year ago. A mix of fresh offerings from Chevrolet and GMC helped drive the gains, while Cadillac continued to post steady performance.
GM Surges with Chevrolet and GMC
Chevrolet alone sold 19,186 electric vehicles in Q1 2025, a 114.2% increase over the 8,957 units it moved in the same quarter last year. The big success story was the Equinox EV, which led the brand’s lineup with 10,329 sales. The Blazer EV followed with a staggering 931.2% increase—rising from just 600 units in Q1 2024 to 6,187 units. The Silverado EV also posted a strong debut with 2,383 deliveries. Meanwhile, the Bolt EV and EUV were essentially absent, with only 13 units sold after GM officially discontinued the models two months ago.
GMC contributed solid numbers as well. The Hummer EV pickup and SUV posted a combined 3,479 sales, up 108.6%, while the brand also moved 1,249 units of the new Sierra EV.
According to Cox Auto, Porsche recorded the highest EV growth rate of any brand, with sales up 249% thanks to the arrival of the new Macan Electric. Toyota’s EV sales climbed 195.7% to 5,610 units, the Volkswagen Group jumped 183%, and Volvo spiked 172.9% on the strength of the new EX30 and EX90 models.
Tesla Flounders While Others Flourish
Tesla by contrast, didn’t share in the early-year enthusiasm. The company saw its US sales drop 9% year-over-year, delivering 128,100 vehicles in Q1. Still, even with the decline, Tesla holds a commanding 43.5% share of the U.S. EV market—nearly half of all electric cars sold.
Several other automakers also saw declines. Mercedes-Benz posted the steepest drops, down a staggering 58%. Rivian followed with a 37% dip, and Kia slipped 24% compared to the same quarter last year.
Looking ahead, Cox Automotive expects the rest of the year to be anything but smooth. “The rest of 2025 will likely be a volatile one for EV sales in the U.S., despite the introduction of new product and healthy incentives,” the firm noted. Tariff-related headwinds could weigh heavily, particularly for automakers relying on imported materials. Steel and aluminum tariffs are already a hurdle, and with China supplying much of the world’s EV battery materials, the ongoing trade standoff may distort the market further.
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