Electric vehicles have come a long way in the past few years, and the progress is finally showing up where it matters most: in owner satisfaction. According to the latest data, these steady gains in technology and infrastructure are translating into record-high approval from drivers.

That’s the verdict from JD Power’s 2026 U.S. Electric Vehicle Experience Ownership Study, which found premium EV satisfaction climbed from 756 points last year to 789 in 2026. Mainstream EVs also improved two points to hit 727 out of 1,000.

More: A Third of Americans Are Priced Out Of New Cars, And It’s Getting Worse

The highest rated premium EVs were the Tesla Model 3 (804), Tesla Model Y (797), and BMW i4 (795). On the flip side, the new Audi Q6 e-tron came in dead last at 690. It placed well below the Lucid Air (740) and Rivian R1T (739).

Segment Standouts And Stragglers

On the mass market side of the equation, the Ford Mustang Mach-E took top honors with a score of 760. The electric pony car was followed by the Hyundai Ioniq 6 (748) and Kia EV9 (745). Interestingly, the two lowest rated EVs were the Chevrolet Blazer EV (711) and Honda Prologue (623). That’s a huge point spread considering both models are built by GM and have a lot in common.

Of course, things aren’t completely straightforward as the study examined ten different factors. This includes the “accuracy of stated battery range, availability of public charging stations, battery range, cost of ownership, driving enjoyment, ease of charging at home, interior and exterior styling, safety and technology features, service experience, and vehicle quality and reliability.”

Encouragingly, 96 percent of EV owners said they would consider buying or leasing another one and the study also found quality has improved. That’s especially true of premium EVs, which had 15.9 fewer problems per 100 vehicles compared to last year. This brought the total down to 75 and JD Power said this was driven by noise improvements as well as fewer problems with driver assistance technology.

Is Charging Still A Concern?

The study also found that EV drivers are becoming more satisfied with public charging. Scores climbed by over 100 points and this is being attributed to growing charging infrastructure as well as the opening of Tesla’s Supercharger network to other automakers.

Last but not least, EV drivers are more satisfied than those with plug-in hybrids. Premium EVs scored 114 points higher than their PHEV rivals, while mainstream electric vehicles had a 117 point advantage. Part of this can be chalked up to the cost of ownership as plug-in hybrid drivers have to deal with a more complex powertrain that involves gas and electricity.

In a statement, JD Power’s Brent Gruber said “Improvements in battery technology, charging infrastructure and overall vehicle performance have driven customer satisfaction to its highest level ever. What’s more, the vast majority of current EV owners say they will consider purchasing another EV for their next vehicle, regardless of whether they benefited from the now-expired federal tax credit.”

You might have set a New Year’s resolution to slim down, but new-car prices made no such commitment. According to fresh industry data, prices just set another record for January, proving that handing over $50k for a virgin vehicle is basically normal now. But the number of people who think buying an EV is the normal thing to do has dropped dramatically.

More: A Third of Americans Are Priced Out Of New Cars, And It’s Getting Worse

The average transaction price in January reached $49,191, up nearly 2 percent from a year earlier and the highest ever recorded for the month, according to KBB. Although prices dipped slightly from December, Cox Automotive called the drop “seasonally normal,” explaining that the market usually “takes a breather” after year-end, when luxury vehicles make up a larger share of sales.

The average new-vehicle manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP), commonly called “the asking price,” also kept climbing, now sitting at $51,288 and staying north of fifty grand for 10 straight months.

New-Vehicle Average Transaction Price

Last month’s pricing uptick came even as sales mix shifted away from year-end luxury volumes. “We hit a new January high even as prices naturally pulled back from December’s luxury-heavy finish,” said Erin Keating, executive analyst at Cox Automotive.

“Consumers are still finding plenty of options below the industry average, especially in core segments like best-selling compact SUVs, but the disappearance of true entry-level vehicles continues to lift the floor higher.”

Incentives Pull Back Hard

Incentives fell to about 6.5 percent of transaction prices, down from higher levels late last year, meaning buyers are shouldering the burden of those higher prices. Automakers are clearly in margin-protection mode, offering just enough in the way of deals to keep metal moving but not enough to feel generous.

Luxury models and big pickups got the juiciest offers, while compact and midsize cars were left mostly to fend for themselves.

Few Bargains Remain

Compact SUVs remain the value choice. With average prices around $36,000 and down 0.6 percent, they sit well below the industry average and continue to dominate sales. Meanwhile, true bargain basement cars are basically extinct. With the Mitsubishi Mirage gone and the recently axed Nissan Versa reduced to whatever stock is still hanging around, the US market has waved goodbye to the sub $20,000 new car.

At the other end of the spectrum, full-size pickups are still living large. Average prices in that segment remain comfortably above $70,000, and buyers are still lining up, with more than 150,000 big trucks finding homes last month.

January marked the fifth consecutive month where full-size pickups averaged over $70K, reinforcing their outsized role in propping up the market average. Subcompact cars, by contrast, struggle to attract more than a few thousand takers a month. Fewer than 4,000 were sold industry-wide last month.

EVs Shunned

Electric vehicle prices actually slipped to around $55,700, down 0.6 percent lower than a year ago, although Tesla’s fell 2.2 percent in the same period. Incentives for EVs also cooled sharply, dropping to 12.4 percent of ATP, down from 18.3 percent in December. Even at those reduced levels, they remain well above the industry average.

However, we wouldn’t be surprised if they are kicked back in to shore up demand, which has dropped alarmingly, according to the data.

KBB says only 66,000 EVs were sold in January, being down a fifth from January 2025, and you can bet the loss of tax credits from October played a big role. In fact, that total reflects a nearly 30 percent year-over-year drop and a 20 percent decline from December. Tesla accounted for about 60 percent of total EV sales.

Average transaction price by automaker

Average transaction price by brand

Average transaction price by segment

Data Cox Automotive/Kelley Blue Book

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. promotes "real food" at a rally in Harrisburg, Penn., last month. Over the next decade, obesity rates across the nation could surge to close to half of U.S. adults, a new study says. (Photo by Whitney Downard/Pennsylvania Capital-Star)

Over the next decade, obesity rates across the nation could surge to close to half of U.S. adults, a new study published in the medical journal JAMA estimates.

Researchers at the University of Washington conducted the analysis using body mass index data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and self-reported weight data from a national survey of adults ages 20 and older. They examined the 2022 rates and created estimates for 2035 based on current trends. The researchers also looked at race, ethnicity and state-level data, finding wide disparities across states and racial groups.

About a fifth of U.S. adults were living with obesity in 1990. By 2022, the percentage increased to nearly 43%. Obesity was more prevalent in states in the Midwest and South.

If current trends continue, about 47% of U.S. adults will be living with obesity by 2035, according to the researchers. Obesity rates are projected to increase among Americans of all ages and racial groups.

In 2022, non-Hispanic Black women had the highest age-standardized obesity rate, at about 57%, followed by Hispanic women at 49%. Hispanic males, non-Hispanic white males and females, and non-Hispanic Black males had similar rates, ranging from about 40% to nearly 43%.

The study comes amid exploding demand for weight-loss drugs, and as U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. continues to push his Make America Healthy Again campaign.

HHS and the U.S. Department of Agriculture last month made changes to the federal food pyramid, placing a greater emphasis on animal protein, dairy and fats. Like the previous guidelines, the new pyramid discourages the consumption of processed foods, which can cause weight gain.

Despite disparities between men and women and between racial groups, HHS says its nutrition strategy moves away from the “health equity” focus of the Biden administration, in favor of making “the health of all Americans the primary goal.”

For Hispanic people, obesity rates were generally higher in states in the Midwest and the South in 2022, a pattern that is expected to continue through 2035.

In 2022, the obesity rate for Hispanic women was highest in Oklahoma, at about 54%. For Hispanic men, the rate was highest in Indiana, at roughly 47%. In 2035, Indiana is projected to have the highest rate of obesity among Hispanic men at about 54%, while the highest rate for Hispanic women, nearly 60%, is expected to be in South Dakota.

The Midwest and South also had high rates of obesity for non-Hispanic white men and women. In 2022, West Virginia had the highest obesity rates for white men and women — about 47% and 49%, respectively. In 2022, obesity rates for white men and women were lowest in the District of Columbia, at roughly 24% for men and 26% for women.

Among Black women, obesity rates were over 50% for all states, except Hawaii, in 2022. That pattern is expected to continue through 2035. Black men have lower obesity rates than Black women across all states. In 2022, the highest obesity rate for Black men was in Oklahoma, at about 44%. That rate projected to rise to 49% in 2035.

“While no locations were predicted to have decreases in obesity prevalence between 2022 and 2035, there were many with small increases over this time,” the authors wrote. They pointed to Mississippi, where Black women had the highest obesity rates between 1990 and 2022, but are projected to see one of the smallest changes — an increase of about 1.8% — by 2035.

“Predictions in states with historically high levels of obesity, such as Mississippi, suggest that the prevalence of obesity may be plateauing in some locations,” the researchers wrote.

Stateline reporter Nada Hassanein can be reached at nhassanein@stateline.org.

Tesla might be providing employment for thousands of Germans at its Berlin Gigafactory, but the nation’s car buyers have no interest in returning the favor by getting a Tesla of their own. A new survey suggests most Germans aren’t just hesitant about buying a Tesla, they’re actively swiping left on the idea.

Related: Tesla’s Budget Model Y Gets Grip And Grit For $2K More, But Don’t Call It Standard

According to research from the German Economic Institute, more than three quarters of Germans say buying a Tesla is off the table. Around 60 percent called it completely out of the question, while another 16 percent polled in the study said they probably wouldn’t buy one.

That’s not a minor wobble in brand appeal, it’s a serious collapse, and helps makes sense of Tesla’s 27 percent sales decline in Europe last year.

What makes it more awkward is that interest in electric cars in general is not the problem. According to DW, the same survey shows plenty of Germans are open to EVs, especially from domestic brands. Around one in five new cars sold there is fully electric and roughly 40 percent of those surveyed said they could imagine buying an electric car from a German brand.

Musk Is The Problem

Researchers point to Tesla boss Elon Musk as a big part of the story. His outspoken political positions, including voicing support for Germany’s far-right AfD party, and his association with President Trump, and by proxy, tariffs and US threats against Greenland and European security, have not exactly gone down smoothly with many German buyers.

Read: Europe Just Replaced Tesla With A New EV Sales Champion

Political views now play a major role in EV purchasing decisions in Germany, turning what used to be a tech and environmental choice into something that feels far more tribal.

Even groups you might expect to be more Tesla friendly aren’t rushing to sign order forms. Among supporters of Germany’s Green Party, who are generally enthusiastic about electric mobility, only one in 10 said they could imagine buying a Tesla.

On the other end of the political spectrum where AfD supporters live, enthusiasm for EVs overall is low, which drags Tesla interest down even further.

A Win For BMW And Mercedes

For German automakers, this looks like an unexpected gift. With Tesla stumbling in the court of public opinion, local brands suddenly have more room to sell their own electric models without having to wrestle with Silicon Valley star power. BMW’s new iX3 is one EV capitalizing on Tesla apathy. It’s nearly sold out for the year.

It is a reminder that in the EV era, software and charging speeds matter, but so does how people feel about the badge on the hood. But maybe Elon Musk doesn’t care, because he has his eyes on a bigger prize.

Having revolutionised the car market, Musk is going all in on robots and robotaxis, which have the potential to generate even more money for Tesla. Last month the CEO confirmed the Model X and S would be axed this spring to make way for Optimus robot production.

Source DW

Concerns over data security are prompting fresh scrutiny of Chinese-made electric vehicles in Europe, and Poland appears to be the latest country preparing to act. Officials there are looking to prohibit these cars from entering sensitive military areas, citing fears they could be used for surveillance.

The move would follow the UK’s recent decision to restrict Chinese EVs from military zones, part of a wider effort to prevent potential access to sensitive information gathered by modern automotive tech like cameras, radars and sensors that are now common on new cars.

Are Vehicles Becoming Spy Tools?

Cars from China, particularly EVs, are becoming an increasingly common sight on European roads, including in Poland. A recent study in the country referred to these vehicles as ‘Smartphones on Wheels,’ noting that onboard technologies enable environmental scanning and can capture sensitive geolocation data, among other capabilities, which can pose a serious safety risk.

Read: Chinese EVs Banned From UK Military Sites Amid Fears They’re Watching Every Move

“Smart cars have enormous data collection capabilities through high-resolution cameras, sensors, and LiDAR systems, which use active 3D mapping technology,” said Paulina Uznańska, author of the study, in comments reported by the Polish news agency PAP. “This creates a very high potential for the use of such vehicles for intelligence analysis purposes.”

Responding to the findings, General Wiesław Kukuła, Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Army, is expected to issue a formal directive soon that would ban Chinese-made vehicles from all military installations across the country. This would also include adjacent parking areas.

The Ministry of National Defense confirmed to national news agency PAP that it is currently drafting a policy to that effect.

Security Policy Tightens

UK lawmakers noted last year that the Chinese government holds legal rights to access data collected by the cameras, sensors, and radar systems in vehicles built with Chinese technology.

Following a similar approach, Poland’s ban is expected to apply not only to models from brands like BYD, MG, Nio, Xpeng, and Aiways, but also to any vehicles equipped with Chinese-made software or sensor components.

Beyond military installations, there is speculation that similar measures could reach other sectors. One industry expert has floated the possibility of extending the restrictions to key infrastructure hubs like airports. That said, such a policy would have to be carefully structured to comply with European competition laws and avoid regulatory backlash

The global electric car party is still raging, but the US has decided to go home to bed early with a nice soothing cup of gasoline. New data shows worldwide EV sales hit 20.7 million units in 2025, up a healthy 20 percent from 2024.

That total was capped by a strong finish, with roughly 2.1 million EVs sold globally in December alone, underlining that momentum elsewhere remained intact through year-end. Almost everywhere on Earth people bought more electric cars. But in North America it’s a different story.

More: If You Think EV Sales Are Dead, You’re Probably Staring At The Wrong Map

China remained the heavyweight champion with 12.9 million EVs sold, up 17 percent. Europe turned into the surprise star, rocketing ahead by 33 percent to 4.3 million units. Even the rest of the world got in on the action with a massive 48 percent surge to 1.7 million units.

Much of that growth outside the traditional EV strongholds was fueled by a flood of Chinese-built models, as domestic price competition pushed manufacturers to look overseas.

Then we get to North America, which managed a rather awkward 4 percent decline, Rho Motion reports. And it would have been worse if Mexico’s EV sales hadn’t grown 29 percent thanks to an influx of cheap Chinese cars.

In the US, that annual decline masked a sharp late-year swing, with buyers rushing to lock in incentives before September, followed by a steep pullback once those credits disappeared.

Tax-Credit Carnage

The removal of federal tax credits at the end of September pulled the rug out from under the US market, and buyers reacted exactly as you might expect, meaning that EV sales for the full year grew by just 1 percent. Sales spiked in August and September as incentives wound down, then collapsed in the final quarter, dropping nearly 50 percent compared with the previous quarter.

But in Canada, which lost its EV incentives much earlier in 2025, full-year sales tanked by 49 percent.

Analysts now predict US EV sales will shrink by almost a third in 2026. No wonder Ford is scrapping its F-150 Lightning in favor of a hybrid and Ram opted not to bring an electric truck to market at all.

Europe Keeps Plugging In

Across the Atlantic the mood could not be more different. Europe sprinted ahead thanks to stronger subsidies and looming emissions rules. Germany jumped 48 percent and the UK rose 27 percent.

Even France managed to finish the year in positive territory after a slow start. That late recovery in France was driven largely by renewed consumer incentives, after months spent underwater earlier in the year.

Other regions quietly delivered impressive numbers too. Southeast Asia almost doubled sales, South and Central America grew by 49 percent, and South Korea enjoyed a 50 percent rise thanks to new models and government incentives.

Japan, however, stayed stubbornly loyal to hybrids, proving not every country is ready to go fully electric. EV penetration there remained stuck at around 3 percent for yet another year, despite steady gains elsewhere in the region.

Incentives Are Key

The message from the data is clear. Around the world the EV transition is still accelerating, but America had a taste and decided that, without financial sweeteners, it preferred the old menu. Whether that’s a temporary pause or a long detour will depend on politics, prices, and what carmakers do next.

EV sales by region 2025

Data: Rho Motion

A homeless teen, holding a sign “Only 19, alone on the street,” asks for help in Manhattan in New York City. A report from the Covenant House and researchers at the University of California, Berkeley finds that schools and agencies could do more to intervene when youth struggle at home. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Twenty-year-old Mikayla Foreman knows her experience is meaningful. Dealing with homelessness since 18 and currently living in a shelter, Foreman has managed to continue her academic journey, studying for exams this month in hopes of attaining a nursing degree.

But Foreman believes there were intervention points that could’ve prevented her from experiencing homelessness in the first place.

“If someone in school had understood what I was going through, things could’ve been very different,” she said in an interview with Stateline.

As more cities impose bans, fines or jail time for adults living on the streets, young people who have been homeless say they face unique problems that could have been addressed earlier. Through more than 400 interviews and survey responses, young people across the country recently told researchers how earlier guidance and intervention might have made a difference for them. The research suggests the country is missing its biggest opportunity to prevent youth homelessness — by intervening well before a young person reaches a shelter and years before they are chronically homeless.

The report, from Covenant House and the University of California, Berkeley, finds that the pathways into youth homelessness are different from those of adults experiencing temporary or chronic homelessness. A young person coming out to their family, or becoming pregnant, or experiencing untreated trauma can create conflicts that push them into homelessness. A lot of that doesn’t show up in current data.

The survey responses offer the nation’s schools and social services agencies the chance to get ahead of youth homelessness, researchers say, not only by intervening earlier, but also by pinpointing and responding to the diversity of needs among teenagers and young adults who might be close to losing their housing.

Advocates say there are multiple intervention points — in school, in child welfare organizations and inside family dynamics — where the worst outcomes can be avoided. States such as California, Florida, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington have explored some of those intervention points in policies that range from guaranteed income pilot programs to youth-specific rental assistance and campus housing protections.

Hawaii has made its youth drop-in and crisis-diversion program permanent, and Oregon and Washington have expanded rental assistance and education-centered supports for vulnerable youth. Florida now requires colleges to prioritize housing for homeless and foster students.

“With young people, we have opportunities to intervene much further upstream — in schools, in families, in child welfare — before anyone has to spend a single night on the streets. That’s simply not the case with older adults,” said David Howard, former senior vice president for Covenant House and a co-author of the new research, in an interview with Stateline.

“Even at 18, 20 or 24 [years old], young people are still developing,” Howard said. “Their vulnerabilities look very different from middle-aged adults, and the support systems they need are different too.”

One of the key points of intervention for potentially homeless youth is school. Public schools across the country have increasingly reported more homeless students since the COVID-19 pandemic.

And homelessness has many various regional factors outside of individual circumstances, such as climate-driven homelessness. More than 5,100 students in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina became homeless as a result of hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024.

“Homelessness is multifaceted and lots of us slip through the cracks because the system isn’t designed for our reality,” said Foreman, a former Covenant House resident who helped conduct the new research.

Foreman’s insights and lived experience were included in the study, which showed that youth homelessness rarely begins with an eviction or job loss — frequent causes of homelessness among adults.

The top three reasons that young people experience homelessness for the first time, according to respondents, were being kicked out of their family homes, running away, and leaving an unsafe living situation such as one affected by domestic violence. Other instigators included being unable to afford housing, aging out of foster care, being kicked out of or running away from foster care, and moving away from gang violence.

However, respondents also had suggestions for ways government, schools and the community could help or prevent youth homelessness. They suggested youth-specific housing options, identifying and helping at-risk youth in health care settings, providing direct cash assistance and offering conflict resolution support within families.

Among the most common suggestions was to offer services that create long-lasting connections for young people.

“Strong relationships with non-parental adults, including mentors, teachers, service providers, and elders, were identified as especially important when family connections were strained or absent,” the report said.

The surveys and interviews also demonstrated that young people want mental health care tailored to their personal experience, said Benjamin Parry, a lead researcher on the report, speaking during a September webinar hosted by Point Source Youth, a nonprofit that works to end youth homelessness.

The research breaks out responses from a few specific groups — Indigenous, Latino, immigrant, LGBTQ+ people of color and pregnant or parenting youth — to understand their distinct needs, said Parry, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Berkeley’s School of Public Health. “There’s so much nuance and specificity within these different groups.”

Indigenous youth, for example, often are dealing with the effects of intergenerational trauma and alcoholism that have been projected onto them, Parry said. Those young people have far different needs than pregnant or parenting youth, he noted.

“They are like, ‘I don’t know where my next paycheck’s going to come from, I don’t know how to put food in my baby’s stomach, I don’t have a support network or someone to go to for this advice,’” he said. “That specificity is exactly why we need to understand this better and do better to tailor our approaches and responses.”

Stateline reporter Robbie Sequeira can be reached at rsequeira@stateline.org.