Demand for electric vehicles in the United States plummeted when the Trump administration axed the $7,500 federal EV tax credit in September last year. While demand is unlikely to recover to the levels experienced before this period, it appears the ongoing war in Iran and high gas prices have triggered a small increase in demand.

Strong quarter sales figures from both Rivian and Tesla provide insight into the changes. In Q3, Rivian delivered 19,248 vehicles. This was largely due to the arrival of the more affordable R2, but it’s entirely possible some R2 buyers were convinced into buying an EV over a similarly priced ICE in part due to high gas prices.

Read: GM’s Electric Vehicle Sales Fell Off A Cliff Last Quarter

Tesla also beat out expectations last year, delivering 486,532 vehicles compared to the 464,000 that had been predicted. Speaking with Bloomberg, TD Cowen analyst Itay Michaeli suggested EVs could be about to start mounting a comeback in the U.S.

Hyundai Dealers Want More EVs

“We are still in the early stages of this looming EV comeback,” he said. “EV market coverage, by our estimation, will grow substantially in the next couple of years by existing players.” Michaeli also believes that demand for advanced new EVs will rise over the next couple of years, thanks to broader use of more advanced autonomous driving systems.

The boss of Hyundai’s North American arm, Randy Parker, also says a growing number of dealerships are asking for more EVs because of high gas prices. While that may be the case, demand for Hyundai’s electric models is still far below previous highs.

Sales Are Still Slow

In September, the carmaker sold just 2,928 Ioniq 5s in the United States, down 65% from the 8,408 sold in September last year. Year-to-date sales are down 53% to 31,112. In addition, September sales of the Ioniq 9 were down 65% to 374 units.

Although a small comeback may be possible, other automotive giants like GM continue to feel the effects of declining EV sales. In the third quarter, every EV sold by Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, and Buick experienced a sales decline. It was particularly bad for the Cadillac Lyriq, which was down 50.2%, the Chevrolet Blazer EV, down 84.4%, and the Equinox EV, down 92.4% compared to the year prior.

The American car market is a difficult one to crack; just ask VinFast. In the three years since it started selling EVs locally, it’s delivered a few thousand of them, and it’s also had to slash the number of dealerships it operates across the country. Despite this, VinFast isn’t ready to give up on the US.

The Vietnamese company initially launched in California, before expanding into other states throughout 2024 and 2025. At one point, it said it had secured agreements with 38 dealers across the country, but as of the end of 2025, it was operating fewer than two dozen dealerships. Things aren’t looking good.

Read: VinFast Sold Less Than 1,500 Cars In The US, So Naturally It’s Building A Factory

Then there’s the sales. Through the first seven months of this year, VinFast sold just 389 vehicles, a 63 percent decline from the previous year. To put that into perspective, Rivian sold 12,613 vehicles in the second quarter alone, and its vehicles are much pricier than VinFast’s. Things are so bad for VinFast that average incentives on the VF 8 sit at $19,000 per vehicle, while average incentives on the larger VF 9 are almost $20,000. It would seem the writing is on the wall for the brand.

VinFast Isn’t Going Anywhere

However, VinFast insists it isn’t going anywhere. It has secured franchise agreements for dealerships in Tustin, California, Redondo Beach, California, and one in Philadelphia. VinFast North America chief executive Brian Finnerty says the brand has a long-term commitment to the US.

“Our vision is clear: VinFast is continuing to build for the next phase of growth by investing in the customer experience, strengthening our team, continuously enhancing our products, policies, and sales and service network,” he said. “These new dealerships will ensure customers can access comprehensive sales, maintenance, and warranty support right in their local communities. This is more than an expansion of our network. It is a long-term commitment by VinFast to the U.S. market as we enter our next chapter of growth.”

This all sounds very good, but VinFast dealerships are still selling 2024 VF 9 and 2025 VF 8 models, underscoring how hard it’s proving to be for dealerships to sell these EVs.

Ambitious plans to establish a factory in the US have also been delayed multiple times. Initially, this plant in North Carolina was scheduled to start building vehicles in mid-2024, but earlier this year, VinFast pushed that date back to 2028.

Electrify America is one of the biggest names in EV charging, but it increasingly seems less concerned if you know you’re using its technology. The company is pushing its white-label charging business, which lets retailers slap their own names on chargers while Electrify America does much of the difficult work behind the scenes. Costco and Wawa are already among the companies using it.

Called Powered by Electrify America, the program isn’t actually new. It launched in 2020 but has quietly grown to more than 100 stations with nearly 600 chargers. That’s still small compared with Electrify America’s own network of more than 5,600 chargers at over 1,080 stations, but it points toward an interesting future for public charging.

Read: Massachusetts Got $64M In EV Station Funding, But There’s Not A Charger In Sight

Instead of simply hosting an Electrify America station in its parking lot, a retailer can effectively create its own charging network. The business owns the equipment and gets control over the branding, pricing, and site design. It can also incorporate charging into its own loyalty programs and access data about station usage, charging sessions, and customer behavior.

Electrify America, meanwhile, can handle much of the ugly stuff customers never see. That includes site feasibility, permitting, construction, commissioning, and ongoing maintenance. Its current hardware supports charging rates of up to 350 kW, while the company says its infrastructure is being prepared to support the NACS/J3400 connector.

There are some obvious attractions for retailers. A gas station customer might spend five minutes filling a tank and leave. Electrify America says a typical charging session lasts 20 to 30 minutes. That’s a much longer period of time where a customer could be inclined to spend more at the retailer than they would otherwise be.

More importantly, retailers don’t necessarily have to hand that relationship over to a charging company. They can set their own prices, wrap the equipment in their own branding, and potentially use charging to strengthen existing membership or loyalty programs. That’s particularly interesting for a company such as Costco, where membership is already central to the business.

Electrify America gets to sell its infrastructure and expertise, retailers get their own charging networks, and drivers hopefully get a more uniform and consistent charging experience across more brands and stations. That’s something EV owners in America have been demanding for quite some time now.

Photos: Electrify America

Newly released sales data from General Motors shows demand for its EVs has fallen off a cliff in the United States, contributing to a company-wide sales decline across the third quarter and through the first nine months of this year.

It’s no secret that EV sales in the US have dropped since the Trump administration axed the $7,500 federal tax credit last September. However, we suspect even GM couldn’t have anticipated just how far sales would decline.

Read: GM Keeps 70 Cents Of Every Subscription Dollar And Just 4 Cents On A Car Sale

The bad news starts at Cadillac. In Q3, sales of the Escalade IQ and IQL dropped 29.2% to 1,604 units. In addition, Cadillac Lyriq sales are down 50.2% to 3,617 units, Optiq sales have declined 6.9% to 4,550, and sales of the Vistiq fell 34.1% to 2,587 units. Total sales at the Cadillac brand were down 30% to 32,650.

Chevrolet Suffers

Then there’s Chevrolet, which saw its sales decline 4.6% to 437,321 vehicles. The Blazer EV suffered an 84.4% fall in sales to just 1,261 units. In addition, sales of the axed BrightDrop 400 and 600 vans were down 43.6% to 1,344. The biggest loser was the Equinox EV, with sales declining 92.4% from 25,085 in Q3 2025 to just 1,905 last quarter. Year-to-date sales are down 65.6% to 18,154.

Demand for the Silverado EV has also dried up. Across July, August, and September, just 1,655 were sold, down 58% from 3,940. Year-to-date, just 5,327 have been sold, a 43.2% reduction from the previous year.

Things aren’t any better at GMC. Sales of the Hummer EV SUV and Pickup declined 72.9% in Q3 to just 1,423 units. In addition, Sierra EV sales declined 50.8% from 3,374 to just 1,661 units. Total sales across the GMC brand dropped 4.7% to 157,103.

In total, GM ended the third quarter having sold 670,974 vehicles, 5.5% fewer than the 710,347 it sold in Q3 2025. Through the first nine months of the year, total sales have fallen 6.4% to 2,012,299.

A handful of models did enjoy a jump in sales in the third quarter. For example, sales of the Buick Enclave, Encore GX, and Envista rose 3.4%, 5.4%, and 18.4%, respectively. In addition, Cadillac CT5 sales were up 4.1%, Chevrolet Colorado sales rose 2.4%, and Corvette sales were up 28.5%. Chevrolet also reported a 51.1% jump in Trailblazer sales. At GMC, Acadia sales rose 7.7%, Canyon sales were up 17.9%, Sierra LD sales climbed 2.9%, and Yukon sales jumped 8%.

Hot on the heels of Volkswagen announcing the ID. Tiguan will replace both the ID.4 and the ID.5, the brand has announced some generous incentives to clear remaining inventory in the United States.

The most sizeable offer is for the 2025 ID.4. From now until November 2, anyone who purchases or leases a new ID.4 will receive a $12,500 ‘customer bonus’ that’s applied directly to the sticker price.

Read: VW Confirms ID. Tiguan To Replace The ID.4 And ID.5

VW’s local inventory search tool doesn’t allow you to select the model year, so it’s hard to know how many 2025 versions are sitting around at VW dealership lots across the country. What we can see is that there are hundreds of ID.4 models available across the 2025 and 2026 model years, so there’s certainly no shortage of options.

If you’re unable to find a 2025 model nearby, there’s also an offer available for 2026 ID.4s. This one is worth $6,000, and it is also available until November 2. Prices for the 2026 ID.4 start at $45,095 for the entry-level Pro excluding destination, or $46,570 including destination.

This isn’t the only offer available for the 2026 ID.4, either. Military members, veterans, and first responders can also receive a $500 discount when they purchase the outgoing EV, cutting the price even further.

US sales of the ID.4 peaked in 2023 when 37,789 units were sold but then plummeted to 17,021 units the following year. In 2025, sales rebounded to 22,373 units, but that clearly wasn’t enough to convince VW to keep selling the model for the long term. Through the first six months of this year, just 2,205 were sold, following the end of local production in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in April.

What Comes Next?

Once VW clears inventory of ID.4 models, it will be able to turn its attention to the ID. Tiguan. Lightly camouflaged prototypes have revealed it will look radically different than the ID.4 and, instead, look more similar to the gas-powered Tiguan. VW has confirmed it will start European sales of the new model at the start of next year, before launching it in the United States.

Limited technical details are known about the new ID. Tiguan, but it’s believed to be based on VW’s MEB+ platform and should be offered with new and improved battery packs. The current ID.4 is sold with 58 kWh and 79 kWh packs, providing it with a peak driving range of just 292 miles (470 km) in the US.

BMW sold a record 388,897 vehicles in the United States last year, a solid 4.7 percent increase from the previous year and the third consecutive record year. Not willing to rest on its laurels and bathe in the glory of its sales success, BMW has confirmed it’s considering launching a new flagship model.

As part of a company-wide update issued this week, BMW announced it is “considering” a new model to sit above the X7 in its line-up of SUVs, or as BMW calls them, Sports Activity Vehicles (SAV).

Read: Two Months Was All BMW’s iX3 Needed To Crack 10,000 Sales In Europe

BMW provided precious few details about this model, other than stating it will “be closely tailored to the needs of the US market.” Presumably that means an X8, a vehicle which has been talked about for almost a decade, but has so far yet to see the light of day.

Earlier this year, Audi finally launched the Q9, its long-awaited rival to the BMW X7 and Mercedes-Benz GLS. While it now seems possible BMW may release a model even larger than its X7 and punching beyond the Q9, the press release doesn’t specifically state this will be the case, simply noting the new model could sit “above the current top-end model, the BMW X7,” without expressly stating it will be larger. That leaves a lot open to interpretation, including the possibility of perhaps a BMW X7 Coupe, or simply a more luxurious and exclusive variant, perhaps akin to the Mercedes-Maybach GLS.

BMW says it’s considering the new model because of strong demand for its existing SUVs. It says Plant Spartanburg in North Carolina is already operating at full capacity, and the brand is looking for ways to grow global production.

A New Alpina And A New EV For Europe

A new flagship SUV isn’t the only thing that BMW is working on. In the same announcement, it revealed a new streamlined portfolio plan for China with features that local customers are calling for. By 2030, BMW says it wants 95 percent of the vehicles it sells in China to be built locally.

The first all-new model from the Alpina brand since the BMW takeover is set to launch in the coming year. Few details have been confirmed, other than the fact that it will be based on the 7-Series and designed to slot between regular BMW models and those from Rolls-Royce.

Europe is also going to receive an all-new EV. This model, set to arrive in 2028 and competing in the high-volume entry segment, will serve as the latest model in BMW’s Neue Klasse family, using many of the same technologies as the others. BMW also says that the 2-Series Active Tourer will be phased out and will not be replaced.

After Hyundai pioneered the use of a simulated transmission in its high-performance EVs, and has nearly perfected an ICE-inspired soundtrack in them, too, one may have expected engineers at the brand to kick up their feet and let the rest of the industry play catch-up. As it turns out, they’re looking to make driving an EV even more exhilarating.

A patent recently filed in the U.S. reveals the South Korean brand is attempting to make the virtual gear shifter found in models like the Ioniq 5 N, Ioniq 6 N, Kia EV6 GT, and Genesis GV60 Magma even more engaging. To do so, Hyundai may be developing a way to replicate the engine braking found in combustion-powered cars.

Review: Genesis’s New GV60 Magma Keeps The N Car Madness Without The Boy-Racer Baggage

Building upon the current setup, which imposes torque limitations and a rev limiter, this new system would tweak the amount of “engine” braking the driver experiences depending on what gear is selected and the revs. As in a gas car, if the revs are high and the driver is in a low gear, the amount of off-throttle engine braking would increase.

Fun-Focused Software

Obviously, given that Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis EVs use electric motors, rather than engines, all of this would be controlled by advanced software. It would use on-the-fly tweaks to the regenerative braking, CarBuzz reports, and certainly sounds like an intriguing way to make driving one of the brand’s electric motors that much more engaging. As it stands in current electric Hyundai N, Kia GT, and Genesis Magma models, the level of “engine” braking present is the same, regardless of what gear is selected and what the revs are.

It remains to be seen if a system like this would be introduced in updated versions of the current Ioniq 5 N and Ioniq 6 N, or if we’ll have to wait for an all-new model before this system becomes a reality. A high-performance N version of the small Ioniq 3 is in the works and could be a great candidate for such a system.

In Las Vegas, the city that never sleeps, where many locals and tourists love to have a big night out on the town, there’s now a new robotaxi service available thanks to Waymo. No more worrying that your taxi driver has spent the evening gambling away their life savings before picking you up.

Starting earlier this month, Waymo’s advanced robotaxis can now be ordered through the company’s app. As in other cities, the fleet will include Jaguar I-Pace models, but as is the case in Denver and San Diego, the majority of Waymo vehicles operating in Las Vegas will be the Ojai model, built by Zeekr in China and based on the electric Mix minivan.

Read: You Can Now Chat To Waymo’s Newest Robotaxi As It Drives You Around

Waymo says that before launching its service in Las Vegas, it had received expressions of interest from more than 100,000 people interested in the robotaxis coming to Sin City. As part of the initial roll-out, the self-driving taxis will operate from Boulder Junction up the Strip to Sahara Avenue. They will also connect from Spring Valley to Winchester.

“Las Vegas and its neighborhoods are evolving rapidly, and expanding smart, clean transit options is essential for our city’s future,” Las Vegas mayor Shelley Berkley said. “The public rollout of Waymo’s all-electric autonomous ride-hailing brings technology directly to our municipal streets, helping residents and patrons travel seamlessly between the cultural districts and neighborhood centers. By investing in cleaner, safer urban mobility, we ensure the City of Las Vegas remains an accessible, vibrant, and forward-looking community.”

Waymo has spent months analyzing roads across Las Vegas to ensure its vehicles, powered by the sixth-generation Waymo Driver, are up to the task. In a city like Las Vegas, where the flashing lights, crowds, and wild drivers can distract even the most experienced motorists, cruising around in a Waymo will probably become the choice of transportation for many.

Customer deliveries of the Rivian R2 started only three months ago, and already, the electric SUV has been caught up in its first recall. It’s not the only Rivian model impacted either, as tens of thousands of R1S and R1T models are also being recalled over the same issue.

The recall notice says that a software issue in the R1S, R1T, and R2 models falls foul of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. On the face of it, that sounds quite troubling, but it isn’t overly significant and certainly isn’t something Rivian owners should be losing sleep over.

Read: Rivian Service Followed The Wrong Instructions For Years, And One Owner Already Got Hurt

The company says that if the stability control system is disabled in one of the different drive modes, a safety alert will appear on the infotainment screen, asking whether the driver would like to return to a mode where the ESC is enabled. If a driver then puts the vehicle into reverse without making a selection, this notification will remain on screen, overlapping the rear-view camera image, which is a no-no according to safety standards.

A total of 98,828 Rivian models are impacted. These start with 2,481 examples of the 2027 R2, manufactured between April 23, 2026, and August 10, 2026. In addition, 62,259 Rivian R1S models built from March 30, 2022, to August 6, 2026, through the 2022-2027 model years are involved, as are 34,088 Rivian R1Ts built from August 23, 2021, to July 6, 2026.

Rivian says it discovered the issue during internal testing from July through September and adds that before the recall notice was even issued, an over-the-air software update had already rectified the fault in most models. In fact, it says the update has already been rolled out to 96 percent of the R2s involved, as well as 95 percent of R1S and R1T models. Chances are, if you own an impacted model, it was already updated and fixed before the recall.

More than six months after tens of thousands of Hyundai Palisade models were recalled due to dangerous power-folding seats, the electric Ioniq 9 is being recalled for a similar issue. Hyundai says it’s aware of five consumer complaints about the defect and has been notified of two alleged injuries.

As was the case with the Palisade, Hyundai says the second-row power-seat assemblies of the 2026 Ioniq 9 may not respond if they come into contact with an occupant or object while folding away. This issue attracted global attention in March when it was revealed that a two-year-old girl was crushed by the folding seats of a 2026 Palisade.

Read: Child Death Leads To 2026 Hyundai Palisade Recall, But Still No Fix

This latest recall affected 5,360 Hyundai Ioniq 9 models manufactured between March 17, 2025, and May 4, 2026, with the Korean car manufacturer reporting that 100 percent of recalled vehicles have the fault.

While the issue is similar to the one which impacted the Palisade, it’s not identical. Hyundai notes the Ioniq 9 uses different seat architectures, software, motors, and supplier components to the Palisade and that it evaluated the Ioniq 9’s seats separately.

What’s The Fix?

Hyundai says it began investigating the second-row folding seats of the Ioniq 9 in March and it determined the seats can fold at forces over the company’s established limits.

Owners of affected models will be alerted from November 9. Prior to this date, Hyundai is urging owners to use caution while operating the power-folding seat functions. To resolve the potentially deadly fault, dealership technicians will inspect the seat controller software version and update the logic for the power seat functions. Owners who have opted in to receive over-the-air software updates will receive a fix this way.

It’s not just the Hyundai Palisade and Ioniq 9 that have been hit with a power folding seat issue. Earlier this year, Kia recalled hundreds of 2027 Telluride models, noting they also lacked sufficient anti-pinch protection for second-row occupants. In July, GM revealed the electric Vistiq could also have a similar fault, this time impacting its third-row seatbacks.

A trial involving Tesla has just started in California, some four years after the electric car manufacturer was sued by the California Civil Rights Department for allegedly allowing racial discrimination against black workers at its Fremont factory.

Rather than a typical jury trial, state Superior Court Judge Peter Borkon ordered a bench trial. This means that he alone will determine if Tesla violated local civil rights laws, rather than a jury made up of members of the public.

Read: Tesla Settles Potentially Costly Lawsuit Over Autopilot Death

The lawsuit, filed in February 2022, asserted that Black workers at the company’s site in Fremont, California, have been segregated to the lowest level of the workforce and “discriminated against in job assignments, discipline, pay, and promotion.” It has also been alleged that Tesla has turned a blind eye to years of complaints from Black workers who’ve had to endure racial slurs and seen racist writing and graffiti in common areas, including swastikas and other hate symbols.

The director of the California Civil Rights Department says the agency wants to hold Tesla accountable. Tesla has vehemently denied the accusations and, in late 2022, countersued the agency, alleging it had violated laws by filing the suit without seeking public comment or giving the car manufacturer time to settle.

California does not have a cap on the damages that a court can award to workers affected by workplace discrimination, so if Judge Borkon rules for the plaintiffs, Tesla may be forced to cough up a serious amount of money.

This isn’t the only lawsuit that Tesla is dealing with, related to the Fremont factory. In 2023, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit against Tesla in federal court, also alleging that starting in 2015, Black employees had been subjected to racial slurs. This separate lawsuit also claims Tesla has failed to investigate complaints of racial conduct and even fired or retaliated against those workers who reported being harassed.

Lawsuits that turn into jury trials can be costly, and likely to avoid a potentially astronomical payout, Tesla has settled a lawsuit filed in relation to the death of a 31-year-old killed while driving a Model S with Autopilot enabled. As you may expect, details about the settlement remain confidential.

On February 18, 2023, Genesis Giovanni Mendoza Martinez was driving his 2014 Tesla Model S on Interstate 680 in Contra Costa County, California, when the EV slammed into a fire truck responding to an earlier accident. Martinez was killed in the 70-mph crash, while his brother in the passenger seat suffered serious injuries.

Read: NHTSA Suspects Tesla That Hit Firetruck In Fatal Crash Was Using Autopilot

The lawsuit took issue with how Tesla advertised its Autopilot system, and suggested that the 31-year-old would not have been killed had the system performed as advertised. The lawsuit alleged that both Tesla and company boss Elon Musk had misrepresented the capabilities of the Level 2 driver-assistance system, causing Martinez to place too much trust in it.

The case was being overseen by Judge Vince Chhabria, who determined last year that the ‘Autopilot’ name was “plausibly misleading.” He also ruled that Musk’s statements about Autopilot, including statements in which he said it was “probably better” than a human driver, were legally actionable.

Did Tesla Make False Promises?

Contra Costa Fire Department/X

Data recovered from the wrecked Model S revealed that Autopilot had been engaged roughly 12 minutes before the crash. Because of advertising around the technology, the lawsuit said the driver thought the EV “would drive itself and he no longer needed to drive it.”

Tesla fiercely contested the claims, saying it wasn’t at fault given that Martinez had ignored warnings in the owner’s manual and active warnings while inside the vehicle. Despite this, the judge cleared the path for a jury trial where Musk’s statements on Autopilot would have inevitably been put under the microscope. To avoid this, Tesla has agreed to settle.

The automaker has settled numerous similar lawsuits in the past. In 2025, it opted against settling a case in Florida, and a jury returned a verdict that it must pay $243 million in damages in relation to the 2019 death of a man who was inside a Model S with Autopilot engaged, which hit a parked Chevrolet Tahoe.

Volvo has presented what it calls “the largest and most ambitious global product push in its 99-year history”, in an effort to improve profitability and double its market share. The automaker will launch 13 new models by the end of 2030, including hybrids and EVs.

The announcement comes shortly after Volvo introduced updated versions of the XC40, EX40, EC40, and XC60, alongside a new plug-in hybrid powertrain for the XC60 and XC90 with up to 124 miles (200 km) of EV-only range.

More: Volvo’s New PHEVs Drive So Far On Electric You Might Not Use The Gas Engine For Months

Unlike the aforementioned extensive facelifts, the 13 announced models will be all-new. Seven are destined for Western markets including Europe and North America, while the other six will be heading to China.

More importantly, Volvo has confirmed that its future lineup will include cars in new segments, so expect a few surprises, and a potential return to wagons.

More: Volvo May Bring Sedans And Wagons Back To America

The company will preview an evolution of its styling language with a new concept car in 2027. This will be penned under the direction of Thomas Ingenlath, who returns as Volvo’s Chief Design Officer after a seven-year stint as the Polestar CEO.

The new models destined for Western markets will ride on the SPA2 (EX90, ES90) and SPA3 (EX60) architectures, using the HuginCore computing platform. The Chinese models will use shared platforms and a market-specific tech stack developed in collaboration with parent brand Geely. The goal is to increase component commonality across Geely Group vehicles from the current 10 percent to as much as 30 percent by 2030.

Hakan Samuelsson, Volvo president and CEO, said: “Our showrooms will look very different in 2030”, adding that they want to become “the leading premium car brand”. The CEO outlined the four pillars behind the new product offensive as “regionalized product offerings, leadership in electrification, unique synergies with Geely, and complete customer offers that goes beyond the car alone”.

More: Volvo Could Turn Its Belgian Plant Into A Tariff Back Door For China

Overall, Volvo wants to double its market share by introducing more EVs alongside third-generation hybrids for those not ready to make the switch. The company promised to treat its customers with regular over-the-air software updates, and make buying a new Volvo easier and more transparent with special offers and fast-delivery model variants.

If you follow the stock market at all, you’re probably still kicking yourself for not dropping $10k into Sandisk last year. If you’d done that in April 2025 and cashed out 14 months later you’d have made almost $800k. It could be worse though: You could be GM and have invested billions in EVs only to discover everyone wants hybrids.

Rewind to the late 2010s and the whole car industry was going gaga for EVs, with multiple brands pledging to go electric-only by 2030 and most putting huge resources into battery-powered cars. Growing EV sales figures and tightening regulations really did make electric vehicles look like they would take over the world.

Related: Kia Sets All-Time August Sales Record As Hybrids Soar

Hybrids, meanwhile, which had kick-started the modern electric revolution in the late 1990s, were dismissed as an “interim solution” by GM boss Mary Barra in 2019, Reuters reminds us. But seven years later, American car sales say hybrids are the complete solution, not an interim one. And automakers who bet on gasoline-electric rather than electric power alone are winning big.

The biggest winner is Toyota. It’s crushing the competition, securing a 49.2 percent share in Q1 of the hybrid market, Cox Automotive says, per Reuters. That market has grown, too. Hybrids’ share of the total car market swelled from 16 percent in February to 19 percent in August on account of gas prices exploding following the start of war in Iran. And one analyst told Reuters he expects hybrids to hit a 34 percent share by 2031.

Stuck To Its Hybrid Guns

Toyota, you’ll remember, popularized the hybrid with the original Prius, and endured years of criticism for being slow to launch EVs. But it never wavered from its commitment to hybrids, and that determination is paying off in the US in 2026. While GM’s share of the US car market fell from 17.6 percent in the first half of 2025 to 16.8 percent in the same period this year, Toyota’s grew from 15.5 to 15.8 percent, according to Cox Automotive.

EVs also cut fuel costs, of course. And in Europe, which is suffering the same kind of gas pain American drivers are battling, EV sales are on fire. One in every four new cars sold there is an EV. But in the US, sales are heading in the opposite direction, partly as a result of the Trump administration killing federal EV tax credits. Their share of the US market fell from 14.4 percent in September 2025 to 7.1 percent this May.

The 19 MPG Hybrid

So if GM wants to get back in the game, it’s got no option but to deliver multiple new hybrid choices to support the straight gas vehicles it fortunately kept building. Incredibly, the General’s sole hybrids in the US today are three Corvettes, the $111k E-Ray, $119k Grand Sport X and $227k ZR1X, though in previous years it also sold hybrid sedans and SUVs. It also sells hybrids in China.

When will we see new GM hybrids with more than two seats in North America? Dealers won’t like the answer, because while the automaker won’t confirm dates or comment on speculation, Reuters industry sources say American showrooms could be hybrid-free zones until near the end of the decade.

GM, Toyota

Days after the Trump administration slammed Ford for cozying up to Chinese companies, including battery manufacturer CATL, crosstown rival General Motors says it’s working to ensure its next generation of battery cells are backed by a strong domestic supply chain, rather than one that relies on overseas sources.

A key area of GM’s local battery focus is on cells that’ll be used for energy storage systems, including data centers, other businesses, and homes. According to vice president of battery and sustainability at GM, Kurt Kelty, “We’re developing a supply chain such that, two years from now, three years from now, it will be domestic.”

Read: GM’s Fourth US Battery Plant Just Stopped Being A GM Plant

A company spokesperson added to CNBC that GM will prioritize local production of battery cells for its forthcoming electric vehicles.

The federal government has criticized Ford for licensing battery technology from CATL, which it will use for energy storage systems. By comparison, GM is working with Denver firm Peak Energy on advanced sodium-ion battery cells for energy storage.

CNBC notes this deal will let GM reduce its reliance on China for materials including lithium and ferrous sulfate, instead sourcing materials more prevalent in the US, including sodium derived from soda ash. These new battery cells created with Peak Energy could be deployed as soon as 2029.

“It’s a really good story, because you’ve got the resources [in the U.S.] that you can keep it totally domestic,” Kelty said. “It’s going to take some time to build this industry up, but the potential for sodium-ion is just much greater than LFP.”

Kelty is so optimistic about the future of sodium-ion battery cells that he believes pursuing them can allow GM to leapfrog some of the most advanced battery technologies coming out of China.

Audi is eager to see current lessees of its electric models buy out their vehicles at the end of their terms, and it’s offering some pretty generous incentives to encourage them to do so.

A recent Audi BEV Lessee Buyout Option Incentive, sent to dealerships on September 1, reveals that current e-tron GT lessees are being offered a $10,000 discount to purchase their vehicle at the end of the lease term. In addition, a $5,000 purchase incentive is available for the Q4 e-tron, while a $4,000 one has been confirmed for the Q8 e-tron.

Read: Audi’s New A2 Revives A Genius Idea That Was 25 Years Too Early

In addition, dealerships stand to benefit as they will receive $500 for each lessee who uses the incentive to buy out their vehicle. This incentive program was first launched in July, but now the Q4 e-tron’s discount has increased to $5,000 from the original $3,000, CarsDirect reports.

The move may make it a little easier to digest the extraordinary depreciation Audi EVs and other electric models from premium brands continue to experience in the United States and elsewhere.

In the case of original Audi RS e-tron GT models, a car that once started at around $140,000, it’s now easy to find relatively low-mileage examples for under $55,000. Prices of the updated 2025 RS e-tron GT Performance have also cratered, from an MSRP exceeding $170,000 to less than $120,000.

It’s worth noting that Audi discontinued the Q8 e-tron in the United States more than 18 months ago, so those who currently lease one won’t be able to replace it with a like-for-like electric SUV from the German brand. The Q4 e-tron continues, and it was recently updated in Europe.

Sources: CarsDirect

Lexus has stepped up for Californian residents who are ineligible for the MyFirstEV Program discounts, announcing an incentive it hopes will drive sales of the all-electric RZ and the new ES EV.

Under the MyFirstEV Program, shoppers receive an instant rebate of up to $3,500 for new zero-emission vehicles and $1,750 for used models, but only if you’ve never owned a ZEV previously and are a verified California resident, so many locals aren’t eligible. There’s also an MSRP cap of $50,000.

Read: First-Time EV Buyers To Get $3,500 Instant Rebate In California

The MyLexusEV Rebate does not have these same restrictions, providing an instant $2,500 rebate with no MSRP cap, regardless of whether someone is a first-time EV buyer.

The good news doesn’t stop there for interested buyers of the RZ and ES EV. The MyLexusEV Rebate can be stacked with other discounts, including a current $4,000 Lease Cash Incentive for the 2026 RZ, boosting savings up to $6,500, CarsDirect notes. There are currently no other incentives available for the Lexus ES EV.

Lexus is no doubt eager to boost sales of the RZ and ES EV in the United States. Through the first half of this year, 7,814 examples of the RZ had been sold, an impressive 106.8 percent increase from the 3,779 sold in the first half of 2025. By comparison, sales of the ES, which just entered its eighth generation, have slipped 79.7 percent this year to just 3,896, down from 19,181, although this can be largely attributed to the model change, rather than a huge decline in demand. Sales of the all-electric version haven’t been published, but it’s unlikely to sell in numbers to rival the combustion model.

Update: A Toyota spokesperson in the US told Carscoops the company has not changed the timeline it announced back in July, which targets a 2027 launch, likely within the first months of the year. That framing sits at odds with Nikkei Asia’s report of a fresh delay to “2027 or later”. Revised article follows below.

The all-new Toyota Highlander EV was unveiled in February 2026 and was supposed to enter production this autumn. Then, in July, Toyota said the timeline had slipped by at least “eight weeks” for “final adjustments.” Earlier today, Nikkei Asia reported the start of assembly has moved back again by several months, possibly by as much as a year, pushing the electric SUV’s market launch “to 2027 or later.”

More: Toyota’s Third Best-Selling Vehicle Has A Supercar-Style Waiting List

The Highlander EV will be built in Georgetown, Kentucky. According to Nikkei Asia, the three-row SUV is expected to reach the line in January 2027 “at the earliest.” The same publication says Toyota has already notified its supplier network about the revised schedule. A January start would sit inside the early-2027 window Toyota says it has been working toward all along.

Toyota Says It’s About Quality Checks

A representative for Toyota’s North American division clarified that the extra time is allocated to final checks and quality validation before rolling out full-scale production. This aligns with the automaker’s previous stance in July, when a media preview was postponed.

Subaru’s Getaway Is Stuck Too

Toyota has insisted that the holdup has nothing to do with EV demand in the US, and points out that its EV sales are “still growing.” The numbers back that up, to a point, as US EV sales fell 21% year-over-year in Q2, while Toyota’s own EV deliveries more than tripled over the same stretch. Growing from a small base is easier when the lineup keeps expanding, which is exactly what Toyota has been doing in the region.

The Highlander EV shares its bones with the Subaru Getaway, and both three-row EVs will be built on the same Georgetown line. Subaru confirmed its own delay in July, saying production would slip “to allow sufficient time for final adjustments before launch.” Toyota used almost identical wording, which suggests the two are moving in step. Subaru still hasn’t named a new date or said whether deliveries will shift.

Ford isn’t setting modest goals for its $30,000 Fathom electric pickup. The automaker reportedly expects to sell more than 100,000 during its first year, a number no individual EV from anyone besides Tesla has managed in America.

That’s according to the Wall Street Journal, which spoke to Ford insiders about the automaker’s ambitious sales target. If buyers turn up in the numbers Ford expects, the little four-door truck would immediately become one of America’s biggest-selling EVs.

Related: New Ford Fathom Prototype Breaks Cover Ahead Of Its 2027 Debut

For perspective, GM sold almost 170,000 EVs in 2025, but needed three brands and multiple models to do it. Tesla remains in another league, shifting around 357,000 Model Ys and more than 190,000 Model 3s last year. Rivian, by contrast, moved just 42,000 units in 2025, though the arrival of its smaller R2 will boost this year’s numbers.

Photos Ford

Ford’s confidence has surprised some industry watchers because America’s EV market is currently going backwards. Electric cars accounted for 5.7 percent of US sales in August, according to Motor Intelligence data cited by the WSJ, versus 10.3 percent a year earlier. August EV sales plunged 48 percent year over year.

The Fathom is Ford’s attempt to prove price can change that equation. Starting at $28,350 before a $1,595 destination charge, it promises more passenger room than a Toyota RAV4, along with familiar conveniences including a touchscreen and power windows.

Minimalist Rival

Those last two features sound unremarkable until you meet its $24,950 rival, the Slate Truck. That minimalist two-seat pickup uses crank windows and skips a factory stereo and touchscreen entirely. And though Ford has yet to release technical specs for the crew-cab Fathom the chances are good that it will equal or better the Slate’s 205-mile (330 km) claimed range and 1,550 lb (703 kg) payload. It should also almost chop the Slate’s 8-second zero to 60 mph (97 kmh) time in half.

To keep build costs low, Ford is gambling on a radically different way of building the Fathom. Its reworked Louisville factory will assemble the front, rear and structural battery-floor sections simultaneously on separate lines, then bolt and bond them together. Ford says the system should build vehicles 15 percent faster than the plant’s previous process, though retooling cost $2 billion.

To make that investment work it needs 100,000 Americans to sign up every year for the Fathom when it goes on sale early in 2027. How do you rate its chances?

Baldauf

Like any other Porsche vehicle, the Macan Turbo Electric is very nice. However, the seller of this one in the US was no doubt shocked when they sold it on Cars & Bids for almost exactly $50,000 less than MSRP, despite only been driven 2,100 miles (3,379 km).

Read: Porsche Ends Gas Macan Production In July With No ICE Successor For Years

It’s no secret that premium EVs often lose an unbelievable amount of money the moment they drive off the lot, but even this result is quite shocking. After 37 bids, the Macan sold for $97,000, which wouldn’t have been a terrible result had this example only cost the seller $112,700, the Turbo Electric’s MSRP.

Cars & Bids

However, it actually cost $146,340 as it is laden with expensive options. These include a $2,150 rear-axle steering, a $2,440 black leather interior, $2,700 22-inch Macan Sport wheels, a $4,960 Burmester high-end surround sound system, $1,140 Drive Assist, $1,710 passenger display, $1,040 Sport Chrono Package, and a $2,660 augmented reality head-up display. The seller drove the EV only 2,100 miles in the span of three months, meaning they lost over $500 on it every single day.

Dropping Like A Stone

Cars & Bids

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen the value of a Macan Turbo Electric plummet on the used market. In April, bids on an example with just 1,500 miles (2,414 km) maxed out at $88,500, despite a sticker price of $121,855. The depreciation comes despite the EV offering plenty of performance, using twin motors to deliver 630 hp and 833 lb-ft (1,130 Nm) of torque, enough to hit 60 mph (96 km/h) in 3.1 seconds.

In the next couple of years, Porsche will introduce a new combustion-powered compact crossover to fill the void left behind by the old ICE Macan, and once that model launches, values of the electric Macan could drop even further. It’s expected to use the VW Group’s Premium Platform Combustion architecture, just like the new Audi Q5, and will slot below the Cayenne.

Cars & Bids