The EV market is on the way back due to high gas prices

Like the US war on Iran sent gas prices soaringAmerican car buyers have flocked to electric cars – and especially hybrids.

After a winter and fall, EV sales rebounded in the second quarter of 2026, as automakers posted some of the best sales since the elimination of the EV tax credit last year. according to Q2 analysis from Cox Automotive. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that EVs are back to their pre-pandemic numbers, but there are some promising signs that we can overcome the worst.

Drivers picked up about 247,000 EVs in the second quarter of 2026, a healthy jump of 14.7 percent from the beginning of the year, according to Kelley Blue Book estimates. But it’s a bit of a mixed bag. If you look at the big picture, sales are actually down 20.5 percent compared to the same period last year, marking the third straight quarter in the red.

The silver lining? Fall is slowing down. This quarter’s drop wasn’t as drastic as the 27 percent dip we saw in Q1, or the massive 36 percent drop by the end of 2025. All in all, it’s starting to look like the EV market is finding its footing after a rough patch.

A company that gets the most profit from a slow recovery is Tesla. One of the three new EVs purchased in Q2 was a Tesla. It is not a complete recovery; the company’s sales were still more than 10 percent in the first half of the year, compared to 2025. However, Tesla accounted for almost half of all EV sales in the US, driven by the Model 3 and Model Y. below 40 percent, its lowest position in eight years.

Chevy, with its Equinox and Blazer EVs, was a distant second, followed by Hyundai and Cadillac. Cox also cited Toyota and Subaru as “strong performers,” with 225 percent and 108 percent sales growth in Q2 year-over-year, respectively. Toyota in particular was seen as a laggard in EVs, but is now among the top five US automakers in the US market. As other brands delay or ban battery-powered models, the Japanese giant is planning other models, including and three-row Highlander SUV.

On the flip side, automakers have abandoned their electric models following President Donald Trump’s decision to delete (completely fictional) “EV mandate” they were left with few options to offer their customers. Ford, which killed losing money F-150 Lightningsaw its EV sales drop 40 percent in Q2 year over year. Volvo EV sales fell 41 percent, Mercedes fell 58 percent, and Nissan fell 88 percent.

Obviously, high gas prices are not something to celebrate. We live in a car-dominated society, and too much pain at the tap is not a good way to persuade people to make environmentally friendly choices. Depending on where you live, if you want to protect your wallet, there are better options than buying an electric car. Public transport remains an option, as do electric bikes and other forms of micromobility.

But it’s true that the thousands of Americans who choose EVs over gas stations are winning the environment. And as cheaper models are released, including Rivian R2, Slate Truckand Ford is coming up with a $30,000 EVthe hope is that the momentum can be sustained, although there are plans to reduce the backlog being put in place.