October 10, 2025 - U.S. EV Sales Hit Record In Q3

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for October 10, 2025, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.  

As expected, there was a significant uptick in U.S. electric vehicle sales during the third quarter of 2025 as consumers who were interested in an EV and had the means to buy one rushed to finish their transactions ahead of the September 30 expiry of federal tax credits. According to data from Marklines, more than 149,000 EVs were sold last month and 411,210 found new owners in the third quarter, both all-time records for U.S. sales. Those figures corresponded to a monthly market share of nearly 11.9% and just over 10% for the quarter, also records. 

Overall, EV sales increased by 24.7% compared to the third quarter of 2024, and even Tesla sales went up by 8% after several consecutive quarters of declines. However, despite that increase for Tesla, the company's share of the U.S. EV market has continued to decline. For the month of September, Tesla's share dropped from 51.7% to just 40.2% and its quarterly share dipped from 48.7% to 36.5%. While it's too early to tell, the quarterly record is unlikely to be an indicator that car buyers are warming to the Tesla brand again; those who haven't been turned off by Elon Musk's behavior were just taking advantage of the deals. 

Behind Tesla, GM had 17% of the EV market for the month, followed by Hyundai Motor Group and then Ford. Unfortunately for Toyota and Subaru, the end of incentives also coincided with a sell-down of the first-generation EVs and limited supplies as dealers await the arrival of substantially upgraded versions of the Toyota bZ, Lexus RZ, and Subaru Solterra. 

The pull-ahead of EV sales will almost certainly have a negative impact on sales for at least the next couple of quarters, but just how big that effect will be is unknown. New lower-cost models, including the Nissan Leaf and revived Chevrolet Bolt, are arriving over the next several months, Rivian is launching its midsize R2 next spring, and additional vehicles are on the way. Even existing EVs are now seeing substantial discounts, with Hyundai cutting the Ioniq 5 by over $9,000 and Kia offering $9,000 discounts on the EV6. Ford has also cut the price of the F-150 Lightning by $4,000. 

I predict a dip to about 6 to 7% EV share for the next several months and then a potential bounce back to the previous trend over 8% in the second half of 2026. 

Thanks for listening.