- Electric vehicle registrations declined by 9.8% in April compared to April 2025.
- April registrations indicate that EV sales are on the rise again.
- Tesla is still the market leader and has seen a 13% increase in registrations.
Electric vehicle sales declined after the Inflation Reduction Act and the repeal of the $7,500 federal tax credit. This ultimately made all EVs more expensive to buy and lease, which clearly impacted sales numbers.
A significant decline was seen in EV registrations beginning in 2026. But, according to data shared by S&P Global Mobility automotive newsThe markets may finally be starting to return to normal.
A total of 89,147 new EVs were registered in the United States during April 2026, a 9.8 percent decrease compared to the same month in 2025. This is the smallest year-on-year decline so far in 2026 by a wide margin. Comparatively, EV registrations in January, February and March 2026 were 41 per cent, 37 per cent and 25 per cent lower than their respective months in 2025. This shows that EV sales are increasing again.
“We’re slowly seeing progress, and I think we’ll continue to see it,” said Tom Libby, S&P Global Mobility automotive analyst.
Photo by: Tesla
EV Rebound
You may continue to see headlines that EV registrations declined in April, and although that’s technically True, this is a bit confusing. A drop of nearly 10 percent from a year ago isn’t ideal, but considering that almost every new EV effectively costs $7,500 more to buy or lease, it’s a tough hurdle to overcome.
There are advantages and disadvantages to using registration data to measure the state of the EV market. Unlike sales, registrations are specific to the US, which is important because Tesla (the largest EV maker in North America) doesn’t break down its deliveries by region. It also helps curb automakers that do not report monthly sales and instead release quarterly reports.
However, there is a lag for this data, which is why we are now only looking at April results into June.
Photo by: Tesla
From the S&P data, we can see some clear winners and losers in April with regard to EV registrations. Tesla, surprisingly, comes out on top with 45,800 registrations, a 13 percent increase from April 2025, likely driven by sales of the new Model Y. Chevrolet is in second place with 5,890 registrations, but that’s down 36 percent from 2025.
Some other notable standouts in the list include Toyota, which saw a 225 percent increase to 3,524 registrations due to the arrival of new electric models: the C-HR, BZ Woodland and the facelifted BZ. Subaru also saw a 99 percent increase to 1,959 registrations, thanks to shared platform EVs with Toyota: Trailseeker, Uncharted and facelifted Solterra.
Those numbers should continue to increase as new models continue to arrive over the next few months.
Motor1’s Opinion: Higher gas prices are potentially motivating buyers to consider EVs, even if there aren’t tax credits to entice them. Brands with new EVs are seeing sales surges, even if they are relatively small, especially if those models are priced on par with gas-powered vehicles.
