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EV Sales Slide While Hybrids Climb

California, as usual, led the country in EV registrations in the fourth quarter, but the U.S. as a whole saw a 43% year-over-year volume decrease.

March 27, 2026
chart showing the quarterly electric vehicle market share from 2020-2025
Credit:

Alliance for Automotive Innovation

2 min to read


  • California led the country in electric vehicle (EV) registrations in the fourth quarter of 2025.
  • The United States experienced a 43% decrease in EV registrations compared to the previous year.
  • Hybrid vehicle registrations gained popularity as EV registrations declined nationwide.

*Summarized by AI

U.S. electric-vehicle sales fell in the fourth quarter and for 2025 as a whole, according to data from the Alliance for Automotive Innovation automaker trade group.

It found fourth-quarter sales represented a little under 7% of light-duty vehicle sales, the lowest quarterly share since the first quarter of 2022. For the year as a whole, EV sales were about 10%, a 10% year-over-year decline.

As of the fourth quarter, 164 electric models were available for sale in the U.S. market, and light truck sales accounted for 82% of the EV market.

While California led the country in EV registrations as usual at 17%, that was down about 15% from the third quarter. The U.S. as a whole saw a 43% volume decrease in EV registrations year-over-year in the quarter.

While the EV market share decreased 4%, the hybrid market share increased over 3%.

2025 EV registrations fell 4% to 1.5 million. And just like the fourth quarter, their market share dropped as hybrid market share grew.

According to the report, half of all registered EVs were located in only 42 counties out of the 3,100 in the U.S., and 25 counties had none.

As for the country's EV charging network, the alliance reported that there are over seven million EVs on the road but only 236,945 publicly available charging outlets, a ratio of 31 EVs for every public port. Availability improved in the fourth quarter, when 246,755 EVs were registered while 8,537 new public chargers were added, a ratio of 29:1.

Tesla’s charging network lost ground last year as non-Tesla fast chargers outnumbered new Tesla installations, according to the alliance. The brand held only 39% of new fast-charging installations.

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