New vehicle registration data for the United States in January 2026 clearly demonstrates how much demand for electric vehicles depended on the federal tax credit, which expired on September 30 of last year. Without this incentive, the market has begun to adjust sharply.
Sharp Decline in Registrations
According to S&P Global Mobility, only 59,802 new electric vehicles were registered in January. This represents a massive drop of 41% compared to the same month last year. Out of nearly 1.2 million vehicles registered that month, fully electric models accounted for just 5.1% of the market, significantly lower than the 8.3% a year earlier.
Meanwhile, gasoline-powered vehicles strengthened their position, increasing their share by 2.3 percentage points to 76.6% of all registrations. Hybrids also saw slight growth, gaining 1 point and reaching a 14.7% share.
Market Leaders in the New Environment
Tesla, as expected, remains the undisputed leader of the American EV market. In January, 32,123 new vehicles from this brand were registered. However, even Tesla was not immune to the slowdown: its registrations fell by 26% compared to January 2025. Despite this decline, the brand’s share of the electric vehicle market grew by 11% and reached 53.7%.
Cadillac took a distant second place with 3,189 registrations, more than ten times fewer than Tesla. Nevertheless, this brand became one of the few to show growth: registrations increased by 8.1% compared to last year. Its share of the EV market also grew by 2.3% to 5.3%.
Significant Losses for Other Manufacturers
Many other automakers also experienced a sharp decline in electric vehicle sales. For example, 3,027 new Hyundai electric vehicles were registered in January, which is 23% less than a year earlier. This drop was caused by a 22% reduction in Ioniq 5 deliveries to 2,101 vehicles.
Ford’s electric vehicle registrations fell by 67% to 2,772, and Chevrolet’s by 55% to 2,658. Toyota, however, reported a 25% increase, although its total EV registrations amounted to only 2,529, meaning it lagged behind many competitors.
Expert Opinions on the Market “Reset”
iSeeCars executive analyst Karl Brauer notes:
A reformatting will occur according to the new reality without federal EV incentives, which were the “carrot,” and without greenhouse gas emission penalties, which were the “stick.”
According to S&P Global Mobility analyst Tom Libby, the decline was “expected,” and he adds:
This is a reset, and moving forward will be a very slow process.
It is noted that electric vehicle registrations have decreased year-over-year every month after the tax credit was canceled on September 30.
Detailed Statistics for January 2026
The table below illustrates the performance of key brands:
Among other notable trends are the rapid growth of Lucid and Lexus, while brands such as Volkswagen, Honda, and Audi recorded declines of 90%, 85%, and 82%, respectively.
These figures indicate a profound market transformation. The withdrawal of government support has not just temporarily lowered sales numbers but has likely permanently changed the dynamics. Survival in the EV market will now depend not on the availability of subsidies, but on the real competitiveness of the product: price, technology, charging infrastructure, and consumer trust. Under such conditions, further industry consolidation and the possible exit of some players whose models cannot meet the new demands can be expected. The parallel growth in the share of hybrids indicates that consumers, in search of a compromise, still prefer technologies that reduce emissions but without the “range anxiety” associated with fully electric vehicles.