Electric vehicle sales rebounded in the second quarter of this year, with U.S. automakers collectively posting their strongest results since the federal EV tax credit ended last September, according to new data from Cox Automotive released Friday. While sales remained down compared to a year ago, Q2 marked the best quarter for EVs in the post-tax-credit era, suggesting the market is beginning to recover from last year's policy shocks.
Carmakers sold 247,226 EVs in the U.S. between April and June, marking a 14.2% quarter-over-quarter increase, according to Cox Automotive estimates. Sales were down 20.5% compared to the same period last year when the EV tax credit was still in place. But the quarterly growth paints a clearer picture of how the market is settling into its new reality after the incentive expired.
"The market now appears to be stabilizing after the anticipated correction," Cox Automotive said in its report. "New product launches, state-level incentive programs, and continued consumer interest are helping support demand."
Several automakers posted quarter-over-quarter sequential gains, even though the year-over-year picture looks bleak. Tesla continued to have a commanding lead, selling 124,800 units in the second quarter, a 6.4% growth over the Q1 2026 but 9.6% down from Q4 2025 when the automaker still had heavy discounts in place.
