Americans are turning to hybrids to get away from rising gas prices. So, is there still hope for EVs?
The United States is now an outlier. While China and Europe are slowly but surely replacing gas and diesel cars with much cleaner electric vehicles, shoppers in the U.S. are seeking refuge from rising fuel prices in what is probably the last iteration of a century-old technology.
Hybrid vehicles are rapidly gaining popularity, and even the old fact about owners never turning back after going fully electric is sitting on shaky ground. So what’s going on?
I asked experts what lies ahead for the American EV market, and it sounds like people will probably stick with what they know, as long as it helps them keep costs down. That said, if a couple of key aspects change in the following years, we might see more buyers rapidly move into EVs.
The Sportage was Kia's best-selling model in July, and the hybrid version had the biggest increase.
A couple of years ago, automakers and dealers alike were keen on getting EVs off their lots, so extremely attractive lease deals made headlines across the country, with some buyers scoring a brand-new electric car for less than $100 per month. Now, those leases are ending, and with less incentive money to go around, real-world new EV prices are much higher than before.
After the $7,500 federal tax credit for new EVs went away last September, the market went through a huge recalibration, and it still hasn’t settled. Last month, the average EV lease payment for an EV was $707, whereas a non-EV cost $100 less, per Edmunds.
As a result, there are now more people than ever who trade in an EV and buy a gas car. According to Edmunds, 15.6% of owners who traded in their EV in the second quarter of this year went home with a new hybrid, whereas 34.6% got a new EV. Plug-in hybrids attracted just 5.4% of lease returns. What’s more, traditional combustion vehicles made a comeback this past quarter, accounting for 42.6% of the defectors–more than EVs and PHEVs combined. (These numbers all exclude sales at Tesla, Rivian, and Lucid stores, which admittedly does skew the data away from EVs.)
Meanwhile, hybrid owners overwhelmingly chose to stick with the same powertrain type after their lease ended, with 58.3% of buyers going home with a new hybrid after trading in their old one at a brick-and-mortar dealership.
The 2027 Kia Telluride Hybrid costs considerably less than a comparable Kia EV9.
“It’s a very tough market right now, with car prices increasing and buyers looking for affordable options,” said Corey Cantor, Research Director at the Zero Emissions Transportation Association (ZETA), a federal coalition that advocates for the advancement of the electric vehicle supply chain.
“A traditional hybrid is typically just a few hundred dollars to a thousand more than a simple gas model, so it makes sense to get a hybrid because of the promised fuel savings,” Cantor added.
A recent report from Cox Automotive brings more hard numbers to the table. In the first half of the year, 22% of car buyers considered a new hybrid, up from 20% last year and a new high for this powertrain. At the same time, 10% of buyers said they were considering a new EV, down from 11% in the first half of 2025.
The same report includes a list of the ten most wanted electrified vehicles in the United States, and just one of them is an EV–the ubiquitous Tesla Model Y crossover.
Tesla Model Y
Over the past five years, affordability and fuel economy have become increasingly important for all new car buyers, while durability and safety continue to be the top factors that influence purchase considerations, the Cox Automotive study said.
One way to make EVs more attractive is to make them more affordable, but that’s not necessarily something that car manufacturers are inclined or able to do. American companies no longer have an incentive to make the most efficient cars they can, so they’re making the most of the 100-year-old combustion engine by easily adapting existing models and turning them into hybrids.
Escalent's latest research suggests price cuts alone won’t solve the affordability challenge. Buyers are factoring in everything from monthly payments to operating costs, while battery replacement and home charging costs actually rank above purchase price as reasons EVs feel unaffordable.
"We need vehicles that are affordable and have that price parity with their ICE counterpart," Stephanie Valdez Streaty, director of industry insights at Cox Automotive, said during an episode of the InsideEVs podcast. "Once we have more options like that, I think that's going to be the game changer.”
Ford and Slate are both working on affordable electric pickup trucks, a segment that has so far been ignored by companies. Traditional pickups sell like hotcakes in America, but electric models like the Ford F-150 Lightning and Tesla Cybertruck have failed to keep up with their gas alternatives due to their limited driving range and high purchase price. The Lightning was discontinued last year, and the Cybertruck’s sales numbers pale in comparison to the best-selling gas trucks.
That’s why people are excited about what’s next.
Ford's $30,000 electric pickup truck is due next year.
“$30,000 is the sweet spot for a new car in the U.S., so if more automakers launched EVs at this price point, we would see more EV sales,” said Corey Cantor from ZETA. “That’s why it’s exciting to see Ford’s upcoming pickup, as well as Slate’s first model.”
Access to affordable home charging is also an issue, with many multi-family homes not having access to Level 2 chargers. This forces EV owners to go out of their way to keep their batteries topped up and at prices that may be higher than filling up with gas. Not everybody owns a house and can charge cheaply during the night, which is typically the most cost-effective way to charge an EV.
Still, loyalty among EV owners is high. According to CDK Global’s latest survey, 90% of EV owners in the U.S. said they’ll buy another EV when the time comes for a new car purchase. That said, there are fewer early adopters than ever, so automakers now have to convince people who aren’t as well-versed or interested in a new type of powertrain. “The usual adoption hurdles for EVs remain, including upfront costs, range anxiety, and charging anxiety,” said Cantor.
So, what’s going to happen next? It’s hard to pinpoint what American car buyers will choose for the next decade, but the stage seems set for the rest of 2026. Hybrid sales will likely continue to rise, leaving EVs to compete with combustion cars for the leftovers.
EVs are still in the game, though. Their promising growth took a big hit in September 2025 with the loss of the tax credit, but things are starting to fall into place. There are now more public charging stations than ever before, and the companies building them are only planning on installing more. The charging experience is also getting better, with more reliable stalls and fewer failed sessions. What’s more, new cars like the BMW iX3 and Mercedes-Benz CLA charge extremely fast and can drive for hundreds of miles on a full battery, helping to alleviate range anxiety.
The problem with those cars is their price. Yes, affordable EVs like the Chevrolet Bolt and Nissan Leaf exist, but their sales figures have been lackluster so far. America needs more affordable EVs that people actually want to drive, and the silver bullet seems to be the same old pickup trucks and SUVs, only smaller. Lower lease costs and easier access to cheap home charging will certainly help, too.
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Facts Only
* Hybrid vehicle sales are rapidly gaining popularity in the United States.
* Americans are turning to hybrids to avoid rising gas prices.
* Automakers adapted existing models to create hybrids due to a lack of incentive for making the most efficient cars.
* Lease deals for new EVs were extremely attractive previously, with some buyers paying less than $100 per month.
* The removal of the $7,500 federal tax credit for new EVs caused a market recalibration.
* Average EV lease payments were $707, while non-EV costs were $100 less per Edmunds data point.
* In the second quarter of this year, 15.6% of EV owners traded in their EV for a new hybrid, and 34.6% bought a new EV.
* Plug-in hybrids attracted only 5.4% of lease returns.
* Traditional combustion vehicles accounted for 42.6% of defectors in the last quarter (excluding Tesla, Rivian, and Lucid sales).
* Fifty-eight point three percent of buyers chose a new hybrid after trading in an old one at a dealership.
* The 2027 Kia Telluride Hybrid costs less than a comparable Kia EV9.
* In the first half of the year, 22% of car buyers considered a new hybrid, compared to 20% the previous year and 10% for an EV.
Executive Summary
Full Take
The narrative surrounding the EV transition in the US is currently being mediated by price sensitivity and immediate practical concerns, rather than pure technological adoption or long-term systemic shifts. The observed pattern suggests that when external economic pressures—like fuel costs—are acute, consumers gravitate toward the familiar and proven solution, which in this case is the hybrid, effectively neutralizing the momentum of the electric alternative until a compelling structural change occurs. The fact that automakers prioritize hybrids over EVs in the current climate suggests that the incentive structure remains heavily weighted toward incremental adaptation rather than disruptive innovation for the mass market.
The tension between the allure of EV sustainability and the reality of affordability creates a significant gap where vehicle manufacturers are incentivized to optimize existing combustion platforms by introducing hybrid options, rather than fundamentally redesigning vehicles for cost parity with ICE counterparts. Furthermore, the data on lease returns and trade-ins indicates that the incentive structure directly dictates purchasing behavior more strongly than theoretical environmental benefits. This implies that future shifts toward EVs will likely only accelerate when the foundational barriers—specifically upfront costs, charging access, and perceived value—are addressed systemically, rather than through incremental product releases.
The pattern points toward a state where market evolution is currently defined by compromise: hybrids serve as an immediate middle ground, while EVs remain aspirational, constrained by cost. The real implication for agency lies in recognizing that the current landscape is less about a technological impasse and more about an economic sequencing problem. The critical question is whether the next phase of adoption will be driven by regulatory mandates or by achieving true price parity, as suggested by industry observers, rather than incremental market adjustment.
Bridge Questions: If automakers successfully achieve price parity with ICE counterparts for EVs, what specific structural changes in charging infrastructure are necessary to eliminate range anxiety as a primary deterrent? How can regulatory frameworks shift the focus from mitigating immediate fuel costs to incentivizing long-term systemic investment in EV infrastructure? What is the mechanism by which consumer loyalty (90% among EV owners) translates into accelerating adoption among the current pool of hesitant buyers?
Sentinel — Human
The text reads like a well-researched journalistic synthesis, effectively blending specific market statistics with broader commentary on the challenges facing the US EV market.