Americans Want Electric Cars — They Just Cannot Find Them

Within three months of the US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, 2026, the average price of gasoline for American drivers climbed from 2.94 to 4.35 dollars a gallon. That should have been the perfect moment for electric cars. Instead, from March to May 2026, sales of hybrid electric vehicles were 18 percent higher than over the same months in 2025, while sales of fully electric vehicles were 16 percent lower.

The gap is about supply, not desire. New EV inventories declined, shrinking from about 130 days of supply in the first quarter of 2026 to 78 days by August. Discounts on new EV models shrank too: the median new EV was listed 9.8 percent below sticker price in February, 6.6 percent in April, and 4.7 percent in June. With fewer new EVs to buy, buyers turned to the used market, where prices climbed 13 percent through late June 2026 — about 3,500 dollars more for a typical used electric vehicle. Recurrent found the price of a used 2023 Chevrolet Bolt rose almost 20 percent from January to June 2026.

The average new car now sells for about 50,000 dollars and the average new electric vehicle for about 55,000 dollars, according to Kelley Blue Book. Electric vehicle sales have not caught up: Argonne data show 86,000 sold in August, fewer than the 101,000 sold in May, while hybrid sales stayed above 216,000 a month all summer. A fuel economy rule released September 28, 2026 loosens efficiency requirements for gas-powered vehicles and in 2028 ends a system that let automakers beating the standards earn credits and sell them to automakers that fell short.