The Winners And Losers In EVs In 2026 So Far

We’ve finally got some good news about the EV market in the U.S. Well, kinda sorta good. In the second quarter, EV sales hit their highest point since the federal tax credit ended last September: 247,226 sales, according to Cox Automotive. But dig a little deeper, and you quickly see that some sellers of EVs are probably a lot happier right now than others.

So, who’s up and who’s down in the EV world? The winners and losers of the first half of 2026 say a lot about where America’s electric car market is going as it finds its footing. That’s the main topic on this week’s Plugged-In Podcast, available wherever you listen to podcasts.

Broadly, EV sales were down 20.5% on a year-over-year basis in Q2, which is obviously not great. But it is better than the sharper declines we saw over the last couple of quarters. For the first half, EV sales were down 23.8%. But the data is noisy, and individual car brands run the gamut.

First let’s discuss some of the winners.

Toyota is zigging while rivals are zagging. For years it was not that serious about EVs, and much more committed to hybrids. But in the first half its EV sales more than doubled, largely on the back of the updated bZ, which moved 17,553 units.

Photo by: Tim Levin/InsideEVs

This time last year, Toyota was behind VW, Rivian, Nissan, Kia, Honda, GMC, Ford, Cadillac, BMW, and Audi. Now it’s ahead of all of them. Lexus also just about doubled its sales in the first half, and Subaru doubled sales in Q2.

Cadillac managed to lift its EV sales 10% in the first half, though that number was buoyed by the Vistiq and Optiq, which ramped up over the course of last year.

Hyundai only declined by about 5%, and as you’ll see in a moment that’s a feat. Ioniq 5 sales rose 9%, making that car America’s favorite non-Tesla EV in the first half. A serious price cut of nearly $10,000 probably helped.

Rivian saw its sales rise so far this year, partially due to its EDV van.

Photo by: Rivian

Rivian was up 13.7% to 21,770 vehicles sold on solid performance of its commercial van. It even raised its guidance for this year to up to 70,000 units.

For most manufacturers, things were a lot uglier. Demand has been hit by the end of the tax credit—especially for those that haven’t dropped prices—plus companies have cut models and pared back supply. Without any semblance of clean-car regulations in place, car companies are able to just sell fewer EVs if they so choose.

Acura is down 99% year-to-date. No surprise there, as it canceled its only EV last year and axed its replacement. Honda, by the way, was cut about in half. It completely exited the U.S. EV game this week when it announced that the Prologue will end production this year. Some prologue that turned out to be.

The Dodge Charger EV has not sold well.

Photo by: Stellantis

Jeep EV sales fell like a rock, down 94.3% from an already low baseline. The brand’s rugged Recon EV and a Wagoneer EREV are supposed to arrive this year, and those could help. Meanwhile, the Dodge Charger EV was down nearly 88% this year, to a little over 500 units. Stellantis, which also axed all of its plug-in hybrids this year, seems to be backing out fast from EVs in the new environment.

Nissan plunged 88.6% despite the launch of the new Leaf. The volume-selling Ariya is dead, so that’s at play. The Leaf’s tepid sales could be the result of a supply decision. But the new model’s failure to launch makes me wonder what demand really looks like for small, budget EVs.

Volkswagen is down nearly 70% to under 4,000 units in the first half. It makes some sense, as the ID. Buzz is skipping a model year and the ID.4 is canceled. It’s a similar deal at Ford, which had been a strong contender but canceled the F-150 Lightning last year. Its EV sales dropped over 57% in the first half. BMW EV sales dropped by about half, Cox says, though it has a slew of new and impressive models on the way. Audi sales dropped 85% to just 1,697 units in the first half.

Tesla managed to outperform the market, with sales down only 10.9%, as estimated by Cox. But remember, 2025 was a historically bad year for the company.

What’s the takeaway? In short, the EV market is still kind of a hot mess right now. The companies that were the most serious EV contenders in the pre-policy-whiplash era are trying to stay at the top of the heap. Others, like Toyota, see an opening to gain ground. Most are grappling with sagging sales and seeing where things land. Given Honda’s decision this week to axe the Prologue, it’s only EV in the U.S., it’s clear the shakeout isn’t over yet.

Contact the author: Tim.Levin@InsideEVs.com