Usually, when we tell you something’s sales were down year-over-year, that’s categorically a bad thing, but have you ever considered that might not always be the case? What if past sales have been so dismal that even a slight downturn could be looked at as a positive? That’s exactly what we’re dealing with when it comes to new electric vehicle registrations. They somewhat rebounded in May following a looooong slump that was brought on by the death of the federal tax credit at the hands of President Trump. Buyers have slowly returned to the EV market as automakers pile on incentives.
May 2026 EV registrations were down just 0.7% from the same in 2025 to 98,684 vehicles. That marks the smallest decline in eight months, according to data from Mobility Global. The recovery was driven by the short memories folks seem to have when it comes to Tesla, which enjoyed a 55.2% share of the EV segment — a 12% increase YoY. That being said, it wasn’t the only automaker doing comparatively well. From Automotive News:
Hyundai’s May registrations also rose 27 percent to 6,027, good for second place. Toyota saw a 234 percent jump to 3,867 vehicles, claiming the No. 6 spot among EV brands in May, the data showed.
Overall, battery-electric models captured 7 percent of the light-vehicle market in May, a decline of 0.1 percentage point from a year earlier. The data does not include gasoline-electric hybrids.
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In the January-to-May period, EV share of the light-vehicle market fell to 5.9 percent from 7.3 percent a year earlier as registration volume dropped 23 percent to 392,136 vehicles, the data showed.
Mobility Global forecasts 2026 EV share at 6.8 percent, below 2025’s 7.8 percent and 2024’s 8 percent. Libby expects only “very slow growth” in EV share through the early 2030s.
Industry analysts had expected the EV market to stabilize this year after the wild swings in the second half of 2025, when consumers first rushed to qualify for the EV tax credit, followed by a plunge in demand.
The recovery has been slow but steady. EV registrations fell 41 percent in January from the year-earlier month, 37 percent in February, 25 percent in March and 9.8 percent in April, Mobility Global said.
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Average incentives for new EVs in May were mostly unchanged from a year earlier at $7,611 per vehicle, while the average transaction price fell 4 percent from a year earlier to $54,532, Cox said. Incentives represented 14 percent of the average EV price in May.
The top five automakers in May in terms of EV registrations were Tesla with 54,448 registrations (up 27%), Hyundai with 6,027 registrations (up 27%), Rivian with 4,686 registrations (up 21%), Chevrolet with 4,462 registrations (down 47%) and Cadillac with 4,037 registrations (up 3%).
