With gas prices remaining high for most of the year, hybrid cars are selling much faster than their gasoline-powered counterparts, according to new data from Cars.com.
New hybrids sold in about 44 days in September 2026, which is the most recent data available, compared with 75 days for gas-only vehicles, according to the group.
“Hybrid vehicles are leaving dealer lots faster than any other fuel type,” Cars.com said.
The finding is the latest sign that interest in hybrids is rising as the national average for gas has been above $4 per gallon since April, according to AAA.
In the first half of 2026, 22% of shoppers said they would consider a hybrid vehicle, which was up from 20% in 2025, according to Kelley Blue Book. By comparison, only 10% of car shoppers said they would consider buying a fully electric model during the first half of 2026, according to the group.
The USA TODAY Cars team looked at why shoppers are flocking to hybrids and what it means for U.S. automakers and you.
Why Are Shoppers Gravitating to Hybrid Cars?
Surging high gas prices have driven shoppers to consider hybrids.
The average price of gas in the United States on Nov. 5 was $4.10, according to AAA. That’s up from $3.07 a gallon on Nov. 5, 2025.
Cars.com said hybrids now make up 12.2% of new vehicles for sale, up from 11.4% a year ago and 8% two years ago. In 2025, there were 13,929,600 non-plug-in hybrid vehicles and 1,765,700 plug-in hybrid cars registered on U.S. roads, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuel Data Center. By comparison, the agency said 5,689,100 fully electric cars and over 240 million gas vehicles were registered in the nation last year.
Hybrids are becoming more popular because despite the increased gas prices, polls show there is still hesitancy among some drivers about going fully electric.
Car buyers have told pollsters for years that they have major concerns about electric cars’ battery range. The concern has bubbled up so often that it has been dubbed “range anxiety.”
According to a poll released in January 2026 by the EVs for All America group, an advocacy group that works with car manufacturers to push U.S. and state lawmakers to adopt EV-friendly policies, 20% of 600 respondents to a poll intended to survey potential EV buyers in 2025 said their top concern about plug-in models is the charger networks being unreliable.
That’s where hybrids come in. Most regular hybrids get power from regenerative braking, according to Edmunds, so drivers don’t have to worry about hooking up to a charger. Hybrid cars usually run on battery for shorter, low-speed portions of the trip and switch to gas when needed for longer, higher-speed trips. Some hybrid cars can get over 500 miles on a single tank.
How Are Carmakers Reacting to the Shifting Preference for Hybrids?
Carmakers are responding to the uptick in interest in hybrids by cranking them out.
Automakers like Nissan and Volkswagen have announced plans to intro new hybrid versions of some of their most popular SUVs. Others like Kia, Hyundai, Toyota and Honda noted that their hybrid sales have exploded this year as drivers seek fuel-efficient models.
The pivot to hybrid for carmakers was easy in many cases because while several of them cut back on their EV production at the start of President Donald Trump’s administration, the hybrids they were already making became more attractive to consumers as the salience of fuel efficiency increased for car shoppers.
At the start of the second Trump administration, the White House and Republicans in Congress moved to eliminate the popular $7,500 EV tax credit that had been offered by the federal government since the tail end of former President George W. Bush’s administration. Trump also moved to cut funding for electric vehicle chargers that was approved by former President Joe Biden.
Carmakers reacted to shifting headwinds in Washington, DC, by scaling back many plans to introduce new electric models. But automakers that have been marketing hybrids for years, like Honda, Toyota, Hyundai, and Kia, and already had them ready as gas prices surged, have reaped the benefit.
Keith Laing is an automotive reporter on the National Trending Desk at USA TODAY. Contact Keith at [email protected].
Reporting by Keith Laing, USA TODAY / USA TODAY
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
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