President Donald Trump eliminated the once-popular $7,500 tax credit for electric vehicle buyers in the United States over a year ago, and signs now point to some clear winners and losers of that decision.
That tax credit, which was first adopted during former President George W. Bush’s administration in 2008 to help spur EV adoption, was eliminated on Sept. 30, 2025, by a law passed by Republicans in Congress and signed immediately by Trump.
EV sales have plummeted since then, although a spike in gas prices this year has led to a bit of a renaissance for plug-in models in 2026. The elimination of the EV tax credits has had impacts on other parts of the industry too: Carmakers canceled production on several low-selling electric models that they could no longer market with the big discount, and they have also revived some popular gas-guzzlers.
What Changed for Car Shoppers
Additionally, as consumers sought fuel efficient models in the wake of average gas prices rising above $4 per gallon, hybrid vehicles saw a big uptick in interest as carmakers who were moving away from EVs pitched those to gas price-conscious consumers.
Carmakers have sold over 12 million new cars so far in 2026, similar to their pace in the first nine months of 2025, according to Cox Automotive. Only about 6% of those new car sales this year have been electric cars, which was down from nearly 10% last year, although used EV sales are up in recent months, according to the group.
With that in mind, the USA TODAY Cars team compiled a list of the top winners and losers of Trump’s decision to cut EV tax credits.
Winners Include Tesla, Foreign Automakers
1. Tesla
First half of 2026 EV sales: 242,100
Best-selling EV model this year: Tesla Model Y
Why they’re a winner: Tesla had a 10-year headstart as the main U.S. electric car maker, with its shoppers having access to federal tax credits since the discount was first created under former President George W. Bush’s administration. Even now, with company CEO Elon Musk taking political positions that riled some of Tesla’s supporters, Tesla sells over 50% of the EVs that are on U.S. roads today. But as more of their competitors are coming online with new electric models, the $7,500 discount is gone.
2. Toyota
First half of 2026 EV sales: 21,855
Best-selling EV model this year: Toyota bZ
Why they’re a winner: Toyota faced criticism from environmental groups for their decision to keep relying on hybrids instead of full electric vehicles, even when the federal government was pumping out EV tax credits under former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden. The end result is the company had a lineup full of hybrids ready to go this year as car shoppers pivoted to those cars as gas prices spiked due to the Iran war. Toyota also successfully pushed back on an effort under the Biden administration to give extra EV tax credits to Detroit carmakers, and the company has announced three new electric models.
3. Hyundai
First half of 2026 EV sales: 26,936
Best-selling EV model this year: Hyundai Ioniq 5
Why they’re a winner: Like Toyota, Hyundai also had several hybrids in their lineup that were able to market to fuel-efficiency hungry car shoppers who didn’t want to go fully electric. Hyundai also has several fully electric models that they have marketed to people who are open to plug-in models, so they have multiple options in both categories.
4. Kia
First half of 2026 EV sales: 12,627
Best-selling EV model this year: Kia EV9
Why they’re a winner: Like its South Korean-sibling brand, Kia also has several hybrids in their lineup that were already on the market. Also, like Hyundai, Kia has several fully electric models that they have marketed to people who are open to plug-in models even without the federal discount.
Losers Include Detroit Automakers, Volkswagen
1. General Motors
First half of 2026 EV sales: 56,679
Best-selling EV model this year: Chevrolet Equinox EV
Why they’re a loser: GM touts that it is the nation’s second-largest EV seller, behind only Tesla. The company’s CEO, Mary Barra, said during a recent appearance on Fortune’s “Titans” podcast that her company is still committed to a future of developing mostly electric vehicles, although that appears now to be much further off than most of the industry’s initial projections were.
“I don’t think it’s shifted our mission,” Barra said in an interview. “We still think EVs are the endgame.” GM’s EV sales in the first half of 2026 were solid compared to competitors. But, unlike Tesla, which built their dominant EV presence with help from the federal tax credit, GM now faces a future where car shoppers aren’t going to be incentivized by the federal government to buy EVs for the foreseeable future. GM sold more than 78,000 EVs in the first half of 2025, when tax credits were still available. But this year with no tax credits, their EV sales fell below 57,000.
2. Ford
First half of 2026 EV sales: 16,606
Best-selling EV model this year: Ford Mustang Mach-E
Why they’re a loser: Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a July 2026 interview with USA TODAY that his company’s new $30,000 Fathom electric pickup truck would be its most important car of the future. But the Dearborn automaker also announced plans this year to transition its F-150 Lightning pickup, which was once seen as game changing EV, from a fully electric car to a type of hybrid car known as an Extended Range Electric Vehicle (EREV). So the company now enters the next phase of the EV transition without an electric version of its signature pickup.
3. Volkswagen
First half of 2026 EV sales: 3,768
Best-selling EV model this year: Volkswagen ID.4
Why they’re a loser: After years of heavily investing in electric cars, in part because of a decade-old settlement with the federal government over diesel emission cheating, Volkswagen announced earlier this year that was ending production of its U.S.-built ID.4 electric crossover, which was its most popular domestic EV and the only VW model that saw an increase in U.S. sales in 2025. The company has said it plans to introduce a successor electric vehicle for the United States and it introduced a ID.3 Neo that it said it would begin selling this year in “Germany and many European markets.” But as more shoppers are considering EV amid rising gas prices, Volkswagen’s only domestic electric car now is the ID. Buzz minivan. Even hybrid versions of its most popular SUVs are years away.
Keith Laing is an automotive reporter on the National Trending Desk at USA TODAY. Contact Keith at [email protected].
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