US EV sales rose 6.1% on the previous quarter to almost 263,000, their highest in a year, against more than 437,000 in the same quarter of 2025. Europe registered 277,006 electric cars in July alone.
American electric car sales rose 6.1% on the previous quarter, their best in a year. They were still about 40% down on a year earlier, and Europe registered more electric cars in July alone.
Cox Automotive put the quarter at almost 263,000 against more than 437,000 a year before, in figures reported by InsideEVs. The improvement is on the second quarter, not on 2025.
Last year’s number was a rush. The federal tax credit was being scrapped, buyers moved early, and the third quarter of 2025 set a record that will not be matched soon.
Stephanie Valdez Streaty, Cox’s director of industry insights, said the market is finding its footing and that the reset phase is largely behind it.
Europe’s single month was bigger than America’s quarter. July brought 277,006 electric cars across the EU, the UK and the EFTA states, a 51% rise and a 25% share, on Dataforce figures.
The two trends have one cause, read from opposite ends. America paid buyers and stopped. Europe obliges manufacturers.
EU battery-electric sales reached 1.64 million in the first eight months, up 45%, with 16 models priced under €25,000 due on sale by the end of the year.
A fleet-average rule makes a cheap electric car a compliance requirement. A consumer rebate makes it a promotion, and promotions end.
America’s bright spots were product rather than policy. Toyota sold five times as many electric cars as a year earlier, Lexus grew similarly and Rivian rose 46%, while GM’s Equinox EV fell 92.4%.
Cox’s analyst also credited petrol above $4 a gallon, which does not travel. The American average was $4.41 that quarter, against an EU weighted average of €2.092 a litre, about $8.95 a gallon.
The other difference is who is selling. Chinese brands took a record 10.9% of the European market in June, on 150,272 registrations, more than double a year earlier.
Europe’s rules are being rewritten even so. Parliament’s rapporteur would soften the 2035 target to a 90% cut, which campaigners model as cutting sales of the cheapest models by about three quarters by 2030.
The carmaker worst hit in America is German. Volkswagen’s US electric sales fell 90% in a quarter.