American drivers are struggling to find electric vehicles at a time when fuel prices should make them an easy sell. Gasoline prices jumped from $2.94 per gallon to $4.35 in the three months after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran in late February, yet battery-electric vehicle sales fell 16% compared with the same period in 2025. The gap looks like consumer rejection, but it is actually a supply failure.
Hybrid sales climbed 18% over those same months, partly because hybrids were available. Automakers had been expanding hybrid output for years, and dealerships carried 19% more hybrid stock in March than a year earlier. The EV picture was starkly different. A federal incentive worth up to $7,500 off a new electric vehicle was removed at the end of September 2025, and manufacturers responded by cutting output sharply.
General Motors eliminated more than 3,400 positions across its electric vehicle and battery operations and redirected a Tennessee facility toward grid-level energy storage. Ford absorbed a $19.50 billion write-down on its EV operations, halted the making of the fully electric F-150 Lightning, and repurposed another facility for gasoline-powered trucks. EVs briefly reached 11.30% of new car purchases in September last year as buyers rushed ahead of the credit deadline, then collapsed to 4.30% two months later.
Pricing data from online listings shows what happened once gas prices rose again. Median discounts on new EVs narrowed from 9.8% below the listed price in February to 4.7% by June, reflecting tightening supply rather than soft demand. New electric vehicle inventory fell from around 130 days of supply during the first quarter to 78 days in August. Used prices climbed 13% by late June, and available stock shrank to 31 days’ worth in May, about a quarter below the prior year.
Washington’s policy settings continue to work against a recovery. Rules issued on September 28 loosen fuel-efficiency requirements for gasoline vehicles and phase out a credit-trading system in 2028 that had given manufacturers a financial reason to produce EVs. Government analysis suggests the change saves buyers around $1,289 at purchase but projects they will spend roughly $1,600 more on fuel over the vehicle’s life.
Finding cheaper models from abroad is also blocked by policy. China accounts for roughly three-quarters of global electric car production, and in 2024 buyers there had access to over 130 electric models priced below $40,000. Their American counterparts could find just four. Import duties exceeding 100% on Chinese-manufactured vehicles, a Commerce Department rule barring cars from manufacturers with Chinese ties from model year 2027, and pending legislation blocking Chinese investment in U.S. auto factories mean that gap is unlikely to close any time soon.
Unless the U.S. reverses its current policy trajectory, EV makers like Massimo Group (NASDAQ: MAMO) could face an uphill task growing their sales over the coming years. The implications extend beyond individual companies: a market that once seemed poised for rapid electrification now faces a self-inflicted supply crunch, leaving consumers with fewer choices and higher prices precisely when fuel costs make electric driving most appealing.
