- EV registrations saw “abnormal” growth in December 2024.
- Analysts suspect this was driven by “fear” that the EV tax credit would be gutted.
- Bolstered EV sales could continue into 2025—until the tax credit is repealed.
If there’s one thing that’s enough to convince an American to buy an EV, it’s a big fat tax credit—for now at least. It turns out that U.S. car buyers came out in full force post-election, surging the registration of new EVs by 25% in December according to new data from S&P Global Mobility.
Maybe it was end-of-year incentives that convinced buyers to go out and nab a new car. Or maybe—just maybe—buyers were scrambling to make sure that they got a slice of that sweet $7,500 EV tax credit before then-President-elect Donald Trump could kill the incentive as promised.
Photo by: InsideEVs
Brands across the board were up, with Tesla taking the lead. In fact, the all-electric behemoth raked in a massive 65,455 registrations in December. And while that’s certainly a lot of EVs to move (especially considering the lead over other automakers), it wasn’t enough to pull Tesla out of its very first year-over-year sales decline. In fact, Tesla lost 10 percentage points of market share versus 2024, landing at 45.4% for December.
Domestic players like Ford and Chevrolet made some big moves, albeit still scrapping for second and third place behind Tesla. For Ford, this was fueled largely by the Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning. Meanwhile Chevy broke 10,000 units, largely thanks to the Equinox EV which had 6,375 registrations.
Perhaps a big GM-adjacent surprise was the Equinox’s distant cousin, the Honda Prologue. The Ultium-powered crossover managed to capture 7,583 registrations by itself, solidifying a solid third place for Honda.
Between the Equinox and the Prologue, it’s a solid sign that buyers, given the right pricing and enough options, are happy to make the jump to electrification. In other words, when EVs are built and priced for the mass market, people will buy them.
Despite the EV hype, the overall EV market grew just 11% in 2024. December’s total EV market share was a mere 9.9%. That’s nothing to scoff at, but far from where automakers wanted EVs to be by this time.
Ed Kim, president of AutoPacific, confirmed to Automotive News that December’s registration numbers were “abnormal,” noting that the “fear and expectation of losing the tax credit” boosted EV sales on top of standard year-end deals.
Analysts suspect that hybrids are eating into the market share that BEVs would otherwise fill. Honda and Toyota, for example, succeeded in flooding that market space. Consumers get the benefits of better fuel economy without range anxiety and at a lower price, so it’s easy to see where an influx of hybrids could slow the rise of the EV.
“I think it’s understandable that hybrids are hurting EVs,” said S&P Global Mobility analyst Tom Libby. He later continued: “There’s so much discussion about how EVs have slowed down—and they have—but they certainly have not stopped growing. EVs are alive, and they’re kicking.”
Hybrids aren’t all rainbows and butterflies, though. Andy Palmer, the former CEO of Aston Martin, once called hybrids “a road to hell” in the EV race against China. Yes, they’re a better option for the consumer right now, but as the rest of the world pushes forward with EVs, it could result in U.S. automakers finding themselves at a disadvantage later on when facing off against other global brands.
All of that said, with the fear of the EV tax credit being abolished, analysts expect that EV sales will continue to see a boost throughout 2025. That boost is expected to last until the credit is eliminated—if the credit is eliminated, that is.
For buyers, this should serve as a potential last chance to grab incentives while they’re still on the table. Automakers can only throw so much cash on the hood of their cars to make them more attractive to the average buyer without the tax credit.
