EV registrations fall in April for first time in 14 months as Tesla slides 16% in U.S.

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New U.S. electric vehicle registrations fell in April for the first time in 14 months as consumers remained cool to the technology despite automaker promotions and the continued availability of the $7,500 federal tax credit, according to S&P Global Mobility.
The 4.4 percent decline in April EV registrations, compared with the same month last year, was the first year-over-year drop since February 2024, S&P Global Mobility said. April's 97,833 EV registrations represented a 6.6 percent share of the light-vehicle market, a significant slide from the 7.4 percent share EVs had a year earlier.
New electric vehicle registrations fell for the first time in more than a year, with market leader Tesla dropping by 16%. Chevrolet solidified its spot as the No. 2 electric brand, more than tripling its EV registrations from April 2024.
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2025 U.S. EVregistrations
Change fromApril 2024
Tesla
39,913
-16%
Chevrolet
9,160
215%
Ford
5,534
-33%
BMW
4,812
8.7%
Hyundai
4,796
-25%
Cadillac
3,829
104%
Nissan
3,316
52%
Rivian
3,109
-30%
Mercedes-Benz
2,392
-19%
Acura
2,315
-
GMC
2,083
152%
Audi
2,042
10%
Honda
1,918
2,359%
Kia
1,714
-68%
Volvo
1,277
263%
Jeep
1,261
-
Porsche
1,146
157%
Toyota
1,083
-77%
Volkswagen
1,006
-46%
Subaru
984
-29%
Dodge
972
-
Lucid
745
-2.7%
Lexus
649
-53%
Polestar
540
105%
Genesis
386
-44%
Mini
336
6.7%
VinFast
179
-54%
Fiat
158
464%
BrightDrop
73
-46%
Jaguar
43
-85%
Rolls-Royce
32
-41%
Fisker
25
-94%
Lotus
2
-
Maserati
2
-
Ram
1
-67%
Source: S&P Global Mobility
The data does not include gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles.
Tesla, the top-selling EV brand, suffered a 16 percent drop in April to 39,913 registrations, the data showed. Every Tesla vehicle lost ground in April except for its least-expensive vehicle, the Model 3 sedan.
In contrast, registrations for all light vehicles regardless of fuel type rose 7.2 percent in April to nearly 1.5 million, S&P Global Mobility said.
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The EV decline was not a surprise, said Tom Libby, an analyst at S&P Global Mobility. Growth in the segment has eased as consumers turn to increasingly available gasoline-electric hybrids that come without the charging hassles of full EVs.
'The increases in the prior months have been weak, so I think there is an ongoing trend of weakening in the EV market,' Libby said. 'We'll have to watch where it goes, but there's a lot of influences working against EVs right now.'
Libby said that in addition to anxiety over charging and range, consumers are seeing media reports that government support for EVs is on the chopping block and automaker investments in the technology are slowing, undermining confidence in a product that doesn't yet have significant organic demand. EVs are often popular at launch when they have strong promotions and fresh looks, then they fade out, he said.
On the positive side, government subsidies and automaker incentives have made EVs more accessible, putting some models near price parity with gasoline or hybrid models in the same segments, Libby said.
From January through April, EV registrations rose 11 percent to 405,529 vehicles. EV share inched up 0.3 percentage points from a year earlier to 7.4 percent of the light-vehicle market.
Registrations serve as a proxy because Tesla doesn't provide U.S. sales numbers and some other automakers don't detail their EV sales.
In April, Tesla Cybertruck pickup registrations fell 23 percent from a year earlier to 1,680 vehicles, S&P Global Mobility said. The Cybertruck, Tesla's newest model, launched in November 2023.
Registrations for Tesla's bestselling Model Y crossover fell 42 percent to 18,978 in April, the data showed. Tesla said April 2 that the switchover to a freshened Model Y led to the loss of several weeks of production in the first quarter.
Tesla began sales of the freshened Model Y with a higher-priced 'launch series.' The lower-priced model only became available for order in early April on Tesla's website.
Chevrolet was the No. 2 EV brand for the month, more than tripling its registrations to 9,160 compared with April last year, S&P Global Mobility said. Chevy's share of the EV segment rose to 9.4 percent in April from just 2.8 percent a year earlier.
The electric Chevrolet Equinox was the No. 3 most popular EV after Tesla's Model Y and Model 3, the data showed. The Equinox EV had 5,424 registrations. Chevy's electric Blazer was No. 6 for EV registrations with 2,662 vehicles.
'They have the Equinox and the Blazer right in the heart of the market and they're really benefiting from that,' Libby said. The Equinox also benefits from its competitive starting price, he added. It starts at $34,995 with shipping.
Ford was the No. 3 electric brand in April with registrations falling 33 percent to 5,534 vehicles, S&P Global Mobility said. Both the Mustang Mach-E crossover and the F-150 Lightning pickup suffered double-digit percentage losses versus a year earlier.
Ford is too reliant on the Mustang Mach-E, its only electric crossover, Libby said.
'If you put aside the pickup, they've only got one model. And they've done a pretty good job up until now, but you can only do so much with one model,' he said.
Ford also sells an electric commercial van, the E-Transit 350, which had 1,245 registrations in April, nearly triple the number a year earlier, the data showed.
Among the top EVs in April, only the Model Y, Model 3 and the Equinox posted more than 5,000 registrations, Libby said. That shows the relative weakness in EV demand.
Hyundai's Ioniq 5 crossover had 3,307 registrations and the BMW i4 sedan had 2,707, the data showed. Other top models were the Nissan Ariya with 2,516 registrations in April and the Acura ZDX with 2,315.
For most electric models, Libby said, there's a demand ceiling preventing them from expanding to mainstream consumers.
'They come into the market and once they get to a certain level, they max out. It appears that level is between 4,000 and 5,000 per month, which is 50,000 to 60,000 per year,' Libby said. 'It appears as if they can only go so far in the current landscape.'
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