It’s interesting – a lesson in free market economics – that the number of new EVs being sold is cratering in tandem with the disappearance of the “incentives” that were used to create an artificial market for them.
Automotive News reports that EV registrations “plunged” in February and that all told the EVs now constitute less than 5 percent of what is for the first time in a long time actually a market (more or less) again.
The EV push – just the right word – began around 2012, which was the first year for the Tesla S, followed the next year by the Model 3. These were not just the first mass-market (to use the word loosely) Teslas, they were also the first from-the-ground-up EVs made by Tesla. The first Tesla – the roadster – being a Lotus sports car converted to be an EV.
Tesla, at this time, pretty much had the “market” for EVs to itself because pretty much everything else on four wheels at this time was not an EV. Because – at the time – there was no real market demand for EVs. The “demand” had to be created.
And was.
“Tesla” became a functional synonym for “EV” – and it would take several years before Tesla had any meaningful EV “competition.” This “competition” was, curiously enough pushed onto the market by a combination of mechanisms that stymied actual market forces.
The first of these was the government’s de facto EV mandate, which didn’t actually mandate that the other car companies had to manufacturer EVs but did require them to comply with regulations that could only be complied-with by manufacturing EVs. This was the technique used by the government to make it appear there was a “market” for EVs because – look! – it’s not just Tesla that’s making them! It must be market demand for EVs!
In fact, other car companies began to make EVs because they effectively had to. Selling them (at a profit) was of course another matter.
They also figured it’d be cheaper to malinvest in their own EVs than to pay Tesla – which was the other option. Tesla benefitted – Tesla profited – hugely from the federal government’s carbon credit regime. This regime effectively forced other vehicle manufacturers to buy “credit” for the “carbon” that was not being emitted (at the tailpipe) by Tesla’s “zero emissions” EVs. These “credits” could then be used to offset the “carbon” emissions of the vehicles with engines they were selling. In effect, the government used its big stick to punish the other car companies for not manufacturing EVs by forcing them to subsidize the manufacturing of Tesla’s EVs.
It is not going too far to say that Tesla was financed by the industry it sought to destroy.
It was a policy modeled on the Jewel Wasp, which is a creature that paralyzes another insect, then lays its egg on the victim. The Jewel Wasp’s larvae slowly consumes the victim alive and then flies away from the sucked-dry husk. (Elon Musk is an even more adroit grifter than Trump; it is no accident the two teamed up for the 2024 grift that led to where we are now. Note, also, that Elon is moving on to other grifts now that his Tesla grift has sucked everything dry that could be sucked dry.)
These were subtle interventions that most people – not being aware of the goings-on – did not see. They just saw a sudden interest in EVs, as if there were all-of-a-sudden a “market” for them. It felt like almost overnight every other car company was promising to “electrify” everything it made. But it was not on account of market demand. It was on account of government demands. Especially the expected ramping up of federal regs to such a degree that it would be impossible to continue making vehicles with engines, because nothing with an engine could comply with them. That is why so many new EVs are appearing at just the moment when it is obvious the actual market for them is diminishing. These new EVs were commissioned – just like a new ship for the Navy – several years ago, because it takes time to design and build a new vehicle, just as it does a new ship. They assumption was that conditions today would be in tune with what they were several years ago. But conditions have changed.
The new EVs that are being delivered to dealers are very much of a piece with the new battleships that were authorized a few years before Pearl Harbor made it obvious battleships were obsolete. By the time the new battleships were finally ready, the “market” for them no longer existed.
Now that the artificial inducements have been removed, the market is re-asserting itself. Put another way, there has never been much of an actual market for EVs. If the government doesn’t bring back the artificial inducements, it is likely the EV “fleet” will dwindle down to around 3 percent of the market; i.e., it will be a niche market. There are some very affluent people who can afford to own a Rivian or something similar – and can also afford to own something else, so they’re not tethered to the Rivian. There are also some people who might be interested in a sub-$15k or so EV “city” car, such as the Chinese make (that Americans aren’t allowed to buy). But the vast in-between doesn’t want to be tethered to a cord or to the payments (and depreciation) that come along for the ride when you buy an EV.
Things have come fill circle, almost. It could serve as a useful lesson in market economics – if anyone’s interested in learning about that!
. . .
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And then there’s this: the $5 Million Rolls-Royce Nightingale:
https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/article/rolls-royce-nightingale-is-a-5-million-limited-edition-ev-and-its-already-sold-out-193250036.html
Some people got too much money and no sense.
Guy at work with a Telsa is moving. Part of his move is to take out his home charger and have it installed in his new place.
His new place being a townhouse, he can’t install it outside. As we all know, charging inside can be a risky business.
When I move, I don’t have to pay extra to have a gas pump installed.
“This regime effectively forced other vehicle manufacturers to buy “credit” for the “carbon” that was not being emitted (at the tailpipe) by Tesla’s “zero emissions” EVs. These “credits” could then be used to offset the “carbon” emissions of the vehicles with engines they were selling. In effect, the government used its big stick to punish the other car companies for not manufacturing EVs by forcing them to subsidize the manufacturing of Tesla’s EVs.”
Reading that, the way you spell it out, made me wonder whether there’s any chance we may have reached peak stupid yet.
But then I read elsewhere about the ‘trans woman’ who now decided ‘she’ was happier when ‘she’ was a ‘he’, and now wants taxpayer compensation for pain and suffering caused by his/her/its/xes own decisions.
And that brings home the fact that Einstein was correct, and human stupidity truly is the one infinite commodity.
Morning, John!
The corruption is now so chronic that it has become obviously stupid – to intelligent people. Then again, Musk isn’t stupid – and he became a billionaire by leveraging these chronically stupid regs, which makes him smart. But also a smart grifter. He is the archetype of modern “capitalism.”
I don’t think it was so much the incentives. More like: Everyone who was all hyped-up on the environmental virtue-signaling, and the “cool” factor of having the latest high-tech gizmo, has already gotten one; and now that the reality of living with such ridiculous vehicles has become common knowledge, there is little demand. A one-time tax break hardly makes up for the expenses and inconveniences of EV ownership, so that demand is likely never coming back- which leaves a tiny market segment of die-hard greenies who can both afford the toys, and who are willing to live with the inconveniences and depreciation and all.
That segment is tiny- and as their ranks are thinned by them being carted off to the poor-house (Due to the economy; their debt-fueled lifestyle, and poor decisions) or to the loony-bin, the segment becomes even tinier.
The EV push was all about destroying the auto industry, and it has set in motion and has largely accomplished it’s goals.
“I don’t think it was so much the incentives.”
Perhaps not so much in the US, but when you look at countries like Norway, where deliberate government carrot & stick (taxes & incentives) policies have pushed prices of ICE cars to well over those of EVs, AND the EVs can access city centers without paying, AND there are free charges AND parking for them, and so on and so on, you can see why allegedly over 90% of new cars sold there toward the end of 2025 were battery-powered ones. Even though the cool Scandinavian climate makes them less usable than they would be in, say, Spain.
Similarly, in the UK, where this year there will be fines to automakers equivalent to up to $20,000 per ICE vehicle sold above the 33% minimum EV proportion of all fleet sales, PLUS huge incentives to companies, both in cash and tax benefits, PLUS lots of other things, and you can again see why this has pushed their ‘market’ to 22% or so of all new cars sold.
As Eric says, it’s not really a market, but then again, there are no market societies left anywhere in the West. It’s all fascism-lite now, gradually morphing to the real thing.
With a digital flavor this time around.
Good points, John. I think too, that in Europe and the UK, people are also more highly indoctrinated than even the libtards here are. The incentives you mentioned coupled with the more advanced acceptance of the environmental religion means that there is much less resistance to the BS there…and add to that the fact that it is MUCH more expensive and restrictive to drive ANY vehicle in those places (Old cars are effectively outlawed for daily use)…..
When I used to post on automotive forums that had some members from those places, I was amazed at how they all would defend 12K-20K mile oil changes! “More frequent oil changes are just a waste of money and oil! I change the oil in my Benz at the manufacturer’s recommended 15K km. intervals, and I got over 100K kilometers out of my Benzes!” (Yeah….brag that you waste money and resources buying a an expensive new car every few years and wear it out in a few years. Talk about not seeing the forest for the trees!_
Yes. Inconvenience and outrageous over priced crap to a human. Virtue signal opportunity and snob bragging material to a filthy rich fuk.
To each his own.
If you can stomach ars technica (tho it’s good for a laugh):
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/04/us-jobs-too-important-to-risk-chinese-car-imports-says-ford-ceo/
Eric wrote, “they were the first from the-ground-up EVs”.
It should read, “they were the first from the ground up EVs”.
I’m all about “sustainability”, buddy.
Sadly we seem to be stuck with hybrids now that can be best described by the old English saying : “Neither fish nor fowl nor good red meat”.
A lady shopper at the locally owned market here in Oregon was asking a clerk why the only flavor of dog food on their shelf was chicken? No beef. IOW “WHERES THE BEEF”. I let clerk spew its corpo mamby pamby, turned red, then shamelessly interrupted when the lady mentioned that her dog is ALLERGIC to chicken.
I said “ENUF kid, everbuddy knows in libtard land beef bad” Then I asked it “how do those deli workers in back wash their hands when the ICE COLD water in both locked restrooms only comes out by the drop?”
Silence
This libtard shits now obsolete and headed back to where traitor and psycho are gonna end up soon.
Want to sample some real brain damage? Check out this April 30 seminar sponsored by Gavin Newsom’s little EeeVee think tank, Veloz:
‘Here’s what you’ll walk away with:
‘Where ultra-fast charging hubs are being built and how network operators are educating a new generation of first-time EV drivers on charge speed and time
‘How to guard against overbuilding or underbuilding the nation’s public fast charging network to successfully serve any driver who needs opportunity charging
‘Emerging trends in en-route charging for battery electric buses: pantograph charging, wireless solutions, and megawatt charging stations
‘What it takes to communicate charging speed to drivers purchasing new EVs with bigger batteries — and those who will soon take advantage of older-generation used EVs about to flood the U.S. market‘ — source: April 16 email
Have you taken advantage of ‘opportunity charging,’ comrade? Has charging speed been ‘communicated’ to you? Have you been ‘educated’ about charging speed? If not, then sign up today to be lectured like a clueless moron. 🙂
Yeah, those used EV’s about to flood the market will demonstrate how completely useless they are once the suckers that buy them find out how much it will cost to replace that worn out battery.
‘It is not going too far to say that Tesla was financed by the industry it sought to destroy.’ — eric
Now this cockamamie model has been extended to entire countries:
‘It is not going too far to say that
TeslaIsrael was financed by theindustrycountry it sought to destroy.’ That is, Uncle Sucker — the USA.Israel’s puppet Trump is now doing to the US what OPEC did to it in 1973 — blockading its imports, and tariffing those that do get through the blockade.
Yet the goyim cattle have barely started to moo, though they are nervously huddled together awaiting their fate: han-bah-gahhhh, as they say in Japan. 🙁