America’s cheapest electric car is now $28,995 — and the list of affordable EVs has been rewritten by the end of the $7,500 federal tax credit. The federal $7,500 electric-vehicle credit ended for vehicles acquired after September 30, 2025, and the cheapest EVs on sale now carry no credit at all. The cheapest is the Slate Truck, at $26,400, according to MotorTrend — although Slate is a new startup truck, not yet widely delivered, so that price should be read as a list price for a vehicle most buyers cannot yet drive home. The cheapest EV from an established maker is the 2027 Chevrolet Bolt LT, at $28,995 including destination — $27,600 plus a $1,395 destination charge — with 262 miles of range on the US EPA cycle and 150 kW fast charging, according to MotorTrend, KBB and Cars.com. MotorTrend notes the Bolt “will disappear again soon”, although that is commentary rather than a confirmed end date.
The rest of the list
The 2026 Nissan Leaf S+ is $29,990 before destination, or $31,485 including destination, according to Edmunds — a difference that comes down to whether the destination charge is counted, so shoppers should compare like with like. It offers 303 miles of range on the S+ trim. The Kia EV3 is $31,385, the Hyundai Kona Electric is about $32,975 to $34,470, the Toyota bZ is $36,350 to $36,575, the Chevrolet Equinox EV is $34,995 to $36,795 with 319 miles of range, and the Tesla Model 3 Standard is $38,630 with 321 miles of range, according to MotorTrend and Edmunds. Sources disagree by $1,000 to $2,000 by list and date, so this post follows one list — MotorTrend and Edmunds — consistently, and does not mix prices from different lists. The context is a US electric market that has stabilised rather than recovered: about 239,000 new battery-electric cars were sold in the third quarter of 2026, about 6% of the market, according to Cox Automotive and Kelley Blue Book. Ford’s electric sales fell 80.2% in the third quarter, to 6,047, while Rivian’s rose 45%.
What to check before buying
Shoppers should check whether the price quoted includes destination — the Leaf’s $29,990 and $31,485 are the same car, priced two ways — and whether the car is actually in stock, because the cheapest EVs are also the ones most likely to sell out. Hyundai has cut Ioniq 5 prices by thousands to offset the lost credit, and the Bolt at $28,995 is the car to beat for buyers who want the cheapest electric car from a maker with a dealer network. For buyers, the message is that the cheapest EV is now about $29,000 with no credit — and the cheapest way into an electric car is no longer a subsidised Tesla, but a small Chevrolet or Nissan.
Related: BYD recorded 490,000 EV sales in October as exports doubled.
