Tesla sold an estimated 144,094 electric vehicles in the United States in the third quarter of 2026, taking 54% of the entire American EV market, according to Kelley Blue Book estimates published by Cox Automotive. The figure was down 19.7% from 179,525 a year earlier, but Tesla’s share grew from about 41% in the third quarter of 2025 to 54% this quarter, and it holds 52.9% of the market for the year so far, with 386,194 units sold.
Rivian was the surprise of the quarter, moving into second place among EV brands with 19,239 sales, up 45.7% from 13,201 a year earlier. Toyota followed with 12,904, up 328% from 3,015, then Cadillac with 12,358, Hyundai with 12,185 and Chevrolet with 10,031. Total US EV sales for the quarter were an estimated 262,649, down 39.5% from 434,279 a year earlier, when buyers rushed to claim the $7,500 federal tax credit before it expired on September 30, 2025.
Model Y still rules the road
Tesla’s Model Y remained America’s best-selling EV at 99,037 units in the quarter, followed by the Model 3 at 40,346. The Cybertruck sold 4,323, while the Model S and Model X managed just 215 and 173 respectively. The Hyundai IONIQ 5 was the third-best-selling EV overall at 10,382 units.
A smaller, more concentrated market
Electric vehicles made up 6.4% of new-vehicle sales in the US in the third quarter, up from 5.8% in the second quarter, Cox Automotive said. The year-on-year decline looks dramatic, but it is measured against a tax-credit rush that will not repeat. Through nine months, 729,869 EVs have been sold in the US, down 29.9% from the same stretch of 2025. Every figure here is a Kelley Blue Book estimate, not a government registration count.
The contrast with Europe could not be sharper. Germany’s EV share hit a record 37.0% in October 2026, according to Netz-Trends, driven partly by Chinese brands such as BYD, Leapmotor and Xpeng — none of which can currently be sold as passenger cars in the US because of tariffs. BYD alone added 5,173 new registrations in Germany in the month, up 54.3% year on year. The American market, by contrast, is consolidating around Tesla, which now holds more than half of all EV sales, while the overall EV share of 6.4% remains a fraction of Germany’s. The two markets are moving in opposite directions, and the gap is widening.
