- Chevrolet, Ford and Hyundai were the best-selling non-Tesla EV manufacturers in the U.S. last year.
- Americans are slowly turning away from Tesla, which recorded a 7% drop in sales in 2025.
- This was great news for cars like the Honda Prologue and Chevrolet Equinox EV, which saw their numbers skyrocket.
Everyone expected the American electric car market to disintegrate after the discontinuation of the $7,500 federal tax credit on September 30, but that didn’t happen.
Things were rough in the fourth quarter, the first full quarter of sales without the tax credit, with overall EV sales going down 36% compared to the same period in 2024, but the overall EV market went down by just 2%, according to estimates from Cox Automotive.
The jury is still out on what’s going to happen this year, but it’s fair to say that EV buyers in the United States are slowly moving away from Tesla. Don’t get me wrong, the company is still the biggest name in town, with the Model Y crossover alone selling more units last year than the top 10 non-Tesla EVs combined, but the Elon Musk-led manufacturer slipped 7% compared to 2024.
Other legacy carmakers were also hit hard last year, with some brands recording drops as high as 54%, but not all companies are equal. Volvo, Cadillac, Volkswagen, Chevrolet and Audi bucked the trend and charged ahead with upticks in sales as high as 96%, according to Cox Automotive.
All this being said, let’s take a look at what American EV buyers who didn’t want to put another Tesla on the road chose from the growing selection of battery-powered cars available stateside.
Top 10 best-selling non-Tesla EVs in the United States in 2025
Data from Cox Automotive
1. Chevrolet Equinox EV: 57,945
Chevy’s entry-level electric crossover is billed as “America’s most affordable 315+ mile range EV,” and that surely had a big part in the car’s impressive uptick in sales. Starting from $36,795, the Equinox EV sold 57,984 units in the U.S. last year, double compared to 2024.
2. Ford Mustang Mach-E: 51,620
The Mustang Mach-E is still going strong, even though the American automaker has made minimal changes to its best-selling EV. The electric crossover’s numbers stayed steady last year, with 51,620 units sold, a decrease of just 0.2% compared to 2024.
3. Hyundai Ioniq 5: 47,039
The American-made electric crossover convinced more buyers last year than in 2024, despite posting a steep 57.8% drop in sales in the fourth quarter. Hyundai sold 47,039 Ioniq 5s stateside, up 5.9% from 2024.
4. Honda Prologue: 39,194
Another year, another surprise appearance from the Honda Prologue. The Prologue was developed alongside the Acura ZDX using the same platform that underpins the Chevy Blazer, but the Honda-badged crossover outsold its Acura cousin by a huge margin last year, reaching 39,194 deliveries–up 18.7% compared to 2024.
By comparison, the Acura ZDX, which was discontinued right before the Trump administration pulled the plug on the $7,500 tax credit, sold 12,005 units in 2025.
5. Ford F-150 Lightning: 27,307
The Lightning–may it rest in peace–was America’s best-selling electric pickup truck last year, but it wasn’t enough to convince Ford to keep making it. With 27,307 sales last year, the F-150 Lightning declined 18.5% year-over-year and was ultimately canceled.
6. Rivian R1S: 24,852
Rivian’s hopes of becoming a big name in the auto industry are more dependent than ever on the upcoming R2 SUV, as last year’s sales numbers were anything but spectacular. The American startup’s overall sales went down 18.2%, and its best-seller, the R1S SUV, found 24,852 new customers–down 7.7% from 2024.
7. Chevrolet Blazer EV: 22,637
Chevy’s electric Blazer had modest success last year, with more customers probably leaning toward the more affordable Equinox EV. Starting from $46,495, the Chevrolet Blazer EV sold 22,637 units last year, a small 2.1% decline compared to 2024.
8. Volkswagen ID.4: 22,373
The German company’s only American-made electric car, the ID.4 still manages to bring in decent sales numbers, even after five years on sale without major changes. The crossover is in for a big update soon, but even as it stands now, it got into the top 10 with 22,373 sales last year, up 31.4% from 2024.
9. Cadillac Lyriq: 20,971
The Lyriq had a great year in 2024, but the luxury EV’s momentum has slowed down in 2025. With 20,9761 sales, the Lyriq barely made it into the top 10–last year, the American electric crossover sold 28,402 models, but Cadillac couldn’t replicate these numbers in 2025.
10. BMW i4: 20,114
The i4 sedan was by far BMW’s best-selling EV last year in the United States, but things could be completely different at the end of 2026, as the German company is gearing up to launch the completely revamped iX3 crossover and i3 sedan.
Until that happens, though, BMW’s best contender is the i4, which finished 2025 with 20,114 sales stateside, a 14.1% decrease over 2024.
Competition is great, and it’s good to see that legacy automakers’ efforts to come up with solid alternatives to Tesla’s aging lineup of EVs haven’t gone unnoticed. That said, Tesla is still the undisputed leader in the American EV segment, with the Model Y alone outselling all the cars I wrote about here.
So, for comparison’s sake, here are Tesla’s sales numbers for 2025, according to Cox Automotive.
The best-selling Tesla EVs in the United States in 2025:
Data from Cox Automotive
1. Tesla Model Y 357,528
2. Tesla Model 3: 192,440
3. Tesla Cybertruck: 20,237
4. Tesla Model X: 13,066
5. Tesla Model S: 5,889
I, for one, am eager to see what 2026 will bring in the EV space. Despite last year's mixed results in the U.S., companies are gearing up to launch several exciting new models, and I'm all for it.
