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USsales of new electric vehicles have cratered since late last year after hitting an all-time high in 2025’s third quarter, when federal rebates ended. And industry forecaster Cox Automotive expects the segment to drop 28% in this year’s first quarter from a year ago.

So with gasoline prices continuing to spike as President Trump’s war with Iran grinds on, up more than a $1 in the past month to a nationwide average of $4, will the slump end? Maybe, but not right away. That’s because even though fueling a car with electricity is cheaper than buying gasoline, the average price of new EVs remains above the internal combustion variety by about $6,000.

Still, more Americans are at least starting to look at them.

“Electrified vehicle consideration remains elevated compared to earlier in March, before the recent run-up in gas prices tied to geopolitical tensions,” said Jessica Caldwell, chief analyst for car-shopping site Edmunds. But higher prices will “need to be sustained or more pronounced to drive a meaningful shift. Right now, many consumers appear to view the latest spike as temporary,” she said.

EVs are also just too pricey for most shoppers, who also have concerns about easy access to charging, according to Cox. While new, affordable models like GM’s revived Bolt, starting at $29,000 and Nissan’s revamped $30,000 Leaf will be attractive to some, there are still too few options below the current median new vehicle price of $49,000. Meanwhile, the U.S. market is overloaded with pricey, premium electrics selling for well over $60,000. That space is being thinned out, however, with Tesla killing off its high-end Model S and X and Honda and Sony axing their $100,000 Afeela luxury sedan just as it was about to go on sale in California.

It remains to be seen if new EV sales can start growing again, but the used market is already on track to rise 12% in the first quarter, according to Cox. That’s certainly what Alex Krafcik, who worked for Tesla’s used vehicle operations and now has his own store, Surplus EV, in Pasadena, California, is seeing.

“Can’t do a year-over-year [comparison] since I opened at the end of May 2025, but month to month I’m turning inventory more than twice as fast,” he told Forbes. “I’m seeing used EVs sell at auction for thousands over the recommended wholesale price, so I don’t think it’s just me either.”

At this year’s Forbes Under 30 Summit (April 19–22 in Phoenix), we’re focusing on one question:

What does it take to deploy and scale........

© Forbes