Post anything skeptical about US EV adoption on LinkedIn and the counter-argument arrives fast. Europe proves consumers want electric. Americans just haven't figured it out. The Luddite implication is never subtle.
Germany has some data on this.
In December 2023, the German government cut its EV subsidy. Up to €4,500 per buyer, gone. The market voted immediately. Germany's battery EV sales dropped 28% in 2024. Tesla's German sales fell 41%. Market share for battery EVs slid to 13.5%.
That's what "Europe proves consumers want EVs" looks like with the money removed.
The comparison to America comes up whenever the domestic EV story gets uncomfortable. Europe is presented as evidence of organic consumer preference, proof that given a real choice, buyers choose electric. Germany is the third-largest auto market in the world. What Germany had was a government deal, not a consumer conviction. When the deal ended, most of the sales growth went with it.
Norway is the next counter-argument. And Norway is real. 95% of new cars sold in 2025 were electric, a genuine transformation. It also cost 17.5 billion kroner per year in government incentives (approximately $1.6 billion USD annually) for a country of 5.5 million people, plus two decades of VAT exemptions, bus lane access, toll relief, and favorable company car tax treatment. Norway declared mission accomplished in 2025 and started phasing incentives out in 2026, with the threshold dropping progressively through 2028. What the market does next without that support structure is a question nobody has answered yet, because the experiment is just starting.
The EU itself provided the clearest unintentional data point in June 2025 when it passed Regulation 2025/1214, a provision allowing carmakers to average their CO₂ compliance targets over three years rather than meeting annual thresholds. The mandate was real. The targets were set. The OEMs still couldn't hit them on schedule. Brussels extended the deadline because the market was not cooperating.
The Market That Doesn't Lie
No government has managed to subsidize the used car lot. You cannot apply a federal tax credit to a private-party sale. There is no incentive program for a 2022 Bolt at CarMax. The used market is the only place consumers vote with unassisted money.
Used EVs have lost 50–65% of their value over five years on average, with some models shedding closer to 70%. Comparable ICE vehicles have held significantly better. Through 2023–2025, used EV prices dropped sharply as new-car price cuts from Tesla and others created downward pressure across the segment. The gap between what the new-market subsidy structure implied these vehicles were worth and what unassisted buyers were willing to pay is not a rounding error. It is the honest price signal the new-car incentive stack was papering over.
The Chinese Version
The other counter-argument is China. Chinese EV makers are producing competitive vehicles at price points Western OEMs can't match, and the American response has been tariffs. The narrative running through most coverage is that China won EVs and America is behind.
The financial picture is more complicated. NIO reported losses of 15.7 billion yuan in the first nine months of 2025. Xpeng posted a net loss of 1.78 billion yuan in Q1 2026, wider than the 660 million yuan loss it recorded in the same quarter a year earlier. BYD is profitable, genuinely, but it is one company operating in a domestic market where dozens of manufacturers are burning cash in a government-engineered price war. Beijing designated EVs a national industrial priority and funded the ecosystem accordingly. Beijing's version of the European mandate just has better factory capacity behind it.
Battery costs keep falling. Ranges keep improving. The transition will happen on some timeline.
When people say America is behind on EVs, what they mean is that America's government has intervened less aggressively than Europe's or China's. That's a legitimate policy argument. It is not a consumer sentiment argument. Those are different claims. Conflating them has been producing bad forecasts for five years.
The used lot has been making this argument quietly since 2023. Nobody put it in the press release.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Germany's EV sales drop so sharply in 2024?
Germany's battery EV sales dropped 28% in 2024, the first full year after the government ended its subsidy program in December 2023. The subsidy had offered buyers up to €4,500 per vehicle. Tesla's German sales fell 41% in the same period. Market share for battery EVs slid to 13.5%. Consulting firm EY attributed the collapse directly to the abrupt end of state support, noting that uncertainty persisted throughout the year.
Is Norway's EV market proof that consumers prefer electric vehicles?
Norway achieved 95% EV sales in 2025, a genuine market transformation. It was sustained by approximately 17.5 billion kroner per year in government incentives, plus two decades of VAT exemptions, bus lane access, toll relief, and company car tax benefits for a country of 5.5 million people. Norway declared mission accomplished in 2025 and began phasing out incentives starting in 2026. What the market does without that support structure is still an open question.
Are used electric vehicles losing their value faster than gas cars?
Yes. Used EVs have lost 50–65% of their value over five years on average, with some models shedding closer to 70%. Comparable ICE vehicles have held value significantly better. The used market carries no government subsidies, making it the most accurate signal of unassisted consumer demand available.
Are Chinese EV makers like NIO and Xpeng profitable?
Most are not. NIO reported losses of 15.7 billion yuan in the first nine months of 2025. Xpeng posted a net loss of 1.78 billion yuan in Q1 2026, wider than its loss in the same quarter a year earlier. BYD is profitable but operates in a domestic market where dozens of manufacturers are burning cash in a government-engineered price war. Beijing designated EVs a national industrial priority and has subsidized the ecosystem accordingly.
Why did the EU extend its EV compliance deadline for carmakers?
In June 2025, the EU passed Regulation 2025/1214, allowing carmakers to average their CO₂ compliance targets over three years rather than meeting annual thresholds. The extension was granted because OEMs were unable to hit the annual EV sales targets the mandate required. The mandate was real, the targets were set, and the market did not cooperate on the original schedule.
Why are hybrid sales growing while EV adoption slows?
Hybrid vehicles outsold battery EVs in the US by a 2.2-to-1 margin through Q1 2026, a ratio that held for three consecutive quarters. Toyota stopped offering a base ICE powertrain on the RAV4 in 2026. Hybrids address the practical concerns — range, charging infrastructure, upfront cost — that have slowed BEV adoption without requiring buyers to change how they refuel. The hybrid buyer is making a considered decision, not waiting to be persuaded.
