Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility, your hub for all things “future of transportation.” To get this in your inbox, sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility!
More than a month ago, I asked you, dear reader, how you thought EV sales would play out once the $7,500 federal tax credit expired on September 30. The majority of those who responded to the poll predicted that EV sales would fall off a cliff.
Now, it’s too early to tell yet; we are just a few days past the end of the quarter. But the expiring tax credit did give many automakers a bit of a sales bump as consumers raced to buy EVs before the deadline.
Tesla, which has seen sales growth diminish, just registered its best quarter of deliveries ever at 497,099 vehicles. That’s a massive 29% jump from the second quarter, about a 7% increase over the same period last year, and more than it has ever delivered in a single quarter.
Ford Motor, General Motors, and Hyundai also reported record quarterly sales of EVs. Rivian saw deliveries jump to 13,201 vehicles, up from 10,661 and 8,640 in the second and first quarters, respectively.
The looming question is how will automakers navigate a possible slowdown in EV sales in this post-tax credit era? Rivian has already adjusted its guidance down for 2025. Others may follow.
The crux for automakers is how to get rid of inventory as the new 2026 models come in without reducing or eliminating profit margins (and in some cases deepening the losses)?
Techcrunch event
San Francisco
|
October 27-29, 2025
A little bird
Image Credits:Bryce Durbin
The Department of Energy canceled 321 clean energy projects but wasn’t sharing the details with TechCrunch or the public. Luckily, a little bird shared the complete list of awards the Trump administration had canceled, and the results were revealing.
Altogether, the canceled awards totaled $7.56 billion, with California bearing the brunt, losing $2.2 billion worth of grants, including a $630 million grid-modernization program that could have become a template for t …