EV Sales Tumble for First Time in 14 Months – and Tesla’s to Blame

After a first-quarter surge, EV registrations took a sudden tumble in April, the first fall in more than a year, according to industry data. The dip came despite a strong showing by several brands, including General Motors. The primary reason for the downturn as slowing demand by the giant in the battery-sector, Tesla. More from Headlight.News.

New EV registrations fell 4.4% in April, marking the first monthly decline in 14 months, according data compiled by S&P Global Mobility.

The downturn saw EVs decline to a 6.6% share of new U.S. vehicle registrations, down from 7.4% a year earlier.

EV sales growth has been slowing since late 2023 after surging 800% over the prior four years. But April’s downturn was largely the result of the problems facing on brand in particular: Tesla.

What happened

Since many automakers no longer report sales on a monthly basis, analysts now track the EV market by using state registration data. According to S&P, a total of 97,833 battery-electric vehicles were registered across the country in April, a 4.4% decline from the year earlier when approximately 102,000 were registered.

By contract, the overall light vehicle market saw a gain of 7.2% for the month, to nearly 1.5 million.

For the first four months of 2025, EV registrations were still up by 11%, to 405,529 vehicles, the market share climbing 0.3 points to 7.4%.

Ups-and-downs

Of the 35 brands selling EVs tracked by S&P, slightly more than half, 18 in all, saw registrations decline in April. But most of those were minor players. The now bankrupt Fisker saw 25 of its Ocean EVs registered in April 2025, down 9$% from last year. Jaguar i-Pace registrations came to just 43, down 85% year-over-year.

On a percentage basis, Tesla was down just 16% to 39,913 registrations, but that had a major impact on the overall segment since it outsold its closest competitor, Chevrolet, by a roughly 9:2 ratio.

Chevy delivered 9,160 battery-electric vehicles in April, a 215% year-over-year increase. Sibling brand Cadillac gained 104%, GMC’s EV registrations rising 152%. As Headlight.News reported earlier this week, parent General Motors’ EV sales more than doubled for the first five months of this year – in part due to the launch of new products and increased availability of EVs that were on sale a year earlier.

On a percentage basis, Honda had the biggest increase in registrations for April 2025, its Prologue model gaining 2,359% — though that accounted for just 1,918 vehicles.

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Tesla tumbles

Tesla’s weak performance appears due to a variety of factors, according to S&P and other analysts. Increased competition clearly hasn’t helped, nor has the failure of the Tesla Cybertruck to come close to the automaker’s originally bullish expectations.

While it’s difficult to say precisely how much of an impact it’s had, said Sam Abuelsamid, CEO Elon Musk also hurt Tesla’s market standing. There’s been a significant backlash to the executive’s shift to the political far right, said the lead analyst at Telemetry Research, especially since he signed on with the Trump administration as head of its Department of Government Efficiency.

Musk officially left that role last month to refocus on his businesses, including Tesla and SpaceX, but there are few signs that critics have eased up on a boycott of the automaker’s EVs. And while demand fell by low double-digits in the U.S., Tesla sales have dropped by about half in Europe in recent months. It’s also taken a sharp fall in China, which had been its largest market.

Decreasing consumer interest

The weak EV showing in April comes amidst decreasing interest, on the whole, among American car buyers. A new AAA study found barely one in six potential customers saying they were “Likely” or “Very Likely” to buy an EV when next trading in. The number was mor than twice as high among those saying it would be “Unlikely” or “Very Unlikely.”

Analysts point to a variety of obstacles to adoption, including range anxiety, pricing and public charging. On the whole, range has actually been increasing with the latest generation of EVs, most offering at least one trim package delivering around 300 miles or more. Meanwhile, the number of lower-cost products has been expanding, the base version of the new Chevy Equinox EV coming in under $30,000, for example. But the average EV still went for more than $50,000 in April, reported Cox Automotive.

There’s also been a significant increase in the number of public charging stations available this year. But the Trump administration has moved to withdraw government backing for the nationwide rollout. The White House could further impede EV growth if it follows up with plans to end tax credits of up to $7,500 for EV purchases, analysts warn.