By Issues & Insights Editorial Board | October 10, 2025
October is a month for political surprises, it’s been said. But one turn of events this month was not the least bit shocking. We’ve been following the flameout of the electric vehicle for years. It was quite predictable.
Up until Oct. 1, Americans could reel in generous federal subsidies in exchange for buying an electric vehicle. A new EV or plug-in hybrid pulled down a $7,500 tax credit. A used EV or plug-in got $4,000. Now those subsidies are gone, thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill signed by President Donald Trump on July 4, and EV sales are expected to slip, even “crater,” the experts told one media outlet. Ford grimly said it is anticipating that EV demand will collapse by half this month.
While sales increased during the weeks leading up to the end of the subsidies, as consumers rushed to cash in, the future isn’t so rosy. Karl Brauer, executive analyst with iSeeCars.com, has said the after a mad summer dash – our words – to dealerships “to take advantage of these incentives,” there will be “almost no buyers” in the next three to six months.
Then there’s the September Cars.com consumer survey: more than three-fourths, 78%, of “EV and plug-in hybrid shoppers” said the tax incentive was “a major or contributing role in their decision.”
“EV adoption has stalled at under 10% of new vehicle sales in 2025, well below projections used to set current standards,” reports Advanced Clean Tech News, and is also “far below the Biden administration’s projected path toward 50% market share by 2030,” says the Institute for Energy Research.
It seems that there is a cost to virtue-signaling and for some it’s so high they are unwilling to pay it.
A frosty market is not the only wall EVs ran into this month. Another incentive to buy a battery-operated car was discontinued on Oct. 1: EVs can no longer be driven in carpool lanes with only the driver aboard in the dozen or so states that had allowed that privilege.
Steve Gordon, director of the California Department of Motor Vehicles, expressed his concern that the virtue-signalers behind their EV steering wheels “will pay the price.”
“It’s a lose-lose and we urge the federal government to retain this program,” he added.
Why should the government keep the program? Why is it a “lose-lose” outcome? Because, said Gordon, it “is a great program for climate-conscious Californians.” The state issued more than 1 million Clean Air Vehicle decals “since this program was approved,” he said, “which has helped to foster a change in how we drive,” adding that “Californians are committed to lowering their carbon footprint and these decals helped drivers be good stewards of our highways and environment.”
It’s the same nonsense that was behind the march to EVs: fear of carbon dioxide emissions.
It is an unfounded fear. Carbon dioxide is a trace gas, and human emissions of it “make absolutely no difference one way or another.” To claim it’s a threat is “dangerous nonsense” and even if its atmospheric concentrations were to somehow double or triple, there would be virtually no impact.
But it is a perfect vector for zealots, hucksters and power-hungry politicians.
Issues & Insights was founded by seasoned journalists of the IBD Editorials page. Our mission is to provide timely, fact-based reporting and deeply informed analysis on the news of the day – without fear or favor.
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