President Trump began chipping away at the Biden administration’s electric-vehicle mandates immediately upon retaking office in 2025. Since then, the federal government has rolled back emissions regulations targeting vehicles, and Republicans ended the $7,500 consumer tax credit for new EVs last year. 

Among the laundry list of objectives Democrats could pursue to reclaim climate policies lost to Trump’s “Unleashing American Energy” agenda, should they regain control over Congress in next week's midterm elections, is a revival of the EV tax credit. 

Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., introduced legislation in March that would bring back clean energy and EV incentives, and more than 160 House Democrats have signed onto the bill. 

The Biden administration had expected that once prodded into an electric car, Americans would leave behind gas-powered engines. Instead, polls have shown declining interest. Sales of EVs climbed, reaching a record in the third quarter of 2025 – right before the tax credit ended – and have been a fraction of the previous years ever since, according to Cox Automotive. 

While some Democrats want to see the credit returned, others are questioning whether trying to restore them would be worth the effort, considering the electorate hasn’t warmed to EVs the way the Biden administration expected it would. 

Uncertainty and challenges

Rep. Mike Levin, D-Calif., told Politico that he believes ending the credit was “the wrong decision” and that it has ultimately harmed the Trump administration and the American automotive industry. 

Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper said fellow Democrats made “unbelievable progress” in pushing EV adoption from 2020 to 2024, but he said how much momentum was achieved needs to be assessed. 

Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., told Politico that she also has reservations, saying she’s open to reviving the tax credit but that such a plan would need “a comprehensive strategy.” 

While sales climbed throughout the time the EV tax credit was in place, favorable attitudes declined. 

A Pew Research Center poll in April found that only 32% of U.S. adults were very or somewhat likely to consider buying an electric car, down slightly from the previous year and down from 42% in 2022, which was the highest since the polling firm has been asking the question. 

Challenging Trump’s energy policies wouldn’t likely spur EV adoption, S&P Global Energy CERA analysts concluded in a September report. Legislation restoring Biden’s emissions regulations or the tax credit would need to be acceptable to Trump or have enough congressional support to override his veto. 

Likely configurations of the next Congress project Democrats will have too few seats to secure the 60 Senate votes usually required to end a filibuster or the two-thirds majorities in both chambers needed to override a veto, the S&P analysts reported. 

Consumer attitudes 

Still, high gas prices could result in a resurgence of EV sales. 

An Associated Press–NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll last month found that 55% of Democrats and 25% of Republicans were at least somewhat likely to purchase one.

Of those polled, 74% cited savings on fuel costs as the main reason to buy an EV, which was up from 68% last year. 

However, 80% of respondents said that the cost of a new EV is the main barrier to buying one, followed by the lack of range, 72%, and taking too long to charge, 69%. Many respondents, 64%, simply prefer a gas-engine vehicle. 

Following the end of the EV tax credit in the third quarter of 2025, EV sales dropped to half what they were in the following quarter, and they’ve steadily increased every quarter of this year, including the third quarter of 2026, when Americans were really feeling the pain at the pump. At that point, they were still lower than they were in the first quarter of 2023, according to Cox Automotive. 

“With federal incentives gone, the first quarter reflected a necessary reset – sales slowed and market share shifted," Stephanie Valdez Streaty, director of insights for Cox, said recently. "What comes next will be driven less by policy and more by fundamentals: more affordable products, smarter pricing strategies, and continued investment in infrastructure.” 

S&P Global Energy CERA lowered its medium-term EV outlook following the end of the tax credit, but it still expects adoption to increase, albeit more slowly than during the Biden years. 

Consumers are increasingly buying gas-powered hybrid vehicles, which don’t need to be charged. Following the repeal of the tax credit, sales of both EV and plug-in hybrids dropped, but sales of hybrid electric vehicles, which don’t have a charging plug, increased from around 13% of all new car sales to 16%, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. 

However, nationally, 7.4% of all new passenger car and light truck registrations in 2025 were for electric vehicles. That was down from a record 8% of light vehicle registrations in 2024, according to S&P Global Mobility. 

Democrats may decide not to waste time on legislation to reestablish the EV tax credit and instead let EV adoption play out according to consumer choice, but if so, gas-powered vehicles will continue to dominate U.S. roads for years to come.