Americans Still Aren't Buying EVs Despite High Gas Prices

Happy Thursday! It's October 8, 2026, and this is The Morning Shift — your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, in one place. This is where you'll find the most important stories that are shaping the way Americans drive and get around.

In this morning's edition we're looking at how the Trump administration has driven EV sales into the ground, while also helping to slow sales on big trucks and luxury SUVs. We'll also look at law exemptions for autonomous tractor trailers, and Polestar's ominous sales. 

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Europe can't get enough EVs, especially as gas prices rise thanks to the dumb war on Iran. In the U.S., though, we're still not buying electric cars even as our wallets hurt. Why not go electric? Well, ask Donald Trump. From Reuters: 

EV sales in the US are down 30.7% this year through ‌September, according to research firm Motor Intelligence, accounting for just 6% of overall sales. That's less than the 8.5% at this time a year ago, when buyers rushed to beat the expiration of a $7,500 federal tax credit.

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In the US, the Trump administration worked with Congress to eliminate support for ​EVs, and watered down fuel-efficiency regulations. High tariffs and a ban on Chinese-made vehicle software have effectively blocked Chinese car brands.

EVs make up 6% of new car sales in the U.S., but 23.2% of sales in Europe — we've dropped off since the expiration of the tax credit (and especially since the rush of buyers looking to get in on credits while they could) but the EU has continued to sell more and more. Our fuel efficiency regulations have been slashed, our EV infrastructure funding has disappeared, and automakers have shut down planned EV products in the U.S. left an right. Thus, far fewer cheap new EVs and less infrastructure, and it's no surprise our buyers are turning towards hybrids and cheaper used EVs. 

There's a lot of talk right now about a "K-shaped economy," where the rich get richer and the broke get broker. But the rich love their big trucks and SUVs, and sales of those vehicles are slowing while crossovers keep flying off dealer lots. What's the deal? From Automotive News: 

"More expensive and less fuel-efficient segments such as full-size pickups, heavy-duty trucks, and luxury full-size and midsize SUVs are seeing their days' supplies move up faster than smaller, more fuel-efficient ones," [analyst Rick] Wainschel said. "Additionally, those larger and less fuel-efficient segments are seeing notable increases in inventory because they are not [selling] as fast as they are being added."

U.S. sales of full-size pickups this year have been a mixed bag. Stellantis' Ram pickup sales are up year over year while the Ford F-series, Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Sierra, and the Toyota Tundra are all down. But lagging sales of heavy-duty pickups — where diesel powertrains predominate — have dragged down results for several models through September.

Not to get all into economic theory here, but F-150s and Silveradoes are beloved by the kids of petit bourgeois Americans who think they're at the top of the K shape. It seems some of them are realizing that they are not, in fact, at the top of the top — the temporarily embarrassed billionaires remain embarrassed. 

Have you ever noticed that tractor trailers on the side of the road always have those reflective triangles behind them? Well, those triangles are legally mandated, which presents a problem for autonomous trucking companies looking to cut those pesky human workers out of the equation. The solution? Get a waiver for the law. From Reuters: 

The US transportation department said late on Wednesday it approved a five-year exemption ​for Aurora and other self-driving trucking companies from rules that ‌require drivers to place warning devices around a stopped truck.

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In 2023, ​Alphabet's self-driving unit Waymo and Aurora jointly sought a waiver of ​US rules requiring reflective triangles to be placed outside stopped trucks ⁠to help prevent crashes.

USDOT said Wednesday it has agreed to allow ​autonomous trucking companies to use warning beacons mounted on the truck cab to ​avoid needing human drivers and said they offered an equivalent or greater level of safety.

I'm one of Jalopnik's more staunch anti-self-driving folks, but even I have to admit that this waiver seems fine. Illuminated beacons on a truck's cab are certainly more visible than reflective triangles, even if they don't cover the whole "trailer" part of the tractor trailer. 

It's the end of an era for Polestar as a U.S. brand. The marque is banned from bringing in 2027 vehicles, and its 2026 inventories are running out on dealer lots. Every sales report from the company is, at least for now, a countdown to its expulsion. From Reuters: 

Polestar is close to selling out its remaining model year 2026 cars in the ​US, CEO Michael Lohscheller told Reuters on Thursday, as the Swedish ‌automaker faces a US ban on selling new vehicles from the next model year.

The company, majority-owned by China's Geely Holding [RIC:RIC:GEELY.UL], posted third-quarter sales volume of 14,371 units, 1% ​higher than 14,222 a year ago.

Here are some details:

* The company sold ​about 2,160 units in the US during the quarter, compared ⁠with 966 last year
* US sales were strong in the quarter "as we are ​now selling the last model year 26 cars," Lohscheller said

RIP Polestar, we hardly knew ye. Or what your whole deal was supposed to be. The performance wing of Volvo, but also the electric wing of Volvo, but also not meaningfully distinct from Volvo on performance, electrification, or design? 

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.

Gas prices are just sitting there. Ominously. Lurking, even. 

It's one of those years.