North American EV sales fall 27.6% through May as the US market resets — Canada and Mexico buck the trend
North America recorded 517,318 EV sales in January–May 2026, down 27.6%. The US contraction (-33.5%) dominates the headline, but Canada (+22.0%) and Mexico (+69.8%) kept growing, and Tesla still accounts for over a third of the region.
EV sales in North America totalled 517,318 units in the first five months of 2026, down 27.6% from a year earlier, according to the evcount Research database. May offered little relief at 114,919 units (-25.6%).
A US story, not a regional one
The contraction is concentrated in the United States, where sales fell 33.5% to 431,735 units. The region's other two markets moved the opposite way:
- Canada — 65,961 units, +22.0%
- Mexico — 19,622 units, +69.8%
Tesla's share grows even as volumes fall
Tesla sold 192,140 units in the region year to date — more than the next five brands combined, and roughly 37% of all North American EV sales. The Model Y (123,203) and Model 3 (54,365) remain the region's two best-selling EVs by a wide margin, with Toyota's bZ4X (23,093) and Hyundai's IONIQ 5 (19,642) leading the chasing pack. Chevrolet's Equinox EV (15,341) and Cadillac's Optiq (8,719) gave GM two entries in the top ten.
The most BEV-heavy region — with a hybrid counterpoint
BEVs made up 85.0% of North American EV sales, the highest share of any region. At the same time, conventional hybrids — tracked separately in the evcount database — outsold plug-in EVs more than two to one at 1,158,791 units, underlining where much of the market's electrified demand currently sits.
North America is finding a new baseline: a smaller but more concentrated EV market in the US, offset by double-digit growth north and south of its borders.
Data through May 2026 · evcount Research database. EV = BEV + PHEV.