The Myth Of EV Carnage: Why The EV Transition Is Accelerating

ICE on the scrap-heap of history

By EVWorld.com Si Editorial Team

Howard Tullman calls it "carnage" He suggests the electric vehicle revolution is collapsing. But the data from recent months tells a very different story: EV sales are not breaking down, they are breaking records.

In the U.S., a new monthly high was set in September 2025 when 168,000 new EVs were registered, pushing EV share to 12.4% of all new car registrations. By October 2025, cumulative EV sales in the United States reached roughly 1.2 million for the year, with Tesla, Hyundai, and GM among the top sellers.

The global picture is even more compelling. Year to date through October 2025, roughly 16.5 million EVs have been sold worldwide, an increase of about 23% compared with 2024. Europe posted particularly strong growth, up roughly 36% year on year, while China sold about 1.3 million EVs in October alone.

Market composition is changing quickly. Tesla's U.S. share has declined from roughly 80% in 2019 to about 38% in 2025. That decline is not a sign of evaporating demand; it is a sign of exploding competition. Hyundai, Kia, BYD and other manufacturers are carving out market share with more affordable, long range models, forcing a far more diverse market to emerge.

Infrastructure is scaling alongside vehicle sales. The U.S. added roughly 12,500 new DC fast chargers in 2024, and public charging networks continued to grow through 2025 despite policy headwinds and logistical challenges.

Yes, used EVs have experienced steeper depreciation than gasoline cars in early ownership windows - studies show five year depreciation rates that can reach as high as 58.8% in some cases. But depreciation is a market dynamic, not an industry death knell. Disruptive technologies often see volatile resale markets in their early years. Smartphones and solar panels experienced similar price and value swings before markets matured.

Calling this phase "carnage" is an overstatement that misses the larger narrative. The real carnage will befall automakers that hesitate, that retreat from aggressive electrification and global competition. If legacy players step back, they risk ceding the future of mobility to manufacturers in China and Europe while consumers continue to embrace EVs.

The evidence is straightforward: consumers are buying EVs in record numbers, infrastructure is expanding, and competition is accelerating innovation and choice. The EV revolution is not collapsing. It is gaining speed. The only wreckage will be companies too timid to keep up.

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