daily · Electrification

EIA: U.S. electric vehicle electricity use nears 14 billion kWh in first half of 2026, growth slows to 8%

EIA estimates light-duty electric vehicles used nearly 14 billion kWh in the first half of 2026, 8% more than the second half of 2025, a slower pace than the 13 to 24% growth in recent six-month periods.

By Greener Numbers Editorial Team · Published October 2, 2026 · Updated 10/2/2026

The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that light-duty electric vehicles in the United States consumed 8 percent more electricity in the first six months of 2026 than in the second half of 2025, according to its Today in Energy article published September 30, 2026. That is down from the 13 to 24 percent growth seen in six-month periods in recent years. Electricity use by U.S. light-duty electric vehicles has more than doubled since the first half of 2023 and totaled nearly 14 billion kilowatthours in the first half of 2026.

EIA said the slower growth followed a decline in sales after federal tax credits expired. The New Clean Vehicle Credit and Qualified Commercial Clean Vehicle Credit ended on September 30, 2025. New electric vehicle sales were down 19 percent in the first half of 2026 compared with the second half of 2025. In 2024, the most recent year of available data, electric vehicles were 2 percent of registered light-duty vehicles.

The estimates cover on-road light-duty vehicles weighing 8,500 pounds or less and include both battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. EIA says it does not collect these data on its traditional surveys and instead uses a recently finalized model based on external data sources, published in its Monthly Energy Review and State Energy Data System.

Official source: U.S. Energy Information Administration ↗