Cleaner Tech

Electric Vehicles Make Up 11 Percent of US Car Sales

Electric car sales jumped to a record in the third quarter as US buyers rushed to cash in on federal subsidies that ended last month. 

Chevrolet Equinox electric vehicles (EV) at a Chevrolet dealership in Colma, California.

Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

Americans bought 438,500 electric cars and trucks in the third quarter, as drivers raced to grab federal incentives before they expired Sept. 30.

Those transactions, the highest number in a single quarter, comprised 11% of all new car sales, eclipsing the previous high point of 8.7%, according to Cox Automotive, a services and technology company.