Tesla dominates best-selling EVs in Q3, but there’s one disappointment

Max Headroom 2025.10.14 3 min read

Tesla dominated the sales figures for electric vehicles in the third quarter in the United States, but there was one disappointment: the Cybertruck.

As a whole, the EV industry benefitted from the loss of the $7,500 EV tax credit in Q3, which was something many expected. As the credit expired, consumers rushed to showrooms to take the credit and remove $7,500 from the purchase price of their new vehicle.

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It was a very interesting time for many companies as they scrambled to figure out how to push as many vehicles out the door as they could in preparation for the tax credit’s removal. In typical fashion, Tesla was able to top every manufacturer and secure a dominating portion of the overall market in Q3.

However, some other OEMs pulled out some surprises, including Chevrolet, Honda, and Ford, which managed to get two vehicles in the top 10, as many as Tesla.

Cox Automotive compiled the data in its Q3 Electric Vehicle Sales Report:

Tesla Model Y – 114,897
Tesla Model 3 – 53,857
Chevrolet Equinox EV – 25,085
Hyundai Ioniq 5 – 21,999
Honda Prologue – 20,236
Ford Mustang Mach-E – 20,177
Volkswagen ID.4 – 12,470
Audi Q6 e-tron – 10,299
Ford F-150 Lightning – 10,005
Rivian R1S – 8,184

10.5 percent of the automotive sales in the U.S. in Q3 were electric, a new record that surpasses that of Q3 2024, where the total share of sales for EVs was 8.6 percent.

Now, the disappointment that is evident from this list is the fact that there is no Tesla Cybertruck listed. That’s because it was the second-best-selling EV pickup on the market. The company sold 5,385 Cybertruck units in Q3.

The Cybertruck has been a vehicle that has confused many Tesla fans and owners, especially considering the company had such stratospheric expectations for the vehicle while it was in development. Reservation trackers had the truck sitting between one million and two million orders, but it has not lived up to that.

Pricing is the main issue with Cybertruck. Tesla introduced the pickup with Single, Dual, and Tri-motor configurations, priced at $39,990, $49,990, and $69,990. Those price points are simply a thing of the past.

Tesla Cybertruck was the second-best-selling EV pickup in Q3, Cox Automotive data shows.

It was only outsold by the Ford F-150 Lightning, which sold 10,005 units for the quarter.

Cybertruck had 5,385 sales. pic.twitter.com/Q2gnUbF6bk

— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) October 13, 2025