By Christopher Otts

American car buyers anxious about rising gas prices will find that many electric vehicles are as cheap as they have ever been -- even without Uncle Sam's help.

While the end of the federal $7,500 tax credit caused EV sales to plummet last year, rising fuel prices amid the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran could change the equation, car buyers and industry analysts say. Searches for EVs, as well as fuel-saving hybrids, have risen in recent weeks, according to car-shopping website Edmunds.

Those buyers are realizing that the recent slowdown in EV sales is playing to their advantage.

"You can get heavily discounted deals on every-level EV we have," said dealership owner Ryan Rohrman, whose 20 Midwest stores include Honda, Hyundai, Kia and Toyota. "If it fits your lifestyle, it makes sense all day long just because of the rebates that are out there."

Some buyers took notice even before gas prices started soaring.

Craig Norton, a 33-year-old sales engineer in Orange County, Calif., thought he might have missed the chance to snag a deeply discounted EV when the $7,500 federal incentive expired.

But a few weeks ago, Norton scored what he called "an impossible deal" on a 2026 Chevrolet Equinox EV. He paid $23,991, plus $3,579 in sales taxes and mandated fees, for a vehicle that originally had a sticker price of $48,269.

Norton was elated to get an electric SUV that could drive up to 300 miles on a charge -- including one with features he's never had, like cooled seats -- for the price of an entry-level sedan.

"It just feels like a nicely optioned, loaded car. The tech is fantastic, " he said.

Many automakers seized on the EV downturn to prioritize more profitable gas models. Even if EV demand may be on the rise right now, however, it has hardly outpaced supply, said Kevin Roberts, head of market intelligence at car-shopping site CarGurus. "There's probably still too many new EVs out on lots as dealers try to rebalance things," he said.

For now, automakers and dealers are offering deep discounts on electric cars, while watching to see if higher fuel prices stoke longer-term renewed interest in them.

General Motors finance chief Paul Jacobson said Wednesday that gas prices haven't dented demand for the automaker's full-size trucks and SUVs. Past oil shocks have taken months to affect consumer preferences for vehicles, he said.

Gas-price swings aside, many buyers say they are just after a great deal on a car that would've been more expensive otherwise.

In Norton's case, GM pitched in just shy of $10,000 on his Equinox EV purchase. The automaker has been offering about $8,000 to $9,000 in support for each Equinox EV sale its dealers complete in the last couple of months, and sometimes more.

Car dealers are often pairing these savings with their own discounts. Norton, for example, had already worked out a deep price reduction when the dealer sweetened the pot. An Equinox EV with $5,000 of options was available at no additional charge, as long as Norton took it home that day and accepted a color his wife didn't love, "Riptide Metallic Blue."

"I'm just stoked about the deal," Norton said.

A GM spokesman said the company's lineup of EVs -- including the Equinox EV, the bestselling non-Tesla EV in the U.S. -- attracted 100,000 customers to the company's brands in 2025. The company is comfortable with its inventory of Equinox EVs, and its special offers on EV sales are below the industry average, he added.

Tesla, which accounts for more than half of EVs sold in the U.S., doesn't use factory-funded incentives like traditional automakers. It sets its own prices by selling directly to consumers without independent dealers.

Price-conscious Tesla buyers have a few more options than they did last year. Discounts can range from about $1,400 for the Model 3 sedan and $940 for the Model Y SUV, according to TeslaTracker, a site that pulls data from Tesla's website. Tesla also introduced pared-down, lower-priced versions of those vehicles last year.

Kia is offering up to $18,300 in financial support for leases of its EV6, said Matthew Phillips, a dealer with three Kia stores in the Los Angeles area. Toyota is offering $5,000 off its electric bZ. Hyundai, after slashing prices on its 2026 model-year EVs, has recently offered an additional $10,000 off EVs such as the Ioniq 5 with financing through its lending arm.

Tanner Rohnke, a 29-year-old web developer in Fort Collins, Colo., wasn't ready to move on from his 1998 Jeep Wrangler last fall, so he didn't jump on the $7,500 credit before it expired.

In February, the Hyundai offer changed his mind. Using the $10,000 factory discount, Rohnke squeezed a Loveland, Colo., dealer for another few thousand dollars off an Ioniq 5 Limited with a sticker price of $51,300.

"I pretty much said, 'If you can make the car's price $38,500, I'll buy it today,'" Rohnke said.

Write to Christopher Otts at christopher.otts@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 21, 2026 20:00 ET (00:00 GMT)

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