Shift: A podcast about mobility · Automotive News

Cox Automotive’s Erin Keating: EV sales drop after the end of the tax credit

November 16, 2025·30 min·5 clips

The episode begins with the hosts' weekly newsroom check-in. Molly Boygon says she has been working on two stories about rare earths. Those stories follow the US-China trade deal announced at the end of the previous month. She notes that the deal was supposed to reduce tariffs in exchange for lifting export restrictions on rare earth metals. The reporting still turns up a lot of uncertainty around how the agreement will actually be carried out. The conversation then shifts to EV sales. Hannah Lutz and Lawrence Iliff speak with Erin Keating, senior director of economic and industry insights at Cox Automotive. They focus on October, the first month without the EV tax credit. The immediate read is simple: sales fell after the September surge. Keating argues that the drop tells less than the broader shape of the market. She says many new-vehicle shoppers are already wealthier buyers, and they care less about the lowest price than about which car they like and want to be seen in. The discussion turns to whether smaller commuter EVs around the $30,000 mark might better match how most people actually use electric vehicles. Keating says that is the better question to ask. She pushes back on the idea that the industry needs an EV that can tow a trailer. In her view, the category still has to win over people who do not even want to try an electric powertrain. Starting with the hardest use case makes that harder. She also says many early EVs were designed to look too spaceship-like. As mainstream brands make EVs that look more familiar, she says, consideration gets easier and the switch feels less abstract. The segment closes on the reminder that cars are a hardware business, and a used EV may be the right option for some buyers.

As heard by us

A sober look at why the October EV dip says more than one lost incentive.

October EV sales and the end of the federal tax credit set the frame, and Erin Keating gives the segment its clearest thread: the drop after September does not tell the whole story.

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Why you'd press play

What happens when the EV tax credit disappears.

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