GoKawiilis transportation editor with 10+ years of experience who covers EVs, public transportation, and aviation. His work has appeared in The New York Daily News and City & State.
These past few weeks have been particularly brutal for the EV industry — and anyone who believes that electric vehicles are the future. Thanks to slowing demand and policy whiplashes, automakers are on an EV murder spree, killing a host of promising new models. The EV graveyard grows bigger by the minute.
And unfortunately, as is often the case, much of the focus seems to be on affordable models that had the potential to attract new customers. Meanwhile, ugly EVs that cost too much and do nothing to move the needle on EV adoption continue to darken our highways.
First, the cheap ones whose bodies have not yet gone cold. The Volvo EX30, a fun, quirky crossover that was supposed to start at around $35,000, won’t be getting a 2027 model year in the US. Chevy said it was bringing back the Bolt this year — but apparently only for this year, with GM saying it will only be for a limited 18-month run. And Nissan said it was canceling the affordable, 52kWh entry-level S trim of Leaf in the US and Canada, leaving only the higher trim, 75kWh models available.
None of these vehicles were perfect, but they seem to represent a pattern of automakers doing away with lower priced, lower margin EVs in favor of big, expensive ones. GM couldn’t throw a life preserver to the Chevy Bolt, but it’ll still happily steer you toward the Cadillac Escalade IQ, which starts at around $127,000 and weighs about as much as a small moon.
None of these vehicles were perfect, but they seem to represent a pattern of automakers doing away with lower priced, lower margin EVs in favor of big, expensive ones
Consider the Cybertruck, widely considered to be the most hated car in the world. Cybertruck sales fell 48 percent in 2025, compared to the previous year, according to Kelley Blue Book’s annual electric vehicle sales reports. A more merciful automaker would drive the angular truck out to the desert and put one right between the headlights. But not Elon Musk. He may not have much interest in running a car company anymore, but he seems more than happy to continue to peddle his ugly, dumb truck. Fortunately, there aren’t many takers anymore.
The Cybertruck’s volatile pricing scheme probably isn’t helping much. Tesla recently jacked up the price on the AWD version by 17 percent to $69,990 — 10 days after first introducing the trim at $59,990. Electrek called it one of the “most cynical new trim introductions in the history of the auto industry.”
Not only that, Cybertrucks keep getting vandalized. Long after the anti-Musk protests have died down, people are still finding time to work out their anger issues on Tesla’s worst product. Just yesterday, a 67-year-old woman was arrested in North Carolina for using a board with nails in it to scratch up someone’s Cybertruck. People really hate this car.
In a just world, Musk would declare his mission to make an “apocalypse-proof” vehicle a success, and let the Cybertruck program ride off into the sunset. We all know he’s got it in him; the Model S and X, two other low-selling EVs well past their prime, were recently given the boot. The problem with the Cybertruck is that Musk put too much of his own stock in it, hyping it up as Tesla’s “best-ever” vehicle and the “apotheosis of design and utility.” But when the future of your futuristic vehicle looks as grim as the Cybertruck’s, it’s probably time to throw in the towel.