There’s a lot of crowing in certain quarters about the 2% decline in U.S. electric vehicle sales in 2025 compared to the year before. Francis Menton, the lawyer who writes the Manhattan Contrarian blog, for instance, claims vindication for his prediction in February 2023 that electric vehicles would not “sweep the country and become the dominant form of transportation.”

The reasoning behind his forecast: “It is always wise to bet against central planning of the economy.” In this case, central planning amounted to state CO₂ emissions goals, CAFE mileage requirements, and federal and state tax subsidies. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act ended the $7,500 tax credit for EV purchases, and President Trump, on Dec. 3, issued an order to roll back CAFE standards “to levels at which combustion vehicles can comply.”

Like Menton, I don’t like central planning. Nor do I support mileage standards or subsidies. Americans have proven in the past that the best route to prosperity and health is free competition without government meddling. Unfortunately, that is not what we have anymore.

Our own government is denying Americans the opportunity to buy the cars of their choice by imposing huge tariffs on low-priced electric vehicles, which are pouring into the rest of the world.

EV sales in the U.S. are languishing for many reasons, including a lack of charging stations, but the biggest problem is cost. Our EVs are absurdly expensive. Competition from China, India, and perhaps even Mexico would help bring down prices—and make U.S. EV makers more efficient.

In the rest of the world, EV sales are booming, up 21% through November compared to last year. In all, sales of cars and trucks powered by electricity will reach 20 million by year-end. In 2020, global sales were just 3 million.

One of the biggest changes is the advent of inexpensive Chinese-built EVs, which carry a special 100% U.S. tariff, initially imposed by Joe Biden in 2024 and extended under Donald Trump. These EVs are effectively barred from the U.S. market, the world’s second-largest (after China itself). Nevertheless, China sells 62% of the world’s EVs and 71% of global EV batteries.

The European Union also has high tariffs on Chinese EVs (43%), but the UK does not. As a result, the British are rushing to buy electrics like those offered by BYD in its more than 100 retail outlets across the country. BYD, now the world’s largest EV maker, is selling 10 times as many cars in the UK as it did last year. Total EV sales in the UK have jumped 25% this year, and 22.7% of vehicles registered in the country in 2025 are fully electric, compared with a little less than 10% in the U.S.

BYD is building EVs 25% more cheaply than Western competitors. The company has a broad lineup, but what’s happening in the UK and around the world is that the EV is no longer a rich person’s novelty. The small BYD Dolphin Surf has a list price of 18,650 British pounds, or $25,129. The company’s Seagull starts at under $8,000 in China. Meanwhile, Mexico is promising to build a line of economy EVs that will debut next year and cost $4,400 to $7,400 U.S. dollars.

Electric cars and trucks have far fewer moving parts than vehicles powered by internal combustion engines, and they are cheaper to build and operate. “The battery, motor, and associated electronics require little to no regular maintenance,” says the U.S. Department of Energy. And EVs have instantaneous torque, that is, maximum power from the starting line, so even a large vehicle like GM’s Hummer EV can go from zero to 60 in just three seconds. They are fun to drive.

Nations concerned about climate change have been subsidizing EVs, but the economics have changed, and subsidies are no longer necessary to get people to buy electric. We see the same phenomenon in electricity generation at utility plants. Because of technological innovation, solar and wind, with battery backup, have become the cheapest and fastest way to add power to the grid—without subsidies. This is not about climate-change ideology.

My own conclusion is that, because of economics and the driving pleasure they provide, EVs are the future. But I could be wrong. To find out, let’s drop the subsidies and the tariffs and leave the choice of cars and trucks to consumers themselves.

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James K. Glassman served as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs in the George W. Bush Administration. He was also formerly a fellow in economics and technology at the American Enterprise Institute. Long ago, he was the car columnist for The Washingtonian magazine. 

This article was originally published by RealClearEnergy and made available via RealClearWire.