The average new EV cost $55,879 in September as discounts shrank to 11%

The average new electric vehicle in the United States cost $55,879 in September, according to Kelley Blue Book, and the discounts that normally soften that price shrank to 11% of the transaction price, the lowest level of 2026. The monthly average rose about 2.4% from August’s downwardly revised $54,574. It is still 3% below the September 2025 figure, a comparison that matters because that month was the last before the federal $7,500 EV tax credit expired.

Electrek’s Michelle Lewis reported the numbers on Oct. 13, 2026, in a piece that framed September as a setback after months in which EVs had been getting cheaper than a year earlier. The year-over-year comparison still favors buyers, but the monthly trend does not.

Smaller discounts, higher sticker prices

The 11% figure is the number to watch. In Electrek’s write-up of the September data, average EV discounts equaled 11% of the transaction price, down from 14.2% in September 2025. At September’s average price, 11% comes to roughly $6,147 per vehicle. A month earlier, Kelley Blue Book had EV incentives at 12% of the price, against 12.2% in July and 14.6% in August 2025, so the slide from last year to this one has been steady and September pushed it a little further.

Shrinking incentives and a rising price tag are different forces, and September had both. Manufacturers and dealers are offering less money off, and the average EV also moved up in price by about $1,300 in a month. Electrek notes that new-vehicle prices overall rose for the fourth straight month, so EVs are not an outlier. In August the industry average crossed $50,000 for the first time in 2026, reaching $50,089 in Kelley Blue Book’s August report, with industry incentives at 6.5% of the price.

The revision itself is a small lesson in how these averages move. Kelley Blue Book’s August report originally put the EV average at $54,813, down 1.2% from July and 2.7% from a year earlier, and the number was later cut to $54,574. Against the original reading, September’s increase is about $1,066 rather than $1,305, or roughly 1.9% rather than 2.4%. Either way the direction is the same, and it ends a run of monthly declines that had made 2026 look like the year EVs finally got cheaper.

The EV premium over gas cars in Kelley Blue Book data

The gap between EVs and comparable gas models has narrowed sharply. Kelley Blue Book put the EV premium over conventional-plus-hybrid pricing at 11% in September, a level it has hovered near all year after nearly 18% in 2025. The August report had the premium at 9.4%, down from more than 16% a year earlier, with the average EV costing about $4,700 more than the average new vehicle, according to Electrek’s coverage of the August data.

Erin Keating, an executive analyst at Cox Automotive, the parent of Kelley Blue Book, said in the August report that the continued strong growth of subcompact SUVs shows how important affordability remains in the market. That comment concerned the industry as a whole and not EVs specifically, but it frames September’s data: when discounts shrink, buyers lean toward cheaper models, and the EV segment has fewer inexpensive options to offer.

Tesla, Cybertruck and who still pays full price

Tesla’s pricing carries a large weight in the EV average. Its September average transaction price was $54,345, up 3.3% from August and up 0.4% from a year earlier, and the Model 3 and Model Y together made up nearly 97% of its sales. The Model 3 averaged $53,804 and the Model Y $53,052. Nearly 1,500 Cybertrucks sold at an average of $98,109, which pulls the total up for every other brand.

Some makers are leaning on rebates to move cars. Electrek pointed to a Polestar 4 offer of up to $25,000 off an MSRP of $56,400 to $57,800, valid through Nov. 2, though that figure comes from the article’s own reporting and not from Kelley Blue Book. A cheaper example is the Chevrolet Blazer EV, which now starts at $46,795 for the LT, about $9,000 below the September EV average, though a starting MSRP and a transaction price are not the same measure.

A year earlier the picture was different. Kelley Blue Book’s September 2025 report covered a month in which the overall new-vehicle price crossed $50,000 for the first time, and EV buyers were rushing to claim the credit before it ended. September 2026 is the first September in which no credit was available, and an average price of $55,879 with only 11% discounting is what that market looks like: prices 3% lower than a year ago, but with the buyer incentives that were holding them down receding. For shoppers the practical consequence is that the best EV deals now depend heavily on the brand: Polestar is advertising a large rebate, while the industry-wide pool of discounts is thinner. The next monthly reading from Kelley Blue Book will show whether September was a blip or the start of a firmer market.

This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.

More from Morning Overview