Tesla holds top two EV spots

Tesla still owns the top of the U.S. EV leaderboard. But the more interesting part of this story is lower down the chart. The gap behind Tesla is starting to move, and Toyota — not one of the old EV-first brands — is suddenly the name to watch. That shift matters more because it’s happening in a market that is still soft, not booming. ### What actually leads the market? The leaders are still the familiar two: Tesla’s Model Y and Model 3. Forbes’ latest rundown puts them first and second among America’s best-selling EVs right now, which lines up with the broader picture from Q1 sales data showing Tesla still far ahead of every other EV maker in the U.S. Even after a rough stretch, Tesla’s scale is not really in doubt yet — the fight is over who can become the strongest non-Tesla brand. (forbes.com) ### Why is Toyota the surprise? Because Toyota’s bZ was not supposed to be the breakout EV story in America this year. Yet in Q1 2026, the bZ sold 5,610 units in the U.S., which put it ahead of the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Chevy Equinox EV and made it the best-selling non-Tesla EV nameplate for the quarter. Basically, Toyota found traction with a vehicle that used to look like an afterthought in the company’s lineup. (forbes.com) ### Is the whole EV market growing again? Not really. That’s the catch. Cox Automotive says U.S. EV sales fell 27% year over year in Q1 2026 to 216,399 units, and EV share held at 5.8% of the new-vehicle market — flat versus Q4 2025 and well below the 10.6% peak reached in Q3 2025. So Toyota’s gain is happening in a tougher market, which makes the move look more meaningful. It’s not just surfing a wave. (insideevs.com) ### Why hasn’t Tesla lost control anyway? Because Tesla still operates on a different scale. InsideEVs says General Motors, the No. 2 EV maker by company sales, delivered 25,900 EVs in Q1 — less than one-tenth of Tesla’s total. That tells you the real shape of the market. Tesla may be wobbling at the edges, but no rival has built the same volume machine yet. (coxautoinc.com) ### So is Toyota now a real threat? Yes — but in a specific way. Toyota is not threatening Tesla at the top today. It is threatening everyone else competing for the “best alternative to Tesla” slot. That matters because once a mainstream giant like Toyota starts converting its dealer network, brand familiarity, and pricing muscle into actual EV sales, the middle of the market gets much harder for Hyundai, GM, Ford, and others. (insideevs.com) ### What about Tesla’s other headlines this week? They mostly add noise around the sales story. Tesla also filed a recall tied to a rearview camera image that could appear blank for up to 11 seconds after shifting into reverse on certain vehicles running software version 2026.8.6, though the fix was pushed through an over-the-air update. So the company is still doing Tesla things — dominating sales charts, talking up future bets, and dealing with software-driven recalls at the same time. (insideevs.com) ### Why does this matter beyond one sales chart? Because the U.S. EV market is entering a more normal phase. The easy narrative used to be “Tesla first, everybody else far behind.” Now it’s more like “Tesla first, but the rest of the field is finally reshuffling.” In a flat or declining market, those rank changes tell you who is actually executing. Right now, Tesla still owns the crown. But Toyota’s bZ is the clearest sign that the next layer of the EV race is starting to harden. (static.nhtsa.gov) (forbes.com)