The Great American EV Contraction Is Squeezing Out All the Fun Cars

Hyundai’s Ioniq 6 electric car was meant to look out of time. When the Korean brand introduced the EV in 2022 to fill out another numeral in its 1 to 9 Ioniq series, it called the long, curvy car a “streamliner,” a nod to the trains and autos of the 1930s meant to maximize their aerodynamic features. It certainly didn’t look like the indistinguishable tall crossovers that rule American roads.

But now, it’s dead — in America at least. Hyundai announced in March that it would discontinue the 6 in the United States, though its Ioniq 6N performance version, as well as the brand’s more popular Ioniq 5 and giant Ioniq 9, would soldier on.

Ioniq 6 is the latest victim of the big EV contraction. Carmakers that expanded their lineups of electrified cars to meet a new era are hastily whittling away many of those models as America’s EV market struggles to find its footing. Unfortunately, the growing list of disappearing EVs contains some of the fun and quirky models that were set to make our highways more than a little bit more interesting.

Hyundai’s sibling brand, Kia, said it would pause indefinitely the EV6 GT, the souped-up performance edition of its electric compact crossover. The much-ballyhooed Volkswagen ID.Buzz, while not officially canceled, is taking a gap year. VW says the modern, all-electric revival of the classic VW bus will quit production in 2026, as the brand plans to sell the inventory it has on hand while trying to put out a new and better version for 2027. Acura’s first production EV, Chevy’s futuristic delivery van, the electric version of the Dodge Charger muscle car and Land Rover 4x4 — they’re all delayed.

Cars die. Models get old and enthusiasm for them wanes. Sometimes, the audience never materializes the way the carmaker imagined. Markets change and vehicles get left behind. In the case of EVs, automakers prepared for the future promised by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act by announcing aggressive timetables to electrify their lineups and creating an array of new battery-powered models. In the Trump timeline, that future did not arrive.

The result has been an American EV landscape with a short list of clear winners — Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y, the Chevy Equinox EV, Ford Mustang Mach-E, and Hyundai Ioniq 5 make up the top 5 in the U.S. — and also a long list of models that have yet to find a footing. Many sell fewer than 10,000 vehicles annually. A winnowing was due, and that’s perfectly natural in a new and rapidly evolving market like electric cars in America. The unfortunate part is that much of the winnowing we’re seeing now is unnatural, brought on by the Trump administration purposefully squeezing the EV industry, sending automakers fleeing for safety.

Take the Chevy Bolt, among the most jarring cancellations. We published our test drive of the new car just this month, and already its days are numbered. General Motors says it will stop Bolt production in mid-2027, so it can build a Buick gas-powered crossover at the Bolt’s Kansas factory and avoid Trump’s tariffs on the previously built-in-China Buick. Bolt, reminiscent of fun economy cars of old in its size and style, could be a cheeky and affordable option in a world where roiling oil prices make more Americans electric-curious. Barring a surge of interest that changes GM’s mind, it’ll last just a year and a half.

Honda, whose only mass market EV in America was the successful Prologue — an ordinary crossover built on a platform borrowed from GM — was set to introduce a striking 0 Series electric vehicle that doesn’t particularly resemble anything on sale here. Now the Japanese car giant says it will kill that and two other made-in-the-U.S.A. EVs before they even start production. (It also axed the Afeela EV, a promised joint project with Sony.) In so doing, Honda is taking on the same kind of multi-billion-dollar loss as GM and Ford as they retool their businesses to back away from EVs.

One thing remains certain: Electrification is coming to America, no matter how much the current contraction slows down the pace. But if EV sales slow, the market may not be big enough to accommodate niche vehicles that could survive on a slice of a bigger pie. In that way, America’s electric vehicle market could look strikingly like America’s gasoline vehicle market, where crossovers and SUVs have crowded out the other shapes and varieties we used to drive.

Maybe that’s a sign of maturity. At the dawn of this EV era, automakers clearly felt their EVs had to scan as futuristic, fun, and distinct from the gas cars people knew. As they come of age, EVs are getting more ordinary, which might be aesthetically depressing but could also be good news for the climate benefits the country could realize if EVs reach truly mass adoption.

There’s reason for hope that EVs could stay weird. Many of the disruptions listed above are pauses, not outright cancellations. No matter how cool the car may look or how much flamboyant nostalgia an electrified version of the VW bus may inspire, the $60,000 starting price of the ID.Buzz was always going to be a dealbreaker. If production and battery costs come down, it could be a different story for Volkswagen.