Why car buyers are shifting back to combustion, delaying EVs and hybrids

Interest in electric and hybrid cars has clearly cooled, and combustion models are reclaiming ground. Reuters, citing a study by consulting firm EY, reports that roughly half of shoppers planning to buy a new or used car in the next 24 months intend to pick an internal-combustion model. Over the past year, that share grew by 13 percentage points.

At the same time, appetite for EVs slid by 10 percentage points to 14%, and for hybrids by 5 points to 16%. A telling detail: among those who had been eyeing an electric car, 36% now indicated they were postponing the purchase or rethinking it altogether. Read that as fading near-term confidence rather than a wholesale loss of faith in the technology.

Respondents pointed to geopolitical uncertainty and shifts in government policy. EY notes that electrification is decelerating as regulators recalibrate in key regions. In the United States, CAFE fuel-economy requirements were eased in 2025, giving manufacturers more room to broaden combustion portfolios. Europe is also weighing a softer stance: the planned 2035 ban on new combustion-car sales may end up with carve-outs, including hybrids and models running on synthetic fuel. With the goalposts moving, buyers and carmakers alike appear to be dialing back the pace while they wait for clearer signals.