In 2026, electric vehicles are as much a mode of transportation as they are a political Rorschach test. About half the country is pretty cool with the idea. The other half? Well, you’ll have to pry their V8 engines from their cold, dead hands. None of this is doing any favors for EV adoption, but the situation has actually improved in recent years.
A new study suggests that partisan divide is slowly fading. More and more buyers are reaching across the aisle and are open to the idea of EVs being for all drivers. That’s great news for an industry that needs a helping hand now more than ever.
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Welcome back to Critical Materials, your daily roundup for all things electric and tech in the automotive space. Also on deck: Ram’s CEO says EVs “will take over” and Europe offers a China a way out of tariff hell. Let’s jump in.
25%: EVs Are Becoming Less Partisan
A new study from the pro-EV group EVs for All America shows that the political divide hindering EV ownership is shrinking. The nonprofit organization conducted annual surveys of consumer interest in EVs for the last three years and found that Republican resistance to electric cars has eased slightly.
In 2023, a majority of Republican voters (59%) agreed that EVs are “for people who see the world differently” than they do, versus 25% of Democratic voters. By November 2025, only 49% of Republicans agreed, and the percentage of Republican voters who disagreed with the statement rose to 51%. That represents a 20-point net improvement in just two years.
“The fierce partisan polarization over EVs is declining,” Mike Murphy, a longtime Republican political strategist and the group’s CEO, said in a statement on Monday.
Deep skepticism on the right still remains. According to EVs For All America’s latest survey, 48% of Republicans say they will “probably never buy an EV.” Compare that to just 15% of Democrats.
The group argues that early marketing efforts that homed in on EVs being better for the climate had long-lasting ramifications. It recommends that manufacturers focus on electric cars as a better, more efficient powertrain for most drivers—rather than the greener option. “EVs are perceived by GOP consumers not as vehicles, but as statements, particularly on climate policy,” the report said.
It has survey results to back that up: 68% of Republicans agree that climate change is “over-hyped by media and we should worry less about it.” Just 7% of Democrats agree with that statement.
The political divide is particularly apparent in people’s impressions of one brand:Tesla. Of people seriously interested in buying an EV in the next year or so, only 54% have a favorable view of the EV brand. By comparison, Chevrolet and Cadillac have 76% favorability, Mercedes-Benz has 88% and Toyota has 91%.
Unsurprisingly, Tesla CEO Elon Musk is deeply polarizing too. Sixty-seven percent of Republicans agree that Tesla’s CEO is a “good ambassador for EV sales,” while 86% of Democrats disagree. It’s clear that while EVs may be a less tribal issue than they once were, there’s still plenty of work to do.
50%: Ram CEO Says Electrification ‘Will Take Over’ Because It’s ‘Fantastic’
Photo by: Ram
Tim Kuniskis is known as the father of the Dodge Challenger Hellcat and Charger Hellcat, which means that there’s a ton of love for loud and ferocious V8s in his heart. But he also clearly has a soft spot for electrification.
In a recent interview with The Drive, the former Dodge CEO and current Ram top boss described electrification as “fantastic” when it comes to just about everything drivers and enthusiasts want from a powertrain—torque, responsiveness and efficiency, to name just a few. And for those reasons, he believes EVs will still spearhead the future of motoring (even if it takes a bit to get back on track).
Here’s an important snippet from the exec’s interview with The Drive:
On Thursday, in an exclusive one-on-one interview Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis told The Drive, “Electrification is fantastic. And at some point, it will take over, you know?”
Kuniskis compared the transition from gas-powered vehicles to EVs to when gas-powered cars arrived on the scene when people were still getting around via horses. “The internal combustion engine, the car took over for the horse and carriage because it was better,” Kuniskis said.
Now, Kuniskis has made it clear that there’s nothing wrong with consumers wanting the big gas-guzzling V8s that Dodge, Ram and its sister brands are known for. He’s also realistic that eventually regulators, markets and technologies will look in a direction that makes the most sense.
He thinks the auto industry ran too fast and too hard at EVs, but that it’s also fundamentally a good technology. It’s interesting to hear from a guy who’s so associated with power-hungry muscle cars and trucks.
“The industry was transitioning, everybody was out there beating their chest. They were going to transition to 100% electrification, and this, and that, and this, and that. And at the same time, we were forcing a technology into the market,” he told The Drive. “I’m not saying we were forcing a bad technology.”
75%: Europe Offers China A Break On Tariffs
Photo by: Zeekr
Europe has come up with a solution to its Chinese EV problem. Instead of hammering automakers with costly tariffs, the European Commission has announced a framework that could help to balance an influx of imports and fair trade.
The framework would allow automakers of all origins to continue importing vehicles from China, so long as they voluntarily limit how many of the vehicles are brought in annually and agree to minimum prices.
A glimpse into the compromise, from The New York Times:
The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, said it was setting up a procedure for automakers to volunteer limits on the number of electric vehicles they ship from China to Europe. The automakers would also set minimum prices for which they would sell these cars.
Automakers that do limit the number of imported electric vehicles and pledge price floors could be exempt from the anti-subsidy tariffs of up to 35 percent that the European Commission imposed in late 2024 on electric cars from China.
For Europe, this is damage control. It allows the EU to shield domestic automakers from a tidal wave of well-priced foreign cars—while still giving consumers a choice in what they buy. It may also help non-Chinese automakers that import China-made cars to Europe, like Volkswagen.
China isn’t totally satisfied with this solution, though. The country’s Ministry of Commerce argues that automakers and factories should negotiate as a bloc, which could give more negotiating power to the country’s importers as a whole.
Will this prove to be Europe’s solution to Chinese imports? Maybe. The EU tried this before in 2013 with solar panels, The New York Times notes, and its domestic market still succumbed to China’s unstoppable manufacturing force. Whether or not EVs will be any different is TBD.
100%: Do Chinese EVs Have A Place In America?
Photo by: Xiaomi
According to that survey from earlier, 49% of buyers under 44 are open to EVs from Chinese brands, versus just 14% of older buyers. It seems that folks see the tech and price tag and are really interested in what companies like BYD and Xiaomi bring to the table.
Hell, even Ford’s CEO admitted that EVs from overseas are a blast to drive. The only thing holding China back from coming to the U.S. is the U.S. (or so it seems).
So it’s time to ask you: Would you be interested in an EV from China in the U.S.? Which one?
We want your opinion!
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– The InsideEVs team
