Hybrid vehicles accounted for 16% of new U.S. light-duty vehicle sales in the third quarter of 2026, according to an Energy Information Administration analysis released October 19. Hybrids continued gaining market share even as battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles lost ground compared with a year earlier.

Using Omdia estimates, EIA put battery-electric vehicles at 6% of quarterly sales, down from 10% in the third quarter of 2025. Plug-in hybrids fell from 1.8% to 0.7%. The combined share of those categories and conventional hybrids was approximately 23%, compared with 24% a year earlier.

The technologies have different energy implications. Conventional hybrids use liquid fuel and do not plug into the electricity grid. Battery-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids can draw power from the grid. Combining all three categories can conceal changes in the balance between gasoline and electricity demand.

Federal credits for qualifying new electric-vehicle purchases and commercial leases expired September 30, 2025. EIA discusses the subsequent sales pattern, but quarterly sales are not the same as the composition of all registered vehicles. Replacing the existing fleet takes substantially longer than one sales quarter.