KBB Says Average New-EV Price Fell to $54,813 — 9.4% Above the Overall New-Car Average

Kelley Blue Book estimates the average transaction price for a new electric vehicle in the U.S. fell to $54,813 in August, down 1.2% from its current July comparison and 2.7% from a year earlier. The broader new-vehicle market moved in the other direction: KBB's overall average transaction price rose to $50,089, up 0.5% from July and 1.9% year over year.¹

That puts KBB's average EV measure 9.4% above the overall new-car average, down from more than 16% in August 2025.¹ The comparison is between two market-wide averages, not matched EV and gasoline models. Aggregate transaction-price measures can move with the mix of vehicles and trims being sold, so the August figures do not establish that a comparable individual EV is 9.4% more expensive than a comparable combustion vehicle.¹

The narrower gap also does not mean EV discounts have disappeared. KBB estimates EV incentive spending at 12% of average transaction price in August, down from 14.6% a year earlier but still well above the 6.5% incentive rate for the overall new-vehicle market.¹ The release does not establish how much of the EV price movement came from discounting, model mix, manufacturer price changes or another factor.¹

The July comparison changed

KBB's current month-over-month figures do not fully reconcile with the EV values it published for July on Aug. 11. That earlier release put July's EV average transaction price at $56,126 and EV incentive spending at 11.8% of ATP.² A move from $56,126 to $54,813 is about a 2.3% decline, rather than the 1.2% decline in KBB's Sept. 10 release; the newer release also describes July EV incentives as 12.2%.¹²

The two releases therefore indicate that KBB's July comparison values were revised or are represented differently in the newer release. The reviewed public materials do not explain why.¹²

KBB has been describing a shrinking aggregate gap for months. In March, its February report put the average EV transaction price at $55,300 and said the spread between EV and ICE+ averages was roughly $6,500, one of the lowest on record at that point.³ The new development is the August reading and its 9.4% market-wide premium, not the first appearance of a convergence trend.

Tesla remains an important part of KBB's aggregate EV measure. KBB estimates Tesla's August average transaction price at $52,616, down 2.4% from July and 3.4% from a year earlier, and says Tesla's U.S. EV market share gives its pricing substantial influence on the overall EV average.¹ KBB does not quantify how much of August's EV average-price decline came from Tesla, so the data does not support assigning Tesla a specific share of the move.¹

Sources

Footnotes

1. Kelley Blue Book Report: Average New-Vehicle Transaction Price Moves Back Above $50,000 in August — Kelley Blue Book / Cox Automotive, distributed by PR Newswire, Sept. 10, 2026. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kelley-blue-book-report-average-new-vehicle-transaction-price-moves-back-above-50-000-in-august-302875631.html — Originating proprietary market-data release for the August ATP, EV premium, incentive and Tesla figures; aggregate estimates can reflect market mix and the public release does not reproduce transaction-level methodology. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

2. Kelley Blue Book Report: New-Vehicle Prices Trend Higher in July as Incentives Decline and Sales Pace Slows — Kelley Blue Book / Cox Automotive, Aug. 11, 2026. https://mediaroom.kbb.com/2026-08-11-Kelley-Blue-Book-Report-New-Vehicle-Prices-Trend-Higher-in-July-as-Incentives-Decline-and-Sales-Pace-Slows — Establishes the as-published July EV ATP and incentive share used for the cross-release comparison; later comparison values appear revised or differently represented. ↩ ↩² ↩³

3. Kelley Blue Book Report: New-Vehicle Price Gains Accelerate in February as Transaction Prices Increase 3.4% Year Over Year — Kelley Blue Book / Cox Automotive, March 10, 2026. https://mediaroom.kbb.com/2026-03-10-Kelley-Blue-Book-Report-New-Vehicle-Price-Gains-Accelerate-in-February-as-Transaction-Prices-Increase-3-4-Year-Over-Year — Historical KBB estimate showing it had already described a shrinking aggregate EV/ICE+ price spread earlier in 2026. ↩