Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez thought she was on the verge of a massive victory.
But her best laid plans fell apart.
And AOC fought back tears after she got this bad news.
Electric vehicle sales collapse without subsidies
The electric vehicle market ran out of juice the moment Democrats' handouts expired.
After President Donald Trump signed the Big Beautiful Bill Act in July ending the $7,500 EV tax credit effective September 30, sales of battery-powered cars fell off a cliff in October.¹
Hyundai's all-electric lineup plunged 71% month-to-month, with the popular Ioniq 5 down 80%.²
Toyota sold just six of its bZ4X crossovers in October — compared with 1,401 the month before.³
Ford's EV sales dropped 25% year-over-year.⁴
Kia's EV6 sales fell 90% while the EV9 dropped 59%.⁵
The numbers expose what conservatives knew all along — electric vehicles only survived because Democrats propped them up with massive taxpayer subsidies.
Buyers rushed to lock in deals before the September deadline, leaving dealerships with empty lots and a massive sales hangover in October.
Dealership managers told reporters they worked around the clock in September clearing out every electric vehicle before the credit expired.⁶
Tesla sold more cars than it built last quarter — buyers scrambled to purchase before the September 30 deadline.⁷
AOC's signature Green New Deal agenda collapses
This wasn't an accident.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez staked her entire political career on forcing Americans into electric vehicles through her Green New Deal.
AOC's plan called for "overhauling transportation systems" to eliminate pollution from the transportation sector through "zero-emission vehicle infrastructure and manufacturing."⁸
The Green New Deal demanded 100% zero-emission vehicles by 2030 and completely fossil-fuel-free transportation by 2050.⁹
Democrats knew Americans didn't want electric vehicles, so they used the federal government to force them on them.
The Biden-Harris administration finalized EPA rules in March 2024 requiring 67% of new light-duty vehicles to be electric by 2032.¹⁰
That's not a suggestion — that's a mandate forcing automakers to build cars Americans don't want and can't afford.
Democrats created a $7,500 tax credit as part of the so-called Inflation Reduction Act to bribe wealthy coastal elites into buying electric vehicles.¹¹
Hardworking Americans who chose to drive gas-powered cars got stuck subsidizing EV purchases for people who could already afford $50,000 cars.
Electric vehicles comprised just 7% of the U.S. vehicle market in 2023, yet Biden and his radical EPA wanted that number to shoot up to 67% in just eight years.¹²
The moment the subsidies ended, the scam fell apart.
Real Americans reject Democrats' electric vehicle fantasy
Democrats ignored every warning sign about their electric vehicle agenda.
Ed Kim, president of AutoPacific, warned that the impact would hit hardest on affordable EVs meant for entry-level buyers.¹³
The next-generation Nissan Leaf was supposed to start around $30,000 — but without the credit, it loses the price cushion that could have brought it closer to $22,500.¹⁴
Slate, an American-made EV truck brand backed by Jeff Bezos, initially promised a small truck for around $20,000 but industry analysts now expect the price closer to $30,000.¹⁵
For working families already crushed by inflation, that $7,500 gap means the difference between affording a car or not.
Toyota called Biden's rule "a precipitous shift" requiring "an aggressive, sixfold increase over just eight years" and warned about "serious challenges around affordability, charging infrastructure, and supply chain."¹⁶
Hyundai CEO Randy Parker admitted the shift "has temporarily disrupted the market" but tried spinning it as just a temporary setback.¹⁷
Republicans weren't buying Democrats' lies.
Senator Pete Ricketts called Biden's EV mandate "completely delusional" and warned it would result in "higher prices, greater dependence on the Chinese Communist Party, and less choice for consumers."¹⁸
Senator John Barrasso ripped the administration for "trying to force every American to buy an electric car" and noted that 80% of the world's electric batteries come from Communist China.¹⁹
Even Democrat Senator Joe Manchin called out his own party's scheme, saying Democrats "bribed them by giving a $7,500 rebate, and then on top of that, [the administration] mandates it."²⁰
AOC and her Green New Deal allies spent years pushing this fantasy that Americans would embrace electric vehicles if Democrats just threw enough taxpayer money at the problem.
October's sales collapse didn't just prove them wrong — it destroyed the signature achievement of her political career.
The electric vehicle market isn't mature enough to survive without massive government subsidies — and Americans just rejected AOC's plan to force them into cars they don't want, can't afford, and that don't work in real-world conditions.
Trump ended the subsidies and the whole house of cards came crashing down.
¹ Ben Shimkus, "America's electric car market runs out of juice with sales plunging as much as 80%," Daily Mail, November 3, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ Ibid.
⁴ Dealership Guy, "EV sales hit an air pocket after tax credit expiration," Dealership Guy News, November 4, 2025.
⁵ Ibid.
⁶ Ben Shimkus, "America's electric car market runs out of juice with sales plunging as much as 80%," Daily Mail, November 3, 2025.
⁷ Ibid.
⁸ "Green New Deal," Wikipedia, November 3, 2025.
⁹ "Here's Why the Green New Deal's Bold Transportation Ideas Are All But Impossible to Pull Off," The Drive, February 12, 2019.
¹⁰ Randy Feenstra, "President Biden's Electric-Vehicle Mandates are Costly and Unrealistic," Representative Feenstra, July 3, 2024.
¹¹ Ibid.
¹² Ibid.
¹³ Ben Shimkus, "America's electric car market runs out of juice with sales plunging as much as 80%," Daily Mail, November 3, 2025.
¹⁴ Ibid.
¹⁵ Ibid.
¹⁶ Ella Nilsen, "Biden administration rolls out new tailpipe rules that will boost EVs and hybrids," CNN, March 20, 2024.
¹⁷ Dealership Guy, "EV sales hit an air pocket after tax credit expiration," Dealership Guy News, November 4, 2025.
¹⁸ Pete Ricketts, "Ricketts: Biden EPA's EV Mandate 'Completely Delusional,'" Senator Pete Ricketts, April 3, 2024.
¹⁹ John Barrasso, "Barrasso: Biden's EV Mandate is Left-Wing Lunacy," Senator John Barrasso, February 25, 2025.
²⁰ Ramsey Touchberry, "Joe Biden's electric vehicle mandate puts swing-state Democrats in the hot seat," Washington Times, March 22, 2024.
