Over the last year, the number of registered hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) in the USA has increased by 16.1%. Whereas HEVs accounted for one in every eight vehicles sold in the US last year, they today account for one in every six new vehicle sales.
What is behind this surge in hybrid sales? Why are hybrids appealing to Americans, and what does it mean for the broader US automotive market?
American consumers have traditionally valued large, powerful vehicles with engines capable of handling long drives, off-roading, and towing. Until recent years, this has required naturally aspirated engines with six or eight cylinders: while a smaller, turbocharged engine was capable of matching these larger unit in terms of horsepower, issues such as turbo lag meant that smaller engines were unable to provide the take-off and pulling power needed to meet the needs of the US market.
Meanwhile, in Europe and Asia, such smaller engines have been continuously favored for emissions and fuel economy savings. And these engines proved logical foundations for HEV powertrains.
At their very core, a HEV is simply a vehicle that pairs up an engine with electric motors: whether it be a single motor serving as a starter-generator in a mild HEV, or with an additional traction motor for a full HEV. And electric motors have a critical property: they can instantly spin up from zero to full power in a way that engines simply cannot, since engine crankshafts need time to build up angular momentum.
For European and Asian consumers, this allowed smaller engines to perform much more efficiently in low-speed situations – meaning even better fuel economy and reduced wear-and-tear. This has made HEVs a hit in these markets, and has encouraged automakers to improve their HEV architectures over successive model generations – improving the driver experience, while also making HEVs cheaper to produce and sell.
This continuous iteration, after many years, has today reached the point where these HEVs can match or exceed the low-end torque and from-rest power of pure-combustion powertrains using larger naturally aspirated engines. And this inflection point is why hybrids are now resonating with US consumers.
Hybrids are now resonating with US consumers in urban, suburban, and rural environments
Read more about why hybrids will stay central to global mobility.
Until recently, choosing a hybrid forced a US consumer to compromise on something they traditionally expected in their vehicle. Thanks to innovation in modern HEV powertrains, that compromise no longer exists. A HEV with a smaller engine can now tow, off-road, and power long-distance travel to the standard expected by Americans.
Compared to a powertrain based on a “traditional” naturally aspirated engine with a high displacement, a modern HEV with a low-displacement engine often enjoys a reduced maintenance burden, virtually no up-front price difference for consumers, and perhaps most importantly a major boost to fuel economy.
Fuel costs burst back onto the radar in the US following the inflationary wave of 2021-22, and have become increasingly cited as a priority for new vehicle buyers. Inevitably, the surge in fuel prices following the US-Iranian war in 2026 has ramped this concern up. HEVs are proving an essential way for consumers to reduce their exposure to gasoline price hikes.
Read more about why is Horse Powertrain expanding to the US?
Even for pure-electric driving experiences, many US consumers place such a premium on range that a particular type of HEV – the range-extended EV (REEV), which are exclusively propelled by a batteries and motors but also feature an engine-generator capable of recharging the battery on the fly – is proving particularly attractive to many drivers.
Along with all the efficiency benefits of modern hybrids, REEVs also allow the benefit of pure-electric driving for the majority of the time. And by using small, compact engines they also retain what’s proved to be one of the most beloved features of modern BEVs: the front trunk, or “frunk”.
However, both HEVs and REEVs do hinge on the US managing to leapfrog the twenty years of trial-and-error experienced by European and Asian automakers in perfecting modern hybrid architectures: this includes small ultra-efficient engines, optimized motors and transmissions, and complex power electronics systems to coordinate the activity of all the individual parts.
This is where Horse Powertrain comes into play: we help automakers make this leapfrog, by bringing to the table our complete suite of hybrid powertrain solutions. Instead of spending decades reinventing the hybrid powertrain, we’re working with auto brands to ensure they offer best-in-class hybrid powertrains today – ensuring they can claim category leadership and take advantage of US automotive’s most exciting growth story.
Find out more about our solutions here.