The electrical vehicles being CANCELLED: Makers who’ve wielded the axe on EVs because of low demand

While electric car sales are on the rise, their growth isn’t accelerating at the pace industry and governments initially expected – or as fast as car makers who invested heavily would like.

This is certainly the case in the UK. Electric vehicle deliveries so far in 2026 are up 14.5 per cent year on year, with 137,614 entering the road between January and March. 

But despite this progress, sales are well short of the Government’s targets.

Under the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate introduced in 2024, mainstream manufacturers are by law bound to increase their share of EV sales to a third of all new car deliveries this year.

Based on registrations so far this calendar, EVs represent just 22.4 per cent of the new car market in 2026 as Britons continue to cling on to the combustion engine.

And it’s a similar case across the pond. Donald Trump’s decision last year to end federal tax credits of up to $7,500 for EVs and revoke Biden’s order for half of new cars to be electric by 2030 has dramatically dampened demand. 

Some manufacturers have scrambled to respond to this less-than-expected appetite, either by culling poor performing EVs from showrooms or delaying plans to launch new battery cars over concerns that the market isn’t quite ready for them.

Here are just some of the brands that have hit pause on electric cars in recent months… 

AFFELA

Afeela is a car brand you probably haven’t heard of. And that’s understandable, given it didn’t even get off the ground.

Afeela was due to be a new name on the EV market as part of a joint venture between Sony and Honda signed back in 2022.

As recently as January, the Japanese companies unveiled the Afeela Prototype EV, which was scheduled to become the second model in the range. But within weeks, the project was canned as the firms announced they are reviewing the future of their joint venture.

Deliveries of the debut Afeela 1 saloon had been due to arrive in California later this year, with orders already taken for the $89,900 EV.

In a statement issued at the end of March, Honda said reassessment of its own strategy ‘factoring the changes to the EV market’ had resulted in the ‘discontinued development’ of the Sony Honda Mobility project.

APPLE

Another EV project that failed to turn a wheel was the Apple car, which was officially scrapped two years ago.

The tech giant’s much-anticipated shift into the automotive sector had been in the pipeline for more than a decade. However, a leaked email sent to employees in February 2024 reportedly confirmed that the ‘Special Projects Group’ developing the vehicle were to be moved to its artificial intelligence AI division.

The self-driving EV – codenamed Project Titan – had been earmarked for a 2028 release but was culled, according to reports, due to ‘insurmountable development hurdles’ and ‘low profitability projections’ linked to a broader industry trend of falling investment in electric cars triggered by slower-than-expected sales and shrinking margins.

ASTON MARTIN 

British luxury car firm Aston Martin last February said its first EV, previously set to be launched in 2026, would not see the light of day until ‘the latter part of this decade’. 

This is the second time the inaugural Aston Martin EV has been delayed, having already pushed its debut back from 2025 to 2026. 

The decision came just months after executive chairman Lawrence Stroll said that demand for fully-electric versions of the marque had been lower than expected, with many of its well-heeled customers still wanting to hear the throaty roar of a powerful internal combustion engine rather than the hum of e-motors. 

AUDI

Audi ditched its biggest – and one of its most expensive – EVs last year when it pulled the Q8 e-tron from showrooms.

This was tied to the ‘painful decision’ to shutter its electric car factory in Brussels on 28 February 2025 as part of cost-cutting measures by parent company Volkswagen triggered by the electric car sales slowdown. Some 3,000 jobs were put at risk due to the closure, according to reports.

Audi UK stopped accepting orders for both the relatively niche Q8 e-tron and Q8 Sportback e-tron in December 2024, with no successor lined up. This was considered a major step given the Audi e-tron (rebranded the Q8 e-tron in a 2022 facelift) was the German firm’s first mainstream EV.

Instead, Audi will concentrate efforts on smaller EV models that are selling in higher volumes, including the Q4 e-tron. 

BENTLEY 

Bentley delayed the reveal of its first EV from 2025 to late in 2026 as part of a wider adjustment to its schedule to go fully electric.

In 2024, it also announced that its first EV – originally promised to be a sleek grand tourer – would be a large urban SUV. 

Plans to debut a new EV every year from 2025 have also been extended as it postponed its commitment to be all-electric to 2035 instead of 2030.

This shift in strategy is due to falling demand for EVs and a lack of a suitable public charging infrastructure, the Crewe-based car maker said.

FORD 

While Ford has been adding to its EV line-up in Europe in recent months – including the addition of the Puma Gen-E and Capri – there has been a discontinuation of a significant electric model in America.

After just three and a half years on sale, Ford’s $40,000 electric F-150 Lightning was ditched early last year.

Ford US said the move stemmed from a cocktail of poor sales, financial losses and the changing political landscape. As such, it said it would pivot to range-extended plug-in hybrids and smaller, more affordable, EVs.

The decision to axe the electric pick-up is a monumental one, too. The Ford F-Series has been America’s best seller for decades, and the EV was seen as a landmark shift towards electrification.

ORA (GREAT WALL MOTORS)

Great Wall Motors is one of China’s biggest car makers. However, in the UK, it’s still relatively unknown having failed to make a huge impact on the market with its first brand, Ora.

Debuting in November 2022, it launched its one and only UK-spec model – the Funky Cat EV. Just a year later, the awful nameplate was changed to ’03’ to attract more customers.

However, the name change did little to bolster its fortunes and in 2025 its UK importer sold just 542 examples of the Mini Electric rival.

As such, the Ora 03 has now been ditched, with only stock new models available in the UK.

HONDA

Earlier this week, we included the Honda-e as one of the electric cars that had been pulled from UK showrooms ahead of schedule due to a poor sales performance.

But the brand has also shelved a newer EV: the e:Ny1 SUV.

A Honda spokesperson told Daily Mail and This is Money that the family SUV is being axed because it has ‘naturally entered the final stage of its model lifecycle’. However, given it only launched in late 2023, its demise comes after a little over two years in showrooms.

Honda tells us it will no longer take new orders, and that the EV has been pulled from its online configurator after recording mediocre sales. And this is somewhat unsurprising given its £40,000 asking price, basic interior and limited range of just 256 miles.

There will be no direct replacement for it, with Honda now selling no EVs in the UK. That will change in a matter of months, though, when the tiny £20,000 Super-N shoulders the brand’s electric offering. 

And this switch to smaller, cheaper EVs is part of a wider global reset by the Japanese giant. 

In March, it confirmed it had dumped its 0 Series EV project over concerns about limited electric car appetite, having unveiled a couple of daring prototypes with big performance claims in 2025.

The 0 Series was also due to underpin the Afeela vehicles sold in partnership with Sony, which explains why that Sony Honda Mobility project too was scrapped. This has reportedly cost the Japanese car maker $15billion.

LAMBORGHINI 

Lamborghini earlier this year confirmed it had scrapped its immediate EV plans with the luxury car maker citing low demand among its deep pocketed clientele.

The Italian brand’s chief executive Stephan Winkelmann warned that EV development was at risk of becoming ‘an expensive hobby’ amidst poor global sales. Doubling down, he promised to ‘build combustion engines for as long as possible’.

As such, its forthcoming Lanzador Gran Turismo will be plug-in hybrid rather than an EV. An all-electric version of its best-selling Urus SUV has also been sidelined. This will mean Lamborghini’s line up will be PHEV only by 2030. 

But while Lamborghini has put a pin in its EV transition, Ferrari is due to unveil its first fully-electric car – the Luce – next month. 

LEXUS

Lexus is another brand that has scrapped its inaugural EV early having experienced low levels of customer demand.

After a mere five years on sale, the UX 300e was axed last month.

The website ‘How Many Left?’ suggests fewer than 3,400 UX 300es have been registered since it first hit the market in 2021. Part of the UX 300e’s problem was that it only managed 186 miles of range and couldn’t CCS charge, making it out of date with its CHAdeMO charge connector.

The hybrid model is still on sale, but with the electric version gone the only option for Lexus buyers wanting an EV is the £48,000 RZ SUV.

VOLKSWAGEN

While Volkswagen unveiled its new ID.Polo EV this week having already showcased its updated ID.3 this year, one of its electric cars that’s expected to be discontinued shortly is the ID.5.

Launched in 2021 as a coupe-like version of the ID.4 SUV, it was primarily aimed at the Chinese customers. However, it failed to gain traction in the world’s biggest market and proved unpopular in Europe too, with buyers generally opting for the more practical ID.4.

Like the ID.7, saloon the ID.5 was not offered in the US. Production of the ID.4 at an American factory was scaled back in September last year due to low demand and the 4 has now been discontinued in the US.

VOLVO

Volvo’s EX30 – which launched in 2023 – is currently subject to a global recall over concerns about potential battery fires. Some 10,000 UK vehicles are impacted, with owners told to not charge the cars beyond 70 per cent until the failing battery units can be replaced.

But in the US, ‘shifting market conditions and financial factors’ has seen it pulled from dealerships entirely after only two years. 

In a memo sent to showrooms in the US and seen by Automotive News, the company said it will discontinue the battery-powered EX30 and EX30 Cross Country after the 2026 model year.