Americans look to the country’s most powerful bank, the Federal Reserve, to combat inflation.
“I think our biggest problem, at least for the foreseeable future, is high inflation,” Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, told CNBC.
The Fed can raise interest rates toslow inflation, which ultimately makes the cost of borrowing higher for everyday Americans, and that can be just as painful as inflation.
“The big question mark is how quickly will inflation come under control?” Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter, told CNBC.
The central bank already raised interest rates five times in 2022, and there are more rate hikes on the way.
But the Federal Reserve does not have to take on the battle alone.
Fiscal policy enacted by Congress and power wielded by big business can help fight rising costs.
“Congress has much more targeted tools,” Claudia Sahm, former Fed economist, told CNBC. “It’s about making the system work more effectively, so all these costs don’t get piled up on individuals.”
For example, the Biden administration passed the Inflation Reduction Act. This $739 billion sweeping tax, health and climate bill aims to reshape the U.S. economy.
“Taxpayers eventually have to pay for them, but they can release a lot of pressure on families and businesses that are trying to pay the bills,” Sahm said.
Then there’s the private sector’s power. As people started expecting higher prices, some are arguing that companies are taking advantage of expectations and increasing prices even further than is necessary.
According to the New York Fed, the more inflation an industry saw, the more gross profits increased.
Now, most U.S. companies are recording their largest profits since 1950, at least over the last two quarters, according to OMFIF.
Watch the video above to learn more about how corporations and Congress influence inflation, why the Fed doesn’t have to take on rising costs alone and what it will take to normalize the U.S. economy.
With new models rolling out from General Motors, Porsche, Honda, and several others, US EV sales increased by over 10% in the first three months of 2025. Nearly 300,000 EVs were sold in the first quarter of 2025. These were the top-selling models.
New EVs drive US sales growth in Q1 2025
Electric vehicle sales showed mixed results in the first quarter. Although Tesla is the center of attention as it continues to lose market share, several new EV models made an impressive debut.
With over 30,000 EVs sold in the first quarter, more than double the number sold last year, GM surpassed Ford and Hyundai Motor, placing second behind Tesla. GM’s Chevy is now the fastest-growing EV brand in the US, with the new electric Equinox, Blazer, and Silverado arriving.
GM sold 10,329 Chevy Equinox, 6,187 Blazer, and another 2,383 Silverado EVs in Q1. Thanks to its partnership with GM, Honda had an impressive sales quarter, selling over 14,000 EVs, including its luxury Acura brand.
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The Prologue SUV remained one of the top-sellers with 9,561 units sold in the first quarter, while the Acura ZDX added another 4,813.
New Entries: EV sales volume in Q1 2025 (Source: Cox Automotive)
According to Cox Automotive, Honda led EV sales growth for new entrants in Q1, followed by Acura, Jeep, and Dodge.
Jeep sold 2,595 Wagoneer S models during the quarter, its first electric SUV sold in the US. Dodge, another Stellantis-owned brand, sold 1,947 Charger EVs, or what it calls the world’s first electric muscle car.
Although Chevy’s Equinox EV made a statement in Q1, Ford’s Mustang Mach-E remained the top-selling non-Tesla with 11,607 models sold.
Rank
EV model
Q1 2025 sales
1
Tesla Model Y
64,051
2
Tesla Model 3
52,520
3
Ford Mustang Mach-E
11,607
4
Chevrolet Equinox EV
10,329
5
Honda Prologue
9,561
6
Hyundai IONIQ 5
8,611
7
Volkswagen ID.4
7,663
8
Ford F-150 Lightning
7,187
9
BMW i4
7,125
10
Tesla Cybertruck
6,406
Top 10 best-selling EVs in the US in Q1 2025 (Source: Cox Automotive)
After introducing the upgraded 2025 IONIQ 5 (which now has even more range and an NACS charging port), Hyundai sold 8,611 electric SUVs in Q1, an increase of 26% from last year.
Porsche had the highest EV sales volume growth after launching the electric Macan. With 3,339 units added, the Macan EV made up for Porsche Taycan sales falling 18% to just 1,019.
EV sales volume change by brand Q1 2025 vs Q1 2024 (Source: Cox Automotive)
As Cox Automotive Analyst Stephanie Valdez Streaty noted, “The year certainly started strong, but the road ahead will be anything but smooth.”
Trump ending federal incentives and introducing new tariffs will “pose a monumental challenge for many automakers,” according to Valdez Streaty. Despite several new models arriving and significant incentives being offered (at least for now), the rest of 2025 “will likely be a volatile one for EV sales in the US.”
Ready to score some savings while they are still here? We can help you get started. You can use our links below to find deals on the top-selling EVs in your area.
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Based on a capable Volvo FM Electric 8×4 chassis, Putzmeister revealed one of the world’s largest all electric concrete pump trucks at the bauma equipment expo in Munich, Germany this week. The zero-emission concrete pumper can up to 50 km and pump approximately 50 cubic meters of concrete on a single charge.
50 km (a little over 30 miles) and 50 cubic meters (about 65 cubic yards) may not seem like impressive numbers, but consider this: a single cubic yard of concrete weighs a little over 4,000 lbs. (2 tons). A bit of simple math later, and you’ve got a quiet, vibration-free machine blasting (65 cu. yds ×4,100 lbs./yd = 266,500 lbs.) of construction material nearly 140 feet (42 meters) in the air.
That’s over 130 tons of construction material moved a really long way, and that’s (of course) without the use of diesel or gas.
“Volvo Trucks is the innovator when it comes to new technologies in combination with electric trucks. After presenting electric concrete mixers and heavy applications for mining, we are proud to show yet another world-class innovation for the construction segment here at bauma,” says Christoph Fitz, Head of Sales at Volvo Trucks in Germany. “With this electric pump truck, customers can have a zero-exhaust emission solution, low-noise operation and an efficient process thanks to the work-while-charging capacity.”
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The Volvo FM Electric-based concrete pump is motivated by a pair of electric motors developing a continuous 330 kW (442 hp) of output through the company’s proprietary I-Shift gearbox. The truck’s four battery packs add up to 360 kWh of capacity, which can DC fast charge at speeds up to 250 kW or operate continuously (pumping even more material) with grid power or PU500 remote power connection.
This week on Electrek’s Wheel-E podcast, we discuss the most popular news stories from the world of electric bikes and other nontraditional electric vehicles. This time, that includes an analysis of how the Trump tariffs will affect e-bike pricing in the US, USB-C chargeable e-bikes launched by Ampler, Specialized e-bike recall, Juiced Bikes revived as a brand, kayak camping with the JackRabbit XG Pro, Walkcar’s new device that does the walking for you, and more.
The Wheel-E podcast returns every two weeks on Electrek’s YouTube channel, Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter.
As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.
After the show ends, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:
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Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the Wheel-E podcast today:
Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 9:00 a.m. ET (or the video after 10:00 a.m. ET):
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