"The majority of EVs are still priced out of most general consumers' budget at this point," Waatti said. "We haven't hit that tipping point with affordable EVs and awareness of EVs is still just starting to grow with the general consumer."

Customer Matthew Karaszewski, 36, from Canton Township looked briefly at Ford's electric F-150 Lightning but went with the Dearborn automaker's Maverick Hybrid compact truck instead. The Lightning's almost $50,000 price tag was above what Karaszewski was looking to spend. He was also concerned about how long the battery would last on a charge since he drives a lot.

While shopping for a new vehicle to replace his 2013 Buick Regal, he came across the Maverick, which met his high miles-per-gallon requirement. He got the XL trim in white for $27,000.

"It's never been really feasible for me to have a truck up until the Maverick came along with a hybrid engine," he said. "Personally, I think hybrid has a better future than full electric ... they should invest more into making these hybrids even more fuel-efficient."

At Ford, EV sales were up 86% in the first three months of the year, representing 4% of the Dearborn automaker's mix. It sold 20,223 EVs out of a total of 508,083 deliveries from January through March.

The automaker has reemphasized hybrid and internal combustion engine products from the Ford Blue side of its business. Hybrid sales were up 42% to a record 28,421 sales. That's expected to grow with increased shipment of the F-150 hybrid model.

Despite the Mustang Mach-E SUV losing eligibility for the federal government's $7,500 clean-vehicle tax credit at the start of the year, sales were up 77%. It benefitted from a price cut in February, a tax credit passed onto consumers by Ford Credit for leases and other incentives.

Ford put a stop-shipment on the F-150 Lightning pickup in February as a part of an extended quality check process. That's expected to be lifted this month, though sales in the first quarter still rose 80%. Ford, the country's electric truck sales leader, this week cut the second shift at its Dearborn Electric Vehicle Center that produces the Lightning to align production with demand. It also increased prices on most '24 Lightnings in January.

The bulk of Ford's sales are ICE products, which were up 2.6%. America's top-selling F-Series trucks, including the Lightning, were down 10%. Deliveries of the refreshed '24 model began at the end of February after lots throughout Metro Detroit filled with the trucks during a quality process check as production ramped up. Sales of heavy trucks fell 19%.

Sales of the popular Maverick compact truck jumped 82%. Included in that were Maverick Hybrid sales, which were up 77%.

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