- Sales of plug-in electric vehicles have reached an important milestone in California.
- Over two million all-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles have been sold in the Sunshine State since 2011.
The state of California passed an impressive milestone after the third quarter of this year: Over two million plug-in electric vehicles have been sold in the Golden State since 2011. But that’s not all.
In total, 2,113,135 all-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles have been sold in California since 2011. That’s 38.8% of all the electrified cars sold in the United States in the last 23 years. Meanwhile, in the first nine months of this year, there were more battery-powered vehicles sold in California than in the whole of 2022, marking a clear upward trend for people’s appetite for zero- and low-emissions vehicles. Year-to-date, California recorded 343,213 EV and PHEV sales.
In the third quarter alone, California saw 115,897 EVs and PHEVs sold, while the entire country had 382,498 units get in customers’ hands, according to data from public-private nonprofit Veloz. This means California alone amounts to 30.3% of the country’s electric vehicle market. Meanwhile, the electrified vehicle market share within California reached 26.4% in Q3.
As for the best-selling battery-powered cars in California in Q3, the Tesla Model Y took the crown, followed by the Tesla Model 3 and Hyundai Ioniq 5. Interestingly, the Toyota Rav4 Prime plug-in hybrid surpassed the Ford Mustang Mach-E and Tesla Model X, while the Volkswagen ID.4 placed seventh. The top 10 list was completed by the BMW i4, Tesla Cybertruck and Jeep Wrangler 4xe plug-in hybrid.
To support the growing number of plug-in electric and hybrid vehicles roaming its roads, California has installed over 150,000 public and shared private EV chargers. As of August 2024, the state has 137,648 Level 2 chargers and 14,708 Level 3 DC fast chargers. Furthermore, over 500,000 private home chargers have been installed at homes across the state.