California hits cumulative one million plug-in vehicles, as it targets five million vehicles by 2030
California drivers have now accumulated a million plug-in vehicles, according to data recently released by the California Energy Commission.
The updated figures were heralded on Friday by advocacy group EV Velozcelebrates the milestone of “1 million electric vehicles (EVs) sold” by Californians – the first state to reach this total.
But it’s still not a million if you’re thinking of cars without gas tanks and exhaust pipes. The total of 1,054 million vehicles in operation includes 379,000 plug-in hybrids that can be used in varying degrees of electric mode, as well as nearly 12,000 fuel cell vehicles.
Thus, Californians cumulatively purchased 663,014 battery electric vehicles by the end of 2021 — including 183,933 sales for the year.
Electric Vehicle Sales in CA and US – Veloz (EV here means BEV + PHEV + FCEV)
For 2021, that puts battery electric vehicles plus hybrids with a 12.4% market share in California. And the sustainable market share growth to 2020 and 2021 is even higher than the market share growth from 2017 to 2018, when Popular Tesla Model 3 arrived in bulk.
Updated data confirms the Model 3 as the best-selling electric vehicle in the state in 2021, with sales of 67,262, while Model Y closed later at 61,022. The Chevrolet Bolt EV far third, at 12,313, though Fire hazard battery recall that makes it ineffective in the market for a large period of the year.
Tesla Model 3
That correlates with data from the California Association of New Auto Dealers released earlier this month, which showed Tesla grew to 10.5% market share in California in the fourth quarter of the year and managed 6, 5% market share for the whole of 2021 in this state.
California found out exactly who that millionth owner is, and conveniently, it’s not a plug-in hybrid buyer. “Michael from Stockton” bought one Volkswagen ID.4stacks the rebates and tax credits onto a discount of more than $20,000 off the sticker price of the electric SUV, according to a video from Governor Gavin Newsom’s office (below).
Meet Michael from Stockton – owner of the millionth EV sold in CA! He has accrued rebates and tax credits with over $20k in savings to buy @VW.
California’s ZEV market is leading the nation in every category, including assisting low-income electric vehicle buyers. pic.twitter.com/ipFsJ2Jpnk
– Office of the Governor of California (@CAgovernor) February 25, 2022
However, Veloz suggests that there is a lot more work to be done. It only comes one International Energy Agency report from the start of the year, noting that the global electric vehicle market share has grown from 4.11% in 2020 to 8.57% in 2021 — and the fact that California hasn’t kept pace with growth in Europe , where electric vehicle sales once led the state but now exceed 20 percent.
The state is aiming to sell 5 million electric vehicles by 2030 and it will take more than a decade to reach 1 million. With mainstream marketing attentiona corresponding, powerful federal push encourageand an optimistic approach to EV infrastructureit might just go there.
Chevrolet Volt 2019
As of the end of 2021, cumulative US plug-in vehicle sales are close to 2.5 million units – a number that may have been surpassed by far. In California and the US, the tally began essentially at the end of 2010 with deliveries of the first two mass-market plug-in models, the Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt.
