Electric vehicle market share declined in California, even though electric vehicle sales increased
These are complicated times for the nation’s largest electric vehicle market. California’s electric vehicle sales increased in the first quarter of 2024, but market share remained down, according to California’s new quarterly report. California New Car Dealers Association (CNCDA).
The report shows that the absolute number of electric vehicles sold in California increased from 89,741 in the fourth quarter of 2023 to 90,296 in the first quarter of 2024. But the electric vehicle market share still decreased from 21.5% at the end of 2023 to 20.9% in Q1 2024. That’s because new car registrations have generally increased and even more non-electric vehicles are being sold. Electric vehicle sales growing by volume rather than market share is a trend that continues from the previous quarter.
2024 Tesla Model Y. – Courtesy of Tesla, Inc.
Tesla’s electric vehicle sales also lead in California continue to shrink, the report found. Tesla’s registrations fell 7.8% from the previous quarter, which also saw the former California-based automaker’s registrations drop 9.8%.
Without diving deeper into the trends, it could be argued that Tesla’s declining sales, not other brands’ electric vehicle sales, are to blame for the recent decline for electric vehicles in California and elsewhere. That’s because Legacy automakers are selling more plug-in vehicles, the report notes. Mercedes-Benz and BMW saw the highest increases in California in Q1, posting increases of 3% and 2.4%, respectively.
BMW iX 2024
Sales of electric vehicles through franchised dealers also increased 14% in Q1, while direct sales — models used by Tesla and some startup automakers — fell 3%. According to CNCDA, franchised dealers account for 66% of “alternative powertrain types” in California.
Even as electric vehicle sales increase in the rest of the country, California remains nearly a third of the country’s electric vehicle sales. And even with this market share glitch, in this state, one of four new vehicles sold in California have charging ports — although some are plug-in hybrid models rather than all-electric models.
