Electric vehicle sales disrupt 15% of car market in California, Tesla continues to dominate
California’s more drastic deadline for phasing out new internal combustion vehicle sales, culminating in 2035 moves to all EVseems a difficult goal to achieve for people in some parts of the United States
But it’s all about perspective. Overall, in the US, electric vehicle sales accounted for 5.6% of the US vehicle market in the second quarter of 2022 – up from 5.3% in the first quarter and just 2.7% in the first quarter of 2021. sounds like pretty impressive growth, California is in a different league. By mid-2022, all-electric vehicles are estimated to account for 15.1% of new vehicle sales in California.
That’s according to the California Q2 Auto Outlook Report released earlier this month by California New Auto Dealers Association, which also indicates that the market share of EVs, plug-in hybrids and hybrids combined is now close to 30% of the market in the Golden State. Hybrids and electric vehicles have grown steadily since 2018, while plug-in hybrids are actually in a lower part of the overall market now than they were back then.
EVs vs Hybrids and PHEVs – California Automotive Outlook Q2 2022
Again, in this tally that uses subscriptions rather than sales reports to find out what’s really going on in the market, the Tesla Model Y is the best-selling vehicle in California, topping the list. Longtime sales champions like the Honda Accord and Toyota Corolla. To help understand the extent of Model Y sales dominance in the state, the electric crossover has outsold the Ford F-150 and Chevy Silverado combined. Sales style 3 also outsold the best-selling pickup trucks. And more Model Y models were sold in the first half of 2022 than all Nissan (or Hyundai, or Kia) models.
As we’ve seen before in the results from this report, regarding Tesla’s own total sales, California has sometimes been around one-eighth of Tesla’s global market. Tesla topped the 10% market share in the state for a while — and it sold about 78% EVs purchased in California in Q1.
Expanding this on a country basis, almost one-third of people buy electric cars in the US in the first quarter there was a Tesla Model Y.
The 2022 Tesla Series (Courtesy of Tesla, Inc.)
In terms of brand, Tesla is second only to Toyota in California. Tesla maintained a market share of nearly 11% in California in the first half of 2022, compared with just 3.3% in the US
Teslas don’t come cheap, and it has taken over much of the existing luxury goods market. Affordable electric vehicles remain scarce in California and the rest of the country, and the massive market share gains that regulators there and nationally expect could take more than a hit of a brand.
