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The California electric vehicle market continues to be one of the best in the world. It’s not on a growth spurt at the moment, but even with Tesla sales drooping in their (original) home state, 20.8% of auto sales were full electric vehicle (ZEV) sales in the first quarter. For comparison, the US ZEV adoption rate (with California included) is 8.5%. Overall, 28.9% of US ZEV sales were in California in the first three months of the year.
That’s according to data from the California New Car Dealers Association (CNCDA). Interestingly, though, the California Energy Commission has slightly different data and indicates that 23% of California auto sales in the first quarter were ZEVs. The CEC said that 100,326 ZEVs were sold in the state in Q1. The CNCDA had the total at 96,416. I’m not sure why there’s a discrepancy, but I’ll stick with the CEC numbers for now and then come back to the CNCDA ones. (Also note that the CEC says more than 30% of US ZEV sales were in California, not 29%.)
“The slight decline in ZEV sales in California was driven by a 21.5% drop in Tesla registrations compared to Q1 2024. Despite this drop, non-Tesla electric vehicle (EV) registrations grew by 14%,” the CEC adds. Also, the number of EV models grew from 105 in Q1 2024 to 147 models in Q1 2025. That’s solid growth!
“While California ZEV sales experienced a decline in Q1 2025, EVs were trending upward nationwide in Q1, with an increase of 11.4% year-over-year, according to Kelley Blue Book. The used EV market is also trending upward with Carvana reporting an 182% increase in used EV sales in 2024 year-over-year.”
While there is a slight dip in ZEV sales in California compared to Q1 2024, it’s noted that this can be expected in any new technology adoption curve. “California’s clean vehicle market continues to show strong sales, and we are undeterred by this period of limited growth which is a normal, anticipated part of the technology adoption cycle. The data shows nearly 1 in 4 new car shoppers are still choosing zero-emission models which is encouraging given current economic uncertainty,” said CARB Chair Liane Randolph. “While one manufacturer notably dropped in sales, other manufacturers sales collectively increased by 14%. From spacious SUVs to sporty sedans, automakers are delivering desirable options across every segment, and many new offerings are experiencing encouraging consumer uptake. Despite political headwinds domestically, zero-emission vehicles are the future internationally because they’re fast, fun and cheaper to fuel and maintain. America will not be left behind.”
Of course, a big part of Tesla’s sales decline in Q1 was due to Elon Musk’s extreme politics, which have been at odds with most Californians. Additionally, Tesla Model Y production was paused in order to change over the production lines for the new Model Y. So, we’ll see how things turn out in Q2, but I’m hopeful we’ll see year-over-year ZEV sales growth again, especially with so many more ZEV models on the market than a year ago.
I’ll get into more of the details of the California ZEV market in the next article, but will switch to data from the CNDCA for that. Stay tuned.
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