Nearly 19% of California New Car Sales in 2022 Were Zero-Emission Vehicles

(Image: CHUTTERSNAP/Unsplash) California seems to be taking its role at the forefront of US electric vehicle adoption seriously. According to a new report, zero-emission vehicles made up nearly 19 percent of new car sales that occurred within California in 2022.

Each quarter, the California Energy Commission (CEC) calculates how many zero-emission vehicles have been sold in the state using data from the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). At the end of the year, this information is compiled and made viewable as annual data. Now that state employees are back from their holiday vacations and into the swing of the new year, California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office has published the data for 2022.

Zero-emission vehicles—which include full battery-electric, hydrogen fuel cell, and plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles—comprised 18.8% (345,818) of new car sales in California last year. The vast majority were full battery-electric vehicles with a single-charge range of 200 miles or more, thanks to Tesla’s whopping 212,586 sales (most of which were Models 3 and Y). Behind Tesla were the Ford Mustang Mach-E, the Toyota Prius Prime, the Chevrolet Bolt EUV, the Hyundai IONIQ 5, and the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, though none of these managed to reach the 10,000-sale mark.

The Ford Mustang Mach-E dominated non-Tesla EV sales with 9,860 units sold in 2022. (Image: Ford UK)

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles came in second place with 50,748 total sales, while fuel cell vehicles only comprised 2,574 sales in California in 2022. The latter category tracks with the country’s overall lack of vigor when it comes to hydrogen fuel cell cars, which were picked up by fewer consumers in 2022 than in previous years.

California also achieved the impressive milestone of having sold 40% of the country’s new zero-emission cars, trucks, and SUVs last year. Though much of this can be attributed to the state’s large size and dense population, it’s also likely that dealerships in California focus more on zero-emission vehicle sales than those involving conventional combustion engines. California incentivizes automakers to sell zero-emission vehicles through the ZEV Credit program, which doles out financial rewards for each full battery, fuel cell, and hybrid-electric vehicle sold.

“California continues to lead the zero-emission vehicle revolution with groundbreaking policies and investments that drive innovation, create good jobs and expand ZEV access and affordability across the state,” Newsom said in a statement. “Keeping our focus on the communities that are most impacted by the intensifying climate crisis, we’ll keep pushing ahead to make our clean transportation future a reality in California.”

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