California‘s plug-in electric car sales recorded a new high volume and market share last year. California Energy Commission’s data revealed that the state sold 345,818 new zero-emission vehicles (ZEV) in 2022. Notably, that number represents a year-on-year growth of 38% and a substantial increase of 138% from 2020.
For reference, ZEVs generally include battery-electric vehicles (BEV) or hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCV). However, the California Energy Commission also counts plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV), despite only being ZEV in EV mode.
Plug-in car sales in California in 2022
Among the 1,835,429 light-duty vehicle sales in 2022, 345,818 ZEVs accounted for 18.8% of that total. It indicates that ZEVs make up approximately one in every five new cars in California.
It is worth noting that California remains the leader in the US’ ZEV market, with a 40% share.
In 2022, California sold 343,244 plug-in cars (BEVs and PHEVs) and just 2,574 FCVs.
2022 results:
Furthermore, California sold over 1,385,000 PEVs overall in 2022. For context, the state topped the 1-million-unit threshold in early 2022.
At the same time, California had more than 80,000 installed charging stations of various forms, both public and private.
Cumulative Plug-in car sales in California:
| ZEV | Sales |
| BEVs | 955,510 |
| PHEVs | 429,873 |
| FCVs | 14,530 |
| Total | 1,399,913 |
Models
Below are California’s top plug-in car models in 2022 (over 5,000 units):
| Rank | Models | |
| 1 | Tesla Model 3 | 94,683 |
| 2 | Tesla Model Y | 93,872 |
| 3 | Tesla Model X | 13,319 |
| 4 | Tesla Model S | 10,712 |
| 5 | Chevrolet Bolt EV/Bolt EUV | 12,710 (8,709 Bolt EUV and 4,001 Bolt EV) |
| 6 | Ford Mustang Mach-E | 9,860 |
| 7 | Hyundai Ioniq 5 | 7,519 |
| 8 | Jeep Wrangler 4xe | 6,936 |
| 9 | Toyota Prius Prime | 6,711 |
| 10 | Volkswagen ID.4 | 5,089 |
The Tesla Model 3 (94,683) and Tesla Model Y (93,872) remains the leader in California’s ZEV market. Likewise, the automaker accounts for 72.7% of the BEV market, with sales of 212,586 units from all four models.
As for the other brands, the Chevrolet Bolt EV/EUV duo (12,710) was among the best-selling models, following the Tesla EVs. Ford’s Mustang Mach-E also had high sales of 9,860, while Hyundai Ioniq 5 had 7,519 sales. Interestingly, it was followed by the Jeep Wrangler 4xe (6,936), which dominated the PHEV market.
It is not surprising that Tesla remains the market leader in California’s ZEV segment, given its effort not only in the state but in the entire US. It would be exciting to see how other automakers would attempt to rival Tesla this year.
