The market share of electric vehicles in the State of California reached 9% during the first quarter of 2021, according to Veloz, an advocacy group of state and local governments, utilities and carmakers promoting the sales of battery electric vehicles across the state.
The figure, pulled from the California Energy Commission, puts the Golden State in the running with European Union where sales of EVs and plug-in hybrids now top 10% due to the push for tighter regulations of greenhouse gases such carbon dioxide.
Stellantis said this week sales of its zero-emission vehicles — largely those from the PSA/European half of the newly merged company — have grown to the point where it will no longer have to buy credits from California-based Tesla.
California tops U.S. EV numbers
California sales data for the first quarter of 2021 shows sales of electrified vehicles increased by 50 percent. In addition to market share increasing to 9% in the first quarter, EV sales in California increased by 35% between the first quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021.
Vehicle owners in California purchased more 59,000 EVs, including 42,866 battery-electric vehicles, 15,477 plug-in hybrids and 715 fuel-cell vehicles in the first quarter.
EV sales in the U.S. totaled 131,240 during the same time frame, meaning California accounted for almost half of the EVs sold in the U.S., most of those sales clustered in Los Angeles County and in San Francisco Bay Area, according to Veloz.
California also added 3,000 chargers and two hydrogen fueling stations in the first quarter of 2021, Veloz reported. Expanding the availability of charging stations is critical to EV adoption, which is why adding 500,000 charging stations is a critical component of President Joe Biden’s $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan.
Tesla the top seller
The top selling electric vehicles in California in the first quarter were the Tesla Model Y and Model 3, Chevrolet Bolt and Toyota Prius Prime, according to Veloz.Veloz said the figures were based on data collected by the California Energy Commission, in collaboration with the California Air Resources Board. The two agencies evaluates and shares Department of Motor Vehicle data on a quarterly basis.
