New Report Shows Electric Car Sales Slipping In California

According to a new report by the California New Car Dealers Association on Thursday, the growth rate of all electric vehicles in California has gone down by 1.2% in the second quarter of 2024, with the number of electric cars registered in the state dropping from 102,730 in Q2 2023 to 101,443 in Q2 2024.

While electric cars have seen steady growth in California since the 2000’s, the state didn’t see a drastic rise in sales until 2020. Between 2018 and 2020, sales lingered at around 7%-8% of all new cars sold being electric. However, in September 2020, Gavin Newsom issued an order of a staggered plan requiring that 35% of all new cars sold in California in 2026 to be electric or hybrids, 68% by 2030, and 100% by 2035. As recently as last year, the California Energy Commission (CEC) said the state was on track to be all electric by 2035.

While California saw incredible growth of electric cars for the first several years of the 2020s, partially due to Governor Gavin Newsom’s law to ban the sale of gasoline powered cars beginning in 2035, recent months have seen something of a downturn. Electric car sales dipped for the first time in a decade in the final quarter of 2023. According to the California New Car Dealers Association, the sale of electric vehicles did in fact continue surging in the first half of 2023. However, by the third quarter, sales crested. And in the 4th quarter of 2023, the number of new ZEV cars sold for the final three months of the year was only 89,933, a drop of 10.2%.

While experts hoped for a rebound in 2024, all electric sales have instead flatlined. The growth rate of electric cars fell by 1.2% compared to last year. Even worse, the 2026 goal of having a 35% market share of electric cars became farther out of reach as the market share stayed the same at 21.4% for the second quarter in a row. It’s also far below the 21.8% seen last year in Q2.

Electric cars in CA

While companies like BMW and Toyota grew in electric sales, they both have only a small share of the electric car market in California. The largest, Tesla, had electric sales go down by 24.1% in Q2 2024. But, while all-electric vehicles faltered, gas-electric hybrids have continued to surge in popularity. In the past quarters, sales of those cars shot up 21%, showing that more Californians are preferring a transition-based model rather than a automatic gas to electric switch.

“Tesla’s allure seems to be wearing off, signaling potential trouble for the direct-to-consumer manufacturer,” noted the report. “Tesla is facing mounting challenges. Its market share dipped 2.3 points from last year.”

Automotive industry analysts said that Californians are generally going for more cheaper options right now, with high tariffs on Chinese cars raising those prices and Tesla becoming out of favor with many drivers.

“Electric car growth in California hit a wall, there’s no other way to say it,” explained Veronica Deer, an auto industry analyst who focuses on the electric market, to the Globe on Thursday. “Tesla is becoming less attractive to buyers. The Cybertruck fiasco turned people off, Elon Musk turned people off. In general a lot of things. Plus Chevy isn’t really making the Bolt now and Biden put the tariffs on Chinese makers. It’s not great out there right now.

“Hybrids though. People are loving them. They still get to use gas, which is familiar, but also introduces drivers to electric. Those also get great mileage and use far less gas. Newsom should have made hybrids a focus as consumers, as these numbers show, are far more likely to buy them.

“It’s the way the trend is going right now. Electric may recover in the second half, but many people are doubting it. Overall, this isn’t great news if you are a fan of California trying to go full electric, but great news if you were of a fan of the compromise, hybrid approach. Consumers are making their voices heard right now.”

Q3 figures are to come out in October.