Tesla 2nd Highest Selling Automaker in California – CleanTechnica

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I published earlier today about the top selling electric vehicle models in California. For a thorough exploration into those, see that article. Below I’m taking a broader look and examining auto brand sales and the EV share of the overall market.

To kick off, it’s certainly highly notable that 22.2% of California auto sales in the first three quarters of the year were pure electric vehicles (BEVs/EVs). That’s far, far above the 7.9% share EVs had of the broader US auto market in the same time period. (And if you removed California from that broader market, the percentage would clearly be much lower.) Then the third big percentage there is showing that almost one third of US EV sales are happening in California.

Looking at the trends across the past several years (first graph) and several quarters (second graph), we can see that EV market share is still climbing up gradually in the Golden State. Hybrid sales have been following a similar trend, while plugin hybrid sales have basically flatlined.

EV sales were up to a record 23.7% of California auto sales in the third quarter. And across the first three quarters of the year, the state is also at a record high, the aforementioned 22.2%

There’s a pie chart of where the state stands in 2024 if you prefer pie charts.

Looking at overall auto brand sales, Tesla is holding its position in 2nd place. Though, it got closer to Toyota in the 3rd quarter, a good sign. However …

If we compare Tesla’s sales trend year over year in California, it’s not a great look. Tesla sales were down slightly in the 3rd quarter of 2024 compared to the 3rd quarter of 2023. Looking across the first three quarters of the year combined, the drop is notably bigger. We’ll have to wait to see what happens in coming quarters.

Here’s another way of looking at that, from the California New Car Dealers Association (CNCDA). Tesla sales are down 12% in the state across the first 9 months of the year, one of the worst trends in the state.

So, overall, EV sales trends in California are good, but not great. EV sales and EV market share continue to grow, but not at a very high pace at the moment. And Tesla sales are clearly a big part of the market’s EV sales and they are down. What should we expect in the 4th quarter and in 2025? Any ideas?