Tesla dominates first quarter EV sales in California

Electric vehicle sales skyrocketed in the first quarter of 2022 in the United States, with California dominating national sales and Tesla accounting for the lion’s share of the state’s pure battery EV (BEV) sales.

There were a total of 67,118 battery electric vehicles (BEVs) sold in California during the first quarter of 2022, of which a total of 52,565 were one of Tesla’s four models, accounting for 78% of all BEV sales in the first quarter in California.

California saw total light-duty sales of 497,992 for the first quarter, with BEVs accounting for 13.4%, and electrified vehicles – including BEVs, PHEVs, and FCEVs – accounting for 16.32%.

According to estimates by the California Air Resources Board (CARB)  and non profit group Veloz, extrapolating on the Californian data, national EV sales (including hybrids) reached 208,000 for the first quarter, of which California accounted for 40% of all plug-in sales with 81,292.

For Tesla, its dominance of global BEV sales continued, despite repeated price hikes.

Considering that Tesla reported early last month total deliveries of 310,048 for the first quarter of 2022, that means Tesla sales in California alone accounted for 17% of the company’s global sales.

Similarly, with sales of 52,565 for the quarter, Tesla’s accounted for 10.5% of all light-duty vehicles sold in California – both zero-emission plug-ins and traditional ICE models.

As seen in the graph above, Q1’2022 was a good quarter for Californian EV sales, with the 81,292 plug-in electric vehicles sold already accounting for a third of the 250,279 sold in 2021.

However, to what extent we can extrapolate a record-breaking year from those numbers – especially when comparing them to 2020 and 2021 numbers that were dramatically affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic – remains temporarily unclear.

Cumulatively, Californian EV sales have reached 1,135,387 by the end of the first quarter, with national sales estimated to be at 2,641,028.

Of note to Australian consumers, there are currently 84 plug-in electric models available in California, compared to the 36 currently available in Australia (according to the Australian Electric Vehicle Council).

For a rundown on EV uptake in Australia, read The Driven’s article here.