California surpasses 1.5 million EV sales, well ahead of 2025 target

California, the world’s fifth largest economy, has surpassed 1.5 million cumulative electric vehicle (EV) sales, two years ahead of a target set originally in 2012.

Then California governor Jerry Brown sign an order a decade ago targeting the sale of “1.5 million zero-emission vehicles on California’s roadways by 2025.”

On April 21 this year, new figures published by the California Energy Commission (CEC) show that California passed the 1.5 million cumulative EV sales mark during the first quarter of 2023.

Passing the 1.5 million EV sales mark came after 124,053 new EVs sold in the first quarter, accounting for 21% of the state’s new car market.

As of the end of the first quarter, the CEC had recorded cumulative EV sales of 1,523,966, 42% of the total number of EVs sold across the whole of the United States.

“This incredible EV milestone is a shared victory and we are thrilled to be celebrating it with the Governor’s Office, and many of our public and private sector board leaders,” said Josh D. Boone, executive director of Veloz, which has tracked EV sales data and infrastructure buildout in California for over 10 years.

At the time that the former governor signed the state-wide target of 1.5 million EVs by 2025, there was only one full EV available for sale in California, the trailblazing Nissan Leaf, with the Tesla Model S set to launch later that year.

Now, there are 115 different EV makes and models available in California, not to mention 87,707 EV chargers and a growing number of electric trucks, buses, and delivery vans.

California is now focused on reaching the ambitious goal of 100% zero-emission new passenger vehicle sales by 2035.