19% of new vehicles sold in California are electric

Jun 24, 2023

Electric vehicle sales continue to increase. EVs made up 7.1% of new vehicle sales in the U.S. in the third quarter of 2022 — a 2.7% increase compared with a year earlier, according to the Alliance for Automotive Innovation.

The Washington, D.C. trade group representing U.S. and international automakers said more than 232,000 EVs were sold between July and September last year and that 86 different models of car, SUV, pickup truck and van are now available. Light truck sales accounted for almost 70% of the EV market. Nearly 1% of all registered vehicles on U.S. roads are now electric.

California, which has a goal of 100% electric new vehicle sales by 2035, ranked first: 18.9% of new cars sold were electric in the third quarter of 2022. The District of Columbia (13.4%), Washington state (11.1%), Oregon (10.4%) and Nevada (9.4%) rounded out the top five.

There are now 98,804 public charging outlets in the country, the Alliance reported, noting that the U.S. is not adding public charging stations fast enough. For every 32 EVs on the road, there is one public port.

Many areas, however, have far fewer. Seventy-three percent of U.S. counties have less than five public charging ports for 10,000 vehicles, while 59% of the nation's counties have one or none.