Tesla Model 3 and Y become best-selling vehicles in California, pushing EVs to new record

Tesla Model 3 and Model Y have become the second-best and best-selling vehicles in California, helping electric vehicle sales reach a new record in the state.

California has long been a leader in the US when it comes to EV adoption.

There are many reasons for that: state incentive, a general interest in new technology in the state, but also the fact that until recently, it was home to Tesla, the largest EV company in the world. Tesla holds massive market shares in the US electric vehicle market, which California is a big part of.

This week, the California New Car Dealer Association (CNCDA) released their Q2 2022 numbers that are giving us some insights into Tesla’s sales in the state.

CNCDA confirmed that Tesla Model Y and Model 3 are the two best-selling vehicles in the state for the first half of 2022:

The Tesla Model Y reigns as the top-selling car in the California market with 42,320 registrations so far this year. In second place: the Tesla Model 3 with 38,993 units sold, further indicating the statewide demand for EVs. New registrations of the Honda Civic, Toyota Camry and Corolla, the state’s top-selling mainstays, were impacted by inventory shortages but still remained at the top of their segment categories.

The two electric vehicles beat everything – even the most popular pickup trucks.

When you compare them to their segments, it truly highlights their dominance:

Tesla’s Model S and Model X are also not doing badly despite still being ramped up following the design refresh last year:

Tesla’s strong performance in California is propelling electric vehicle market share to new highs.

According to the latest report from CNCDA, EV sales are now at 15% of the entire California auto market:

That compares to about 7% for the broader United States.

That’s amid an auto market that is still suffering from supply chain issues. According to the report, Tesla and Genesis are the only two brands that are growing so far in 2022 in California:

Electrek’s Take

This is where things start to move fast. It took a decade to go from 1% to 15% market share, but I think it’s going to take two years to go from 15% to 50% market share. Mark my words.

Also, you are still going to see a lot of those brands in the red – that steep increase in market shares I’m talking about will not just be because of more electric vehicles, but also because fewer people are going to want to buy new ICE cars.

The brands that are too slow in bringing EVs to market and stick to a mostly ICE offering are going to see their sales decline while EV grows, which is going to accelerate EV market share at a wild pace.