Tesla’s sales are continuing to slide in California. According to the California New Car Dealers Association, Tesla registrations are down 15% in Q1 2025.
California is the most important market for electric vehicles in the US.
While zero-emission vehicles account for only 8% of new vehicle sales in America, they account for more than 20% of new vehicle sales in California.
In terms of overall volumes, more than 28% of electric vehicles sold in the US are sold in golden state.
Unsurprisingly, this made California a very important market for Tesla.
In 2022, Tesla held 70% of the electric vehicle market in California. The automaker’s deliveries peaked in 2023 in terms of volume, but its market shares slid to 60% due to more competitions.
Now, Tesla’s deliveries are going down in California, along with its EV market shares.
The California New Car Dealers Association (CNCDA) reports that Tesla registrations were down 15% in Q1 2025:
Tesla registrations in the First Quarter of this year fell 15.1 percent versus year earlier, while registrations for all other ZEVs increased by 35 percent. Tesla’s share of the state electric vehicle market fell from 55.5 percent in 1Q ‘24 to 43.9 percent this year. An aging product lineup and backlash against Elon Musk’s political initiatives are likely key factors for the decline in Tesla BEV market share.
The performance was rough amid growing vehicle sales in California during the same period:
Electrek’s Take
The Model Y changeover certainly had an impact on these results as deliveries were 10,000 units lower than in Q1 2024.
But I would also expect Tesla to suffer from brand damage in California due to its CEO’s meddling in politics. The bulk of Musk’s impact happened in the second half of the first quarter with protests and boycotts following his inauguration salutes and DOGE mess.
Q2 is likely going to be a better test of Tesla’s performance following the brand degradation.
Tesla bulls are hoping that the new Model Y will help, but Tesla doesn’t seem to have a backlog of orders for the redesigned vehicle.
The automaker is going to need to deliver more than 50,000 units in California if it doesn’t want to keep sliding year-over-year in the critical EV market.4
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