Tesla’s record performance in California helps push EV market share to 17%

California released its 2022 vehicle data and confirmed that Tesla is dominating the market, leading to a new record 17% market share for electric vehicles.

Total vehicle registrations were down 7.9% in 2022, according to the California New Car Dealers Association’s annual report.

But the report highlights a positive with electric vehicles being up more than 50%:

A positive in California’s 2022 new vehicle market: sales of electric vehicles, with an estimated increase in market share of 17.1 percent. While vehicle pricing was a major concern in 2022, sales of pure EVs increased by over 50 percent from 2021. California is clearly doing its part to increase EV sales.

Tesla is again the biggest contributor to electric vehicle growth in the state.

The Model Y has even become the bestselling vehicle in California with over 87,000 deliveries in the state in 2022.

Model 3 came in second with just short of 79,000 units registered in the state last year.

While Toyota is still the bestselling brand overall in California thanks to having many more models, it is starting to be seriously threatened by Tesla who now has the two best-selling vehicles in the important market.

The California New Car Dealers Association breaks down SUVs and pickups into light trucks and other vehicles into passenger vehicles.

Here are the top five bestselling “light trucks” in California in 2022:

And here are the top five bestselling passenger cars in the state last year:

Tesla is the only major brand in terms of volume to have had a significant increase in registrations in 2022:

Electrek’s Take

That last chart is pretty telling. Automakers should take note that if you want to counter this automotive market downturn, you need to have compelling electric vehicles to offer in volume.

And this chart is also saying a lot:

Electric vehicle market shares continue to increase at an incredible pace; it jumped from 9% in 2021 to 17% in 2022. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s between 25 and 30% this year.

Automakers who are not ready for that will see a decline in sales this year again.