The state remains a leader in measures to produce more and more electric vehicles or zero-emission vehicles (ZEV) to improve environmental conditions. A reduction of 40% has been set for 2030 and zero emissions by 2045. Meanwhile, sales of these cars continue to rise: In September 2025, the governor’s office announced record sales of ZEV trucks in 2024.
Gov. Gavin Newsom is more than pleased because the total more than exceeds the state’s minimum target for 2024 and marks an increase in sales of this type of truck for the fourth year in a row.
Meanwhile, also in September, the state filed a lawsuit challenging the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) actions to withhold billions of dollars approved by Congress for electric vehicle infrastructure expansion.
The FHWA’s illegal actions would cost the state more than $300 million, eliminate thousands of good-paying jobs and slow the advancement of electric vehicles in California.
The California Energy Commission reports that Californians bought in the first quarter of 2025 100,326 zero-emission vehicles (ZEV), which accounts for 23% of all new vehicle sales. The figure represents a small fall compared to the record set in 2024 when they were sold two million.
The governor’s office says three examples were sold in 20240.026 ZEV trucks, buses and vans. Key models include battery and fuel cell electric vehicles such as vans, school buses, heavy-duty trucks and pickup trucks.
The slight decline in ZEV sales was due to a 21.5% decline in registrations Tesla compared to the first quarter of 2024. Despite this decline, registrations of other brands of electric vehicles (EV) continued to increase.
“The state’s electric vehicle market is diversifying, with 147 models available in the first quarter. Consumers are encouraged by the greater choice of options and are relying on the growing zero-emission electric vehicle (ZEV) infrastructure. More than 10% of new ZEV vehicles sold in the U.S. are sold in California,” according to the California Air Resources Board (CARB).
The data almost shows that every fourth buyer of new cars continue to choose ZEV models, which is encouraging given the current economic uncertainty, says CARB. While one manufacturer, Tesla, saw a significant decline in sales, other manufacturers’ sales overall increased by 14%.
The Newsom administration emphasizes that California has more than 178,000 public charging points of electric vehicles and more than 700,000 home charging connections. Additionally, thousands of dollars in grants and rebates will be provided to low-income Californians for electric vehicle purchases.
In the rest of the country, Hawaii, Maryland, Virginia (2045), North Carolina, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New York, Rhode Island and Washington (2050) stand out for their zero emissions policies. In addition, all of these states have graduated emissions reduction targets, typically starting in 2030.
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