California: Plug-In Electric Car Sales Down In Q1-Q3 2020

But since the overall market went down, plug-in market share actually improved.

By: Mark Kane

Nov 12, 2020 at 7:51am ET

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The overall light-vehicle sales in California declined during the first nine months by almost 25% year-over-year to nearly 1.2 million (including 440,054 passenger cars - down 34.4%, and 759,392 light trucks - down 17.3%). Plug-ins are in the red as well.

According to the California New Car Dealers Association (CNCDA), some 94,756 plug-ins were sold within the state, which is 16.1% less than a year ago. Because the fall is less, plug-in market share improved to 7.9%.

As we can see below, the most affected electrified cars are plug-in hybrids (down 36.8%):

BEVs: 73,166 (market share of 6.1%), down 7.1% from 78,776
PHEVs: 21,590 (market share of 1.8%), down 36.8% from 34,185
Total plug-ins: 94,756 (market share of 7.9%), down 16.1% from 112,961
HEVs: 76,765 (market share of 6.4%), down 2.9% from 79,017
Total xEVs: 171,521 (market share of 14.3%), down 10.7% from 191,978

Plug-in electric car sales in California - Q1-Q3 2020

Five all-electric cars were at the forefront of their subcategories, and three of them were #1:

Tesla Model 3 (31,548, down 34.9%): #1 in Near Luxury (43.8% share)
Tesla Model Y (9,163, new): #1 in Luxury Compact SUV (16.2% share)
Tesla Model X (5,384, no change): #4 in Luxury Mid Size SUV (8.8% share)
Chevrolet Bolt EV (5,151, down 23.4%): #1 in Subcompact (20.1% share)
Tesla Model S (3,489, down 26.6%): #3 in Luxury and High End Sports Cars (10.6% share)