California: Plug-In Car Sales Up 79% In 2021, Tesla Model Y #2 Overall

Two Tesla cars were in the top 5 most popular models, and the Model Y almost reached #1.

Tesla Model Y home charging

Mark Kane

By: Mark Kane

Feb 9, 2022 at 12:06pm ET

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In 2021, the overall light-vehicle registrations in California increased to 1,856,391 (up by 13.3% year-over-year), according to the California New Car Dealers Association (CNCDA)'s latest report. It's expected that the year 2022 will bring a 4% increase.

CNCDA reveals also very important data about electrification, which is taking the state by storm.

Plug-in vehicle registrations during the period increased by about 79% year-over-year to 237,618, which is 12.8% of the total market (compared to 8.1% in 2020). That's a new record.

We are happy to see that the all-electric vehicle registrations increased by 74% to over 176,000 (almost one in ten new cars). Interestingly, conventional hybrids are growing at a similar rate, while the plug-in hybrids are growing even faster, nearly doubling their volume (although, from a dip in 2020). Overall, close to one in four new vehicles is at least a hybrid.

Plug-in electric car sales in California - Q1-Q4 2021

BEVs: 176,357 (up 74%, market share of 9.5%)
PHEVs: 61,261 (up 97%, market share of 3.3%)
Total plug-ins: 237,618 (up 79%, market share of 12.8%)
HEVs: 196,777 (up 74%, market share of 10.6%)
Total xEVs: 434,395 (up 77%, market share of 23.4%)

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Top models

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

Tesla Model Y (60,394, up 365%): #1 in Luxury Compact SUV (43.8% share)
Tesla Model 3 (53,572, up 11%): #1 in Near Luxury (47.0% share)
Chevrolet Bolt EV (9,971, up 93%): #1 in Subcompact (31.5% share)
Tesla Model S (4,860, down 36%): #3 in Luxury and High End Sports Cars (10.4% share)
BMW i3 (1,021): #5 in Entry Luxury (9.0% share)

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** red underline only for models that can be identified as plug-ins by their name*

Tesla Model Y and Model 3 - #2 and #5 best selling cars

One of the most stunning things is that, according to the CNCDA's registration data, the Tesla Model Y was the second most popular model overall with 60,394 units sold. Just 1,206 (or 2.0%) more and the Model Y would've been the best-selling car in the state, which is also the US' largest auto market. It's an amazing achievement and a true sign of what is happening in the industry.

On top of that, we can see another Tesla, the Model 3, at #5 (53,572). Not bad considering all the price increases applied by Tesla over the course of 2021 as well as the lack of the $7,500 federal tax credit. Tesla cars are really very popular and in high demand, which makes us believe that the year 2022 will also be very strong, maybe even with a Tesla on top?

See the list of models above 35,000 YTD:

Toyota Camry - 61,599
Tesla Model Y - 60,394
Honda Civic - 59,818
Toyota RAV4 - 59,157
Tesla Model 3 - 53,572
Toyota Corolla - 48,915
Ford F-Series - 46,817
Chevrolet Silverado - 44,670
Honda Accord - 44,576
Toyota Tacoma - 44,484
Ram Pickup - 41,225
Honda CR-V - 39,405

A related presentation by CNBC:

Tesla brand sales

According to the report, in Q4, Tesla registrations amounted to 39,040 (up 83.4% year-over-year), which is 10.5% of the market (compared to 21,290 and 4.8% a year ago).

In Q1-Q4 2021, Tesla registrations stood at 121,080 (up 69.6% year-over-year), which is 6.5% of the market (compared to 71,390 and 4.4% share a year earlier).

It means that as far as California is considered, Tesla is the dominant all-electric brand with 68.7% BEV market share. All non-Tesla BEV registrations combined were at 55,277.

Numbers for the Tesla Model Y, Model 3 and Model S are shown in the table, which combined with the total, allows us to calculate also the Model X result.

Q1-Q4 2021 results in California:

Tesla Model Y - 60,394
Tesla Model 3 - 53,572
Tesla Model S - 4,860
Tesla Model X - 2,254
Tesla total: 121,080 (up up 69.6%, 6.5% share)

What do you think?

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CNCDA shows also that Tesla has a 2.1% share in the U.S. Compared to 15,060,287 YTD, it would have to be some 316,000. That's not far from a number shown by the Automotive News Research & Data Center (313,400).

The difference between the US and California would be close to 195,000 Teslas registered in states outside of California.

More sales reports

Europe: Tesla Model 3 Breaks Into Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In 2021