Registration of Tesla’s electric vehicles (EVs) in California plummeted by 11.6 percent in 2024, a new report has found.
The company’s market share also dropped 7.6 percent last year, now holding just 52.5 percent of the state’s zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) market for 2024, according to the report, published by the California New Car Dealers Association.
“Things aren’t looking so golden for EV automaker Tesla in the Golden State,” the report authors said in a statement. “Tesla’s dominance in the electric vehicle market continues to falter as the brand reported its fifth consecutive quarterly registration decline.”
A Bloomberg analysis linked this turn of events to a 36-percent year-on-year decline in sales of the company’s Model 3, as well as to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s support for President Trump.
Evaluating California’s broader ZEV sector, the industry report found that these cars made up about 22 percent of total vehicle registrations in the Golden State — slightly up from 21.7 percent in 2023.
Registrations of hybrids showed a 2.4-percent increase in the fourth quarter of 2024, which made up for an equivalent decrease in ZEV registrations at that time, according to the report.
“This shift suggests that California consumers may be looking to transition gradually from internal combustion engines (ICE) to fully electric vehicles, with hybrids emerging as an increasingly popular option,” the authors stated.
Despite Tesla’s dip in registrations and market share, the company’s Model Y was still California’s top-selling light truck — with a 10.1 percent share — while the Model 3 was the second-highest selling passenger car, trailing behind the Toyota Camry, per the report.
The Model Y and the Model 3 were also the top two selling EV models in 2024, followed by the Hyundai Ioniq 5, the Ford Mustang Mach-E, the Toyota RAV4 and the Tesla Cybertruck.
Meanwhile, California was responsible for 31.1 percent of all ZEV registrations nationwide, the report found.
