In 2012 — when there were about 30,000 electric vehicles on the road in California, Tesla was a small new company that mostly appealed to hobbyists and the hybrid Toyota Prius was still a novelty in many areas — former Gov. Jerry Brown signed an executive order setting an audacious goal: 1.5 million EVs sold statewide by 2025.
There were lots of skeptics, given that Brown was calling for a 50-fold increase in the status quo. But, as it turned out, California achieved it easily.
With the final sales numbers tallied for 2025, more than 2.5 million electric vehicles have been sold in the state since 2012, according to data released Tuesday by the California Energy Commission.
“We invested in this future when others said it was impossible,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement.
Newsom highlighted the number — 2,551,121 to be exact — during his appearance Tuesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Locally, here in Yolo County, according to the California Energy Commission, nearly 1,500 zero-emission vehicles were newly registered in 2025.
For the past two decades, California has led the nation in electric vehicle sales. The state has provided rebates, tax credits and other incentives as part of its efforts to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gases.
As technology has improved, allowing much farther battery range — with many models able to travel more than 300 miles when fully charged — EV sales now make up 22.9% of all new car sales in California. Santa Clara County has the highest rate in the state, with 41.1% of all new vehicles sold being electric in 2025.
But electric vehicles face major headwinds. President Donald Trump has reversed or blocked many of the federal incentives put in place by former President Joe Biden.
This past year, Trump and Republicans in Congress eliminated the federal tax credit of up to $7,500 for the purchase of new electric vehicles. They let a law expire that allowed states to permit solo EV drivers in carpool lanes on federally funded highways, ending that perk nationwide.
And in June, Trump signed a resolution blocking California’s first-in-the-nation regulations banning the sale of new gasoline-powered passenger vehicles by 2035, which Newsom had put in place in 2020.
Trump held a White House ceremony June 12, saying California’s rules limited consumer choice. He revoked federal permission for the ban, called a “waiver,” that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had given to the state when Biden was in office.
“We officially rescue the U.S. auto industry from destruction by terminating the California electric vehicle mandate once and for all,” Trump said. “They said it couldn’t be done. It’s had us tied in knots for years. They passed these crazy rules.”
Republicans said California’s rules were overly broad and would effectively set a national standard because the state is the largest car market in the United States and, under the Clean Air Act, other states are allowed to copy its rules.
Environmental groups and Democratic leaders said Trump’s rollbacks will lead to more air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and health problems for Californian residents.
Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit over the issue minutes after Trump acted. California was joined by 10 other states — Colorado, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. The lawsuit is pending.
In the months since, several large automakers have pulled back on some EV models. In December, Ford announced it would cease production of its all-electric F-150 pickup truck, and would focus instead on hybrid vehicles and a new line of smaller, cheaper EVs.
“When the market really changed over the last couple of months, that was really the impetus for us to make the call,” Ford CEO Jim Farley told Reuters in an interview.
In California, 408,731 EVs sold in 2025. That’s double the number from 2022, but down 8% from 2024, when 443,374 sold.
Sales surged in the weeks before Sept. 30, when the federal tax credits expired, and then dropped off in October, November, and December.
Even though two of the top three highest-selling vehicles of all types in California last year were the Tesla Model Y and the Model 3, the other being the gas-powered Toyota Camry, Tesla has seen some softening of sales in the state. Some residents of the blue state, angry that Tesla CEO Elon Musk contributed $250 million to Trump’s re-election campaign and led an effort called DOGE to reduce federal staffing through firings and early retirements, have resisted buying Teslas, put stickers on the vehicles denouncing Musk, or purchased other EVs, like Hyundais, Hondas or Rivians instead.
The Trump administration’s fight over electric vehicle rules stands as one of the major environmental clashes between his administration and California during the first year of his second term, along with Trump’s proposal to allow new offshore oil drilling along the state’s coastline.
Trump similarly tried to curb California’s electric vehicle rules and allow new offshore oil drilling in his first term from 2017 to 2021. But California sued in both cases. The lawsuits were pending when Biden took office, and he reversed Trump’s positions.
On Tuesday, Newsom, who is considering a run for president in 2028, cast Trump’s resistance to electric vehicles as putting the United States at a competitive disadvantage in a world where Europe, Japan, Canada, China, and other countries have passed similar laws to encourage the sale of electric vehicles, reduce oil consumption and phase out the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035 or 2040.
“While Washington now cedes the global clean vehicle market to China, California is ensuring American workers and manufacturers can compete and win in the industries that will define this century,” Newsom said.
Two weeks ago, Newsom announced in his state budget proposal that he would allocate $200 million to a new electric vehicle rebate program. Details, including how much motorists will receive, which cars are eligible and what income limits may apply, have not yet been finalized.
“California isn’t slowing down, we’re still leading the pack,” said California Air Resources Board Chair Lauren Sanchez. “It’s not just about clean air, it’s smart economic policy.”
The Daily Democrat contributed to this report.