{"id":409069,"date":"2026-07-23T05:21:30","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T05:21:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/409069\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T05:21:30","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T05:21:30","slug":"hybrids-boom-as-evs-fall-out-of-favor-even-in-california-the-mercury-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/409069\/","title":{"rendered":"Hybrids boom as EVs fall out of favor, even in California \u2013 The Mercury News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Dana Hull, Bloomberg<\/p>\n<p>In America\u2019s EV stronghold, another type of vehicle is rapidly gaining ground.<\/p>\n<p>Hybrids accounted for almost one in every four automobiles registered in California in the second quarter, according to newly released data from the California New Car Dealers Association. That was up from a year ago and easily outpaced sales of electric vehicles, which made up 17.8% of the quarter\u2019s total.<\/p>\n<p>RELATED:\u00a0<a class=\"article-title\" title=\"13 carmakers sign up for California EV rebate initiative\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mercurynews.com\/2026\/07\/21\/13-carmakers-sign-up-for-california-ev-rebate-initiative\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">13 carmakers sign up for California EV rebate initiative<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Soaring demand for hybrid cars, which offer both a gas tank and electric motor to improve fuel efficiency, is putting them on pace to surpass annual EV sales in the state for the first time since 2020.<\/p>\n<p>The figures are a stark sign of the shift in car-buying preferences in the US, as affordability concerns, political posturing and the end of federal subsidies have undercut EV demand. Hybrids, meanwhile, have benefited as the war in Iran has pushed gas prices higher. The national average was $4.02 for a gallon of gas as of Tuesday, while California\u2019s is $5.52, according to AAA.<\/p>\n<p>California \u2014 the country\u2019s largest market for plug-in vehicles, with a robust charging network \u2014 has long been seen as a proxy for America\u2019s EV sector. Registrations of zero-emission vehicles in the state fell 8.2% last quarter from a year prior.<\/p>\n<p>The figures show that buyers are influenced by budgetary concerns and their particular driving needs, Jessie Dosanjh, chairman of the dealers association and owner of Stevens Creek Chevrolet, said in a statement. \u201cRight now that means a lot of hybrids.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>RELATED:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mercurynews.com\/2026\/07\/02\/the-25000-new-car-or-truck-is-an-endangered-species-heres-why\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The $25,000 new car or truck is an endangered species. Here\u2019s why<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Hybrid models including Toyota Motor Corp.\u2019s Camry and RAV4 and Honda Motor Co.\u2019s CR-V ranked among the top-selling vehicles in the state during the quarter, but an EV \u2014 Tesla Inc.\u2019s Model Y \u2014 remained No. 1. Indeed, the figures suggest EVs could be poised for a rebound, with overall market share up modestly from a terrible first quarter.<\/p>\n<p>In an effort to boost interest, Governor Gavin Newsom last week announced a plan in partnership with 13 automakers to offer instant rebates to California residents buying or leasing their first zero-emission vehicle. The program seeks to backfill a federal tax credit that was ended by President Donald Trump, with the state offering $3,500 off new EVs or $1,750 off used models.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Dana Hull, Bloomberg In America\u2019s EV stronghold, another type of vehicle is rapidly gaining ground. Hybrids accounted&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":409070,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[5003,184,387,7,19662,9,8,400,6996,12598,643,67472,181,1338,2581,2582,100,13,1969,1970,1090],"class_list":["post-409069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-auto-news","tag-bay-area","tag-business","tag-california","tag-california-dmv","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-california-politics","tag-cars","tag-electric-cars","tag-environment","tag-green-cars","tag-latest-headlines","tag-morning-wire","tag-national-news","tag-national-politics","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-retail","tag-technology","tag-tesla"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=409069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409069\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/409070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=409069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=409069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=409069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}