Plug-in electric vehicles in California

[30][31] Governor Jerry Brown issued an executive order in March 2012 that established the goal of getting 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) in California by 2025.

[33][34] On 14 December 2022, The California Energy Commission (CEC) approved a $2.9 billion clean transportation investment plan, adding 90.000 EV chargers across the state by 2025.

[18] The San Francisco Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission opposed the 2014 bill to expand the green stickers on the grounds that they "are concerned about further erosion of HOV lane capacity to vehicles that are neither reducing the number of trips on the road nor paying a toll.

[18][42] In September 2014 Governor Jerry Brown signed the bill AB 2013 that raised the cap for the green stickers from 55,000 to 70,000 new plug-in hybrids.

The DMV continued to accept applications without payment to establish a queue for requesters should an additional amount of green decals be authorized.

[19] Research performed by the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation in 2015 found that access to HOV lanes has a significant impact on plug-in car sales.

They looked at the number of plug-in car sales and the miles of carpool lanes within a 30 mi (48 km) radius of each census tract.

The study concluded that the ability to use potentially time-saving HOV lanes prompted the purchase of more than 24,000 plug-in electric cars and hybrids in the four urban areas from 2010 to 2013, or about 40% of the total of such vehicles.

For this purpose CARB has to change the Clean Vehicle Rebate program to provide an extra credit for low-income residents who wish to purchase or lease an electric car.

CARB also should provide assistance to carsharing programs in low-income neighborhoods and install charging stations in apartment buildings in those communities.

Drivers of clean vehicles already enjoyed discounted rates in some facilities, such the toll to cross the San Francisco Bay Area bridges and to use the State Route 91 Express Lanes in Orange and Riverside Counties.

CARB staff presented a proposal to the board to overcome the funding shortage and also to facilitate the rebates to benefit buyers in disadvantaged communities who live in areas with bad air quality or who can't afford high-end electric cars.

For this purpose CARB has to change the Clean Vehicle Rebate program to provide an extra credit for low-income drivers who wish to purchase or lease an electric car.

CARB also should provide assistance to carsharing programs in low-income neighborhoods and install charging stations in apartment buildings in those communities.

The top five counties in the state by early March 2014 are Los Angeles (14,420), Santa Clara (7,735), Orange (6,182), San Diego (4,659), and Alameda (3,870).

The law makes a term in a lease of a commercial property, executed, renewed, or extended on or after 1 January 2015, void and unenforceable if it prohibits or unreasonably restricts the installation of an electric vehicle charging station in a parking space.

[7][8] Despite the continued global decline in car sales brought by the shortages related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and computer chips in particular, the Californian plug-in market share rose to 12.8% in 2021.

[2] The following table presents annual registrations and market share of new car sales for all-electric and plug-in hybrids sold in California between 2010 and 2023.

[98] According to Edmunds.com, between January and August 2013 the Model S achieved a high market share of new car sales among the U.S. most expensive ZIP codes, as rated by Forbes.

[99] California has also been the leading American market for the BMW i3, with about 3,000 units sold in the state in 2014, representing about half of total U.S. sales that year.

[81] The Chevrolet Bolt led the state's subcompact segment in 2017, with 13,487 units sold, representing a market share of 14.7%, and 57.9% of nationwide sales (23,297).

In terms of market share, California will be followed by New York, Florida, Texas, and Washington, but Hawaii is expected by 2020 to have the highest penetration rate of PEVs as a percentage of all light duty vehicle sales.

[105] As of mid 2013, 52% of American plug-in electric car registrations are concentrated in five metropolitan areas, two of which are in California: San Francisco and Los Angeles.

[106] According to Navigant Research, the Los Angeles metropolitan area was the world's largest plug-in electric car city market in 2014.

[109] Nevertheless, cities with median incomes below US$85,000, such as Berkeley, Alameda, San Jose, Santa Cruz, and Oakland might be more indicative of the growing mainstream plug-in electric vehicle market.

These cities have a broader mix of plug-in car sales, such as the Nissan Leaf, Ford C-Max and Fusion Energi, Chevrolet Volt, and Volkswagen e-Golf.

[110] In March 2024, the SF Municipal Transportation Agency and partners announced a "Curbside Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Citywide Assessment" program.

Its goals are to provide technology and policy guidance to the state, and to help solve research questions and address commercialization issues for PHEVs.

[citation needed] CalCars was a charitable, non-profit organization founded in 2002 to promote plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) as a key to addressing global warming both nationally and internationally.

[117][121] Solar panels are used to generate the electricity, and this pilot program is being monitored on a daily basis and performance results are published in RechargeIT website.