Zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) sales are declining in California as left-leaning consumers forgo purchasing Teslas, hindering progress toward the state’s 2035 ZEV mandate, according to California Energy Commission (CEC) data.
Tesla sales have been sliding in California as Golden State liberals boycott the company to protest Elon Musk’s involvement in the Trump administration, with new registrations for Teslas dropping by 21.5% in the first quarter of 2025 relative to the first quarter of 2024, CEC data shows. The state’s 2022 Advanced Clean Cars II program calls for the gradual elimination of sales for new gas-powered passenger vehicles in California by 2035, though recent CEC data shows that ZEV sales overall slightly declined in the first quarter of 2025.
“California’s clean vehicle market continues to show strong sales, and we are undeterred by this period of limited growth,” said California Air Resources Board (CARB) Chair Liane Randolph in a press release addressing quarterly ZEV sales. “While one manufacturer notably dropped in sales, other manufacturers’ sales collectively increased by 14%.” (RELATED: Supreme Court Case Could Spell The End For California’s EV Mandate)
In an aerial view, Tesla cars sit parked in a lot at the Tesla factory on April 20, 2022 in Fremont, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan via Getty Images)
Tesla models have been outselling all other ZEV competitors for years in California, and the observed decline in Tesla sales coincides with the slight ZEV sales drop in the first quarter of 2025, CEC data shows. The decline marks the fifth consecutive quarterly drop in Tesla registrations in the state and the second consecutive drop in overall ZEV registrations, according to a January 2025 California New Car Dealers Association report.
Protests and attacks against Tesla and Musk have increased domestically and internationally in light of Musks’ involvement in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) for the Trump administration. Several demonstrations have erupted across the California against President Donald Trump, Musk and Tesla in the months since Trump’s inauguration.
“Once again California is leading the nation and the world with a regulation that sets ambitious but achievable targets for ZEV sales,” Randolph said in a 2022 CARB press release on the California ZEV mandate. “Rapidly accelerating the number of ZEVs on our roads and highways will deliver substantial emission and pollution reductions to all Californians, especially for those who live near roadways and suffer from persistent air pollution.”
Senate Republicans have been looking to neuter a Biden-era move that effectively allows California to impose a national electric vehicle (EV) mandate. The Biden Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) signed off on California’s “Advanced Clean Cars II”— which would ban the sale of gas-powered vehicles in the state and numerous others following California’s standards by 2035 — just weeks before the Trump administration took control in Washington.
Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso has said the Senate will vote this week on nixing the waivers that allow California to enact the de facto national ZEV mandate.
Tesla, CEC and CARB did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment. Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office declined to comment.
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