Californians purchased more than 124,750 zero-emission vehicles from July through September, accounting for 29.1% of all new car sales in the third quarter of 2025, representing the highest quarterly share ever reported in the state, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday.
“This is unprecedented—we’re nearing a third of all new vehicles sold in the fourth-largest economy on the planet being clean cars,” Newsom said in a statement. “We’re setting new records because this state believes in innovation, not isolation. While Trump sells out American innovation to China, California will keep charging ahead on our path to a future of cleaner air.”
The milestone follows steady growth in California’s clean-vehicle sector. Last month, Newsom said manufacturers reported that nearly one in four trucks, buses and vans sold in 2024 were zero-emission.
In March, Newsom announced that the state now has more public and shared private electric vehicle chargers than gasoline nozzles installed statewide.
The news comes after the federal government decided to end the Clean Air Vehicle decals, which allowed qualifying cars to use carpool lanes with a single occupant or pay reduced toll rates in some areas.
HOV lane access for single-occupant clean-air vehicles in California was first authorized in 1999 and last reauthorized in 2017. The DMV began issuing Clean Air Vehicle decals under the current program on Jan. 1, 2019. Over 1 million decals have been issued.
Back in September, the DMV said it would notify affected drivers directly by email, while notices would also be posted at DMV offices, on the agency’s website and across social media.
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