California ZEVs took 19.1% of Q3 new-car sales; about 12,000 used MyFirstEV

Californians bought 80,392 new zero-emission vehicles in the third quarter of 2026, 19.1% of new car sales, the California Energy Commission said on October 16. The commission's sales dashboard, built from DMV registrations, counts 420,622 new light-duty vehicles in the quarter. About one in seven of those zero-emission vehicles has a combustion engine: plug-in hybrids count toward the total and were 11,494 of the 80,392, beside 68,811 fully electric cars and 87 hydrogen fuel-cell ones. Those battery-electric sales alone were 16.3% of the market, which the commission sets against 6.4% nationally, without naming the source of the national figure. The national figure is itself a laggard: Ember's tracker finds 49 of the 56 countries it follows ahead of the US on battery-electric share.

The commission calls the share steady and says EV purchases mirrored the second quarter. The third quarter is usually one of the year's strongest for car sales, it says, but higher interest rates and low consumer confidence have held back new-vehicle sales nationwide.

The quarter also brought MyFirstEV, the California Air Resources Board's point-of-sale rebate for first-time buyers, launched in August 2026. The commission puts the drivers who have used it at 12,000; the Governor's office, the same day, at "nearly 12,000." The rebate takes $3,500 off a new zero-emission vehicle with an MSRP up to $50,000 and $1,750 off a used one sold for up to $25,000 through a manufacturer's pre-owned program, per the Governor's office. The state's $135.5 million is matched dollar for dollar by automakers (13 of them, per the commission), for about $270 million in discounts at the point of sale.

The first-timer rule already has a private sequel. Toyota has launched MyNextEV and MyLexusEV, privately funded offers that give Californians who have owned an EV before $2,500 off an eligible Toyota or Lexus, according to the Governor's office.