The Duck Curve#ev sales
California ZEVs took 19.1% of Q3 new-car sales; about 12,000 used MyFirstEV
Zero-emission vehicles were 19.1% of California's new light-duty sales in the third quarter of 2026, 80,392 of them, the California Energy Commission said on October 16, 2026. About 12,000 first-time EV buyers have used the MyFirstEV point-of-sale rebate since its August 2026 launch.
Ember estimates EVs in oil importers displaced $20bn of crude, March-August
Ember estimated on October 14, 2026 that electric car fleets in oil-importing countries displaced 200 million barrels of crude oil, worth $20 billion, from March to August 2026 during the Hormuz energy crisis, led by China at $14 billion and EU member states at $3.1 billion. The figure is a gross counterfactual estimate. Of the 56 countries in Ember's new EV sales tracker, 49 now have a higher battery electric share of sales than the US.
Australian BEV share eases to 24.2% in September on FCAI's count
Battery-electric vehicles took 24.2% of Australia's new vehicle market in September 2026, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries said on October 6, below the record 24.9% it reported for August and up from 11.3% in September 2025. The Driven counts 26,087 EVs against 26,018 petrol cars, a second straight month ahead of petrol.
Norway's new vans were 74.6% electric in September after a tax increase
Electric vans took 74.6% of Norway's 2,036 new van registrations in September 2026, a share the Norwegian Road Federation (OFV) calls a record. New diesel vans fell 70% from September 2025, to 468, after the one-time registration tax on combustion-engine vans rose on September 1, 2026, while new electric vans rose 22% to 1,518. Of the 526,284 vans on Norwegian roads, 85% are diesel, and nearly nine in ten vans that changed owners in September were diesel.
Tesla Q3 2026: 486,532 deliveries, 13.7 GWh of storage, no Semi figure
Tesla said on October 2, 2026 that it delivered 486,532 vehicles, 478,237 of them Model 3/Y, produced 464,391 and deployed 13.7 GWh of energy storage in the third quarter of 2026, against 12.5 GWh in Q3 2025. By The Duck Curve's arithmetic deliveries were down 2.1% from Q3 2025, which Tesla's October 2, 2025 release called a record for both deliveries and deployments; the release gives no figure for the Semi, a truck The Verge describes as in volume production as of April 2026, and scopes its vehicle production and delivery numbers to passenger vehicles sold to customers.
EIA: light-duty EV electricity use grew 8% in 1H26 after 13–24% half-years
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said on September 30, 2026 that light-duty electric vehicles in the United States consumed 8% more electricity in the first six months of 2026 than in the second half of 2025, down from the 13–24% growth it recorded in six-month periods in recent years, with the modeled estimate at nearly 14 billion kWh for 1H26, more than double 1H23. EIA says the slowing followed a decline in sales after federal tax credits expired in September 2025: new EV sales in 1H26 were down 19% compared with 2H25.
Ember: coal power has stalled in 17 of the 26 Chinese regions it tracks
Ember's China Energy Transition Review 2026, published September 8, 2026, says coal generation plateaued or turned flat between 2021 and 2025 in 17 of the 26 provincial-level regions it tracks, together holding more than half of China's thermal capacity, and that thermal generation fell 0.7% in 2025 while electricity demand rose 5%. China's National Bureau of Statistics reports thermal generation down 0.7% and total coal consumption up 0.1% for 2025. Ember says battery storage overtook pumped hydro in installed capacity by the end of 2024 and grew 84% in 2025.
Australia's battery-electric sales hit a record 24.9% share in August
Battery-electric vehicles took 24.9% of Australia's new vehicle market in August 2026, with 27,089 sold across all reporting sources, the highest number in any month, according to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries' September 3 release; The Driven calls the share the best on record, above 23.5% in June. The Electric Vehicle Council puts BEVs plus plug-in hybrids at 36% of the market with the Tesla Model Y the best-selling vehicle at 6,414, and The Driven's tally has petrol cars at 25,824 and diesels at 23,608, both below the BEV count.
Norway's new passenger cars were 98.7% zero-emission in August
Zero-emission cars took 98.68% of Norway's new passenger car registrations in August 2026, which the Norwegian Road Federation (OFV) describes as the highest monthly share it has recorded, up from 96.89% in August 2025. The market fell 3.35% to 13,451 cars as Tesla registered 2,387 fewer than in August 2025; electric vans were 44.9% of new van registrations, below their 53.1% share for the year to date.