Electric vehicles are the future of transportation. States like California and Massachusetts have announced that all new vehicles sold in both states will be electric by 2035.
Automakers have also announced aggressive electric vehicle mandates, including Volkswagen, GM and Ford, which will stop selling internal combustion engine vehicles by 2035.
According to IHS Markit, electric vehicles accounted for 3.00 percent of all new car registrations in 2021, up from 1.8 percent in 2020.
While that number is expected to increase by the end of 2022, also thanks to record gasoline prices and the appearance of many new models of electric vehicles entering the market.
So which states are leading the way when it comes to EV adoption? The associated site, Iseecars gives us an idea.
Here’s a ranking of states by their share of electric cars:
| Ranking of States by percentage of electric vehicles | ||
| Position | state | National percentage of electric vehicles |
| 1 | California | 23.2% |
| 2 | Texas | 13.9% |
| 3 | Florida | 8.0% |
| 4 | Arizona | 4.8% |
| 5 | Georgia | 3.4% |
| 6 | Washington | 3.4% |
| 7 | Illinois | 3.0% |
| 8 | New York | 3.0% |
| 9 | New Jersey | 2.8% |
| 10 | North Carolina | 2.8% |
| 11 | Oregon | 2.7% |
| 12 | Colorado | 2.5% |
| 13 | Virginia | 2.3% |
| 14 | Maryland | 2.2% |
| 15 | Ohio | 2.1% |
| 16 | Pennsylvania | 1.8% |
| 17 | Utah | 1.7% |
| 18 | Indiana | 1.4% |
| 19 | Tennessee | 1.4% |
| 20 | Nevada | 1.3% |
| 21 | Massachusetts | 1.3% |
| 22 | Minnesota | 1.1% |
| 23 | Alabama | 0.9% |
| 24 | Missouri | 0.9% |
| 25 | Michigan | 0.9% |
| 26 | Mississippi | 0.8% |
| General average | 0.9% | |
| 27 | Connecticut | 0.7% |
| 28 | Wisconsin | 0.7% |
| 29 | Arkansas | 0.5% |
| 30 | Kentucky | 0.5% |
| 31 | South Carolina | 0.5% |
| 32 | Nebraska | 0.4% |
| 33 | Hawaii | 0.4% |
| 34 | Oklahoma | 0.4% |
| 35 | Kansas | 0.3% |
| 36 | Iowa | 0.3% |
| 37 | New Hampshire | 0.3% |
| 38 | Vermont | 0.2% |
| 39 | Louisiana | 0.2% |
| 40 | New Mexico | 0.2% |
| 41 | Idaho | 0.2% |
| 42 | Maine | 0.2% |
| 43 | Delaware | 0.1% |
| 44 | Rhode Island | 0.1% |
| 45 | Montana | 0.1% |
| 46 | West Virginia | 0.1% |
| 47 | North Dakota | 0.0% |
| 48 | Alaska | 0.0% |
| 49 | South Dakota | 0.0% |
| 50 | Wyoming | 0.0% |
Californiawhich is a leader in the electric vehicle movement as the first state to announce a zero-emission vehicle mandate, has the highest proportion of electric vehicles accounting for 23.2 percent of the nation’s electric vehicles.
The top four states: California, Texas, Florida, and Arizona account for almost half of the country’s electric vehicles.
Washington and Oregon have a disproportionately high share of used electric vehicles. Washington accounts for 1.6 percent of all used cars on the road and accounts for 3.4 percent of the nation’s used EV share.
Oregon accounts for 1.5 percent of all used cars on the roads and accounts for 2.7 percent of the nation’s used electric vehicle share.
North Dakota, Alaska, South Dakota, and Wyoming, which are all mountain states, have the lowest proportion of electric vehicles.
There are currently 16 states that have followed California’s lead as a Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) state.
ZEV states have regulations in place to achieve long-term emissions reduction goals by requiring manufacturers to supply the cleanest cars possible.
These states include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.
ZEV states generally have more EV than non-ZEV states, as more EV is generally available to consumers in ZEV states.
However, more states are expected to adopt California emission standards to become ZEV states, likely further boosting EV adoption.