California Governor Gavin Newsom Slams Elon Musk's Tesla, Applauds Rivian After In-State Zero-Emission Vehicles Sales Rise To Over 118K Units In Q2: 'Tesla Is Not The Exclusive Manufacturer Any Longer...'

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced on Tuesday that more than 118,000 new zero-emission vehicles were sold in the state in the second quarter, accounting for 25.7% of all vehicle sales in the state and trumping the national average by a significant margin.

What Happened: Californians purchased 118,181 ZEVs in the second quarter, according to the California Energy Commission. Zero-emission vehicles include battery electric vehicles (BEV,) plug-in hybrids, and fuel-cell electric vehicles.

"California continues to prove the naysayers and skeptics wrong because our innovation is simply unmatched,” Newsom said in a statement. He also added that the state is focused on rapidly deploying funds for the development of a charging network that meets the increase in demand.

According to data from the California New Car Dealers Association released last month, California’s BEV market share through the end of the second quarter was 21.4%, much higher than the U.S. BEV market share of 7.5%. As per the association, Tesla’s new registrations fell 17% in the first half of 2024 while that of Rivian Automotive rose by nearly 77%. Tesla’s mass-market Model Y SUV, however, continues to be the best-selling EV in the state, followed by the Model 3.

Why It Matters: "I want to applaud and thank the extraordinary work that Rivian has done," Newsom said on Tuesday, as reported by Forbes.

"Tesla is not the exclusive manufacturer any longer in this space. You’re seeing a dramatic shift in competition across the sector. This is exactly what was predicted. This is exactly what we have been promoting: competition in the space."

Tesla CEO Elon Musk moved Tesla’s headquarters from California to Austin a few years ago citing disagreements with state policies, and subsequently, he also moved his company’s incorporation to Texas.

Moreover, Musk also said that he would be moving the headquarters of his rocket manufacturing company SpaceX from Hawthorne in California to Starbase in Texas.

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