California Is First U.S. State to Hit 1 Million Plug-In Cars

California has become the first U.S. state to register more than a million plug-in cars, with almost one-quarter of them arriving in 2021 alone, as electric vehicle sales finally accelerate after years of slow growth.

In California’s case, reaching the 1-million milestone took 11 years.

As of Dec. 31, California drivers had registered 663,014 purely electric cars and 379,125 plug-in hybrids, which use gasoline when not running on electricity. Of those, 183,933 battery-electric cars and 63,141 plug-in hybrids were bought or leased in 2021, according to data from the California Energy Commission. Together, they accounted for more than 12% of all light-duty vehicles sold ...