Oregon Hits 100,000 Electric Vehicle Registrations in Decade-Long Green Push

Oregon and nine other states’ 2013 agreement to collectively register 3.3 million electric vehicles has reached fruition, with the state registering over 100,000 in the last 12 years.

Oregon Meets Electric Vehicle Registration Target

In an effort to reduce pollution and combat climate change, the then-governors of Oregon and nine other states- California, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont, reached an agreement in 2013 to collectively register 3.3 million electric vehicles by 2025.

On Monday, a report by the Boston-based nonprofit association of state air pollution control agencies, Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management, indicated that the states had reached this target.

Oregon Governor Tina Kotek called reaching this goal of shifting new car buyers toward electric rather than gas-powered vehicles a milestone.

The 10 states had agreed to boost policies and public information that could spur the sales of zero-emission vehicles in their respective states at a time when transportation was- and still is, the biggest contributor to planet-warming greenhouse gases in Oregon and across the US. Then-Gov. John Kitzhaber signed the agreement when just 300 electric vehicles were registered in Oregon.

The Oregon Department of Energy confirmed that by 2025, over 100,000 electric vehicles were registered in the state, representing around 5% of all new cars registered in Oregon in the last decade.

While over 150 models of electric vehicles are now available to buy in the US, there were 16 in 2013.

Sales grew steadily in the first few years after the 2013 memorandum in the 10 states, but sales doubled between 2022 and 2024 after Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which included a $7,500 tax rebate on the purchase of a new electric vehicle in 2022.

In 2017, Oregon lawmakers introduced a rebate program offering up to $7,500 back on purchasing an electric vehicle.

While the rebate program was paused in June 2024 due to a lack of funding, it is expected to resume in 2025. A third of all electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles registered in Oregon received a Clean Vehicle Rebate, which has cost the state almost $100 million since 2017.