California’s governor in 2012: over 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles by 2025. There were 2.24 million
Jerry Brown23 March 2012 · Executive Order B-16-2012
«Over 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles will be on California roads»
About 2.24 million ZEVs were on California roads in 2025; 1.5 million was passed in 2023.
Fact: California Energy Commission, Light-Duty Vehicle Population
The mark was passed two years early: 1.52 million in 2023. The state counts plug-in hybrids as zero-emission too.
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In 2012 California’s governor Jerry Brown signed an order: by 2025 there would be over 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles on the state’s roads. Here is how many such vehicles were registered in the state.
First the words: who said it, when and where, verbatim (translations are ours). Answer Yes or No, or just open the answer: the stamp is the outcome, below it what came of it. On the chart the dark line is the fact year by year up to the deadline, the pale one after it; the blue dashed line is the promised number from the year of the words to the deadline, the light band the time the promise gave; the ring on the line is when it was said, the ring in the stamp’s colour the fact in the deadline year, beside it how far it landed from the goal. The numbers on the right are the scale.
- Jerry Brown, Executive Order B-16-2012 quote
«Over 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles will be on California roads»
- What happened exceeded
About 2.24 million ZEVs were on California roads in 2025; 1.5 million was passed in 2023.
Goal: governor’s executive order B-16-2012 of 23 March 2012. Fact: California Energy Commission, Light-Duty Vehicle Population, zero-emission fleet by year. Outcome: «came true» — the promised number reached by the deadline («about» within 5%), an event happened before the end of the year promised; «exceeded» — with room to spare; «nearly» — short by no more than 10%; «late» — reached, but after the deadline; «did not come true» — not reached; «came true, then undone» — reached, then reversed. The deadline is the end of the year named.
The order is a state goal, not an obligation of sellers. Plug-in hybrids also run on petrol, but California counts them as zero-emission.
A question for this picture
What helped more: state subsidies, rules for carmakers or cheaper batteries?