Oregonians who switched from gas-powered vehicles to electric have helped the state reach a new milestone — more than 100,000 registered EVs in the state.
At a joint press conference on Monday, directors from the Oregon Department of Transportation, Oregon Department of Energy and Oregon Department of Environmental Quality announced the state has recorded 102,461 zero-emissions vehicle registrations.
An electric vehicle charges at Oregon Museum of Science and Industry's parking lot in Portland, Ore., on Nov. 18, 2024. OMSI partnered with Portland General Electric's Drive Fund to add EV stations at OMSI.
Monica Samayoa / OPB
More than 70,000 of the registrations are battery electric vehicles and about 30,000 are plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, making EVs nearly 3% of the state’s overall registered vehicles. There are EV registrations from every Oregon county.
“Last I heard, I think that ranks us third or better in the country, so that is fantastic news to help reduce our greenhouse gas emissions due to transportation,” ODOT director Kris Strickler said.
About 10 years ago, the state had about 5,500 EV registrations, Strickler said. That number jumped to 27,000 five years ago.
“Fast forward to 2023, we average somewhere around 1,800 new net EV registrations per month, a significant jump in the registrations,” he said.
That rapid increase has been fueled, in large part, by state-funded incentives that make purchasing the vehicles more affordable, and officials expect federal funds to boost some of these programs further next year. With a second Trump administration set to begin near the end of January, the state Department of Energy says it’s unlikely the federal funds would be rescinded.
According to the agency, the transportation sector accounts for about a third of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions.
ODOE’s director Janine Benner said the transportation sector is also where Oregonians spend most of their energy dollars, and most transportation fuel is imported.
“We paid over $11 billion in 2022 to other states and countries where extraction, processing, and refining of transportation fuels occurs,” she said. “So shifting to more electric cars on the road can bring that number down, reducing emissions and keeping Oregonians dollars here in the state, using clean solar, wind and hydro to power our cars.”
The increase in electric vehicle adoption seen across the state is influenced by many factors, including partnerships between the three state agencies as well as utilities and nonprofit organizations that educate people about EVs.
The state has several programs and incentives aimed at helping get Oregonians into an EV, as part of the push to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions and remove air pollutants that emit from gas-powered vehicles.
Senate Bill 1044, passed in 2019, outlined electric vehicle targets for the state, and set a target of 250,000 registered EVs by 2025.
Though the state may not reach that goal by the end of next year, ODOT’s Strickler said he expects the state will be on track to reduce about 60% of greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector by 2050, and said installing more public EV chargers will help increase adoption.
Rebates are also a big factor.
The state Department of Environmental Quality offers two rebates, one based on income and the other open to all Oregonians.
The Oregon Clean Vehicles Rebate program was designed to encourage residents to transition from gas-powered vehicles. The program receives at least $12 million a year, or 45% of the state’s vehicle privilege tax — a tax paid by car dealerships.
DEQ Director Leah Feldon said the agency distributed its first rebate in 2018 and has seen “incredible growth” since then.
“At the time we knew transitioning to electrification would help reduce air pollution and improve public health, but we couldn’t be entirely certain about the appetite among people in Oregon for buying or leasing electric vehicles,” Feldon said. “Now I look at our statistics, and it confirms that there has in fact been immense interest from the public in investing in EVs.”
As of November, DEQ has issued more than $99 million in rebates to more than 33,000 applicants. Feldon said about $30 million of those funds were distributed to low- and moderate-income households.
“Those numbers mean that more than a third of the 100,000-battery electric, plug-in and hybrid cars, light trucks and SUVs registered in the state have received an Oregon Clean Vehicle rebate,” she said.
But the popularity of the rebate program caused it to run out of money for two years in a row. The program was receiving more applications for the rebates than it had the money to distribute, though it was able to reopen for a couple of months in 2023 and 2024.
According to Oregon Department of Energy data, the temporary pauses in rebates did not slow people down from getting an EV. Trends show an increase in adopting EVs, especially as car manufacturers offer a broader range of options from smaller city cars to trucks to SUVs.
And starting in 2025, Feldon said, an additional $30.5 million in federal funds will be made available for residents who qualify for the low to moderate-income household rebate the agency offers.
“These funds will help ensure that we are making the electrification, transition and clean vehicle options accessible to all,” she said.
Ed De La Fuente, senior program manager with nonprofit Forth, said rebates are exactly what’s needed to continue to get more people in EVs. Forth is dedicated to increasing equitable access to electric transportation and educating people about EVs.
De La Fuente said educating people outside of the Portland metro area and adding more public EV chargers are necessary if the state wants more people to adopt electric vehicles.
“People don’t have the opportunity to learn about the benefits of electric vehicles and there are a lot of the heavy users of fuel in those rural areas,” he said. “So the more of them that can adopt electric transportation, the more savings there is in greenhouse gas emissions and in the cost of fuel as well, so it’s an economic solution for people, as well as providing good air quality.”
He said he hopes the momentum seen across the state can continue through the next several years.
