Thank you to our Local Business Sponsor:
New Jersey has hit a new clean energy milestone, officials say: 250,000 electric vehicle (EV) registrations.
Gov. Phil Murphy announced the latest EV totals on Tuesday. The state is currently at 254,444 registered vehicles – a 15 percent increase since December 2024, and a “significant jump” compared to three years ago.
Murphy said that electric cars have gone from a “futuristic concept” to a “practical choice.” The proof is in the pudding, he added, pointing to an “exponential growth” in registered EVs.
Meanwhile, the state continues to build out its EV charging infrastructure, he said.
According to Murphy, there are now more than 1,700 fast-charging ports and 3,300 Level 2 charging ports that are publicly available across New Jersey, with several hundred new ones being added every year.
“By continuing to expand charging infrastructure and cater to consumer preferences by incentivizing electric vehicle purchases, we will reduce the impact of cumulative transportation emissions on our climate for future generations,” Murphy said.
“We will also grow a healthy market that increases consumer choice for cleaner and more affordable vehicles and creates good-paying jobs,” the governor said.
According to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, transportation is the number one source of greenhouse gas pollution.
“The 2023 ozone projection inventory reflects that cars and trucks account for about 21 percent of the manmade volatile organic compounds (VOCs) plus oxides of nitrogen emissions in the air that contribute to the formation of ground-level ozone or ‘smog’ during the summer months,” the NJDEP states on its website.
BYE BYE GAS GUZZLERS: ELECTRIC CARS IN NEW JERSEY
Two years ago, Murphy announced that the state is moving up its goal to reach “100 percent clean energy” by 15 years – an initiative that will also require new cars sold in the state to be all-electric by 2035. Read More: NJ To Require All-Electric Cars, 100% Clean Energy
New Jersey hit a goalpost of 200,000 EV registrations last year, which also got a cheer from the governor. See Related: NJ Hits Electric Vehicle Milestone As All-Electric Deadline Looms
While many Garden State drivers have been warming up to the idea of electric vehicles, many others have not.
According to a 2024 study from Rutgers, half of New Jersey residents do not support the governor’s mandate to phase out the sale of new, gas-powered cars by 2035.
While those polled saw the policy’s environmental and health benefits, they were also concerned about the costs on both a state and personal level – and more than half said they would not be likely to buy an electric vehicle, researchers reported.
“Even as a dozen or so states across the country adopt the same regulations, New Jerseyans are divided on the matter of electric vehicles and the impact they will have,” said Ashley Koning, an assistant research professor and director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University-New Brunswick.
“It is an issue that is heavily influenced not only by partisanship, but also by a hesitancy that likely stems from a widespread lack of information about the vehicles themselves and what the policy entails – not to mention the financial implications and the notable change this would cause in people’s everyday lives,” Koning said.
After Murphy announced that the state hit the 200,000-mark last year, the New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers called it a “positive step,” but added that there is still a long way to go before reaching the 330,000 sales goal that the governor has floated.
“Dealers want to sell what consumers want to buy, but they simply don’t want to buy EVs at the numbers mandated by New Jersey,” the trade group said.
Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com. Learn more about advertising on Patch here. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

source