While hybrid and electric vehicle sales have been increasing in recent years, some cities and states have experienced skyrocketing demand for alternative fuel vehicles.

Car search engine iSeeCars.com analyzed the U.S. regions with the biggest shift in market share for alternative fuel vehicles since 2014. The study showed that hybrid and electric vehicle demand is growing faster in central and rural areas than in densely populated coastal cities. 

“You expect to see strong hybrid and electric vehicle sales in states like California, Oregon, and Washington, or in cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, or Seattle,” said Karl Brauer, executive analyst at iSeeCars. “While those areas do have the highest percentage of alternative fuel vehicles, the areas with the greatest growth in hybrid and electric vehicle share come from states and cities few would expect.”

For example, the state with the highest growth in hybrid/electric vehicle share is Mississippi, with a 240.9% growth in market share. The second highest state is Hawaii, at 116.5% growth, followed by Utah, with 97% growth.

The other states that make up the top 10 for highest growth in hybrid/electric vehicle share include: Maryland (with 84.3% growth), Wyoming (with 79.1% growth), Nevada (with 78.8% growth), Texas (with 76.9% growth), Colorado (with 75.6% growth), California (with 75.2% growth), and Michigan (with 71.6% growth).

More than half of the states in the top 15 are not typically associated with a strong interest in “green” vehicles, according to iSeeCars.

“It’s pretty amazing that California barely makes the top 10 in terms of hybrid and electric vehicle growth since 2014, even with strong incentives encouraging their purchase,” said Brauer. “Conversely, despite not having any statewide incentives, Mississippi’s EV adoption is growing faster than all other states and could continue to do so as Nissan has plans to manufacture EVs in its Mississippi plant in the coming years.”

The states with the lowest growth in hybrid/electric vehicle share include South Carolina (at -11.3%), South Dakota (at -2.8%), and Florida (0.0%).

“Florida previously had an above-average EV adoption rate, and our data suggests that demand has remained steady but hasn’t increased,” said Brauer. “Of course, Florida’s 0% growth rate is still ahead of South Dakota and South Carolina, which actually lost alternative fuel vehicle market share between 2014 and 2022.”

iSeeCars analyzed over 16.3 million (one- to five-year-old) used car sales sold in May 2021-April 2022 as well as calendar year 2014. The share of hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and electric vehicles was calculated in each period for each U.S. state and the top 50 metro areas.