Oregonians’ appetite for electric cars was undiminished last year, with sales rising more than 40% — despite a stagnant overall market for new cars.

During 2023, 1 in 7 new cars registered in the state was an electric vehicle, according to the Oregon Department of Transportation.

The 25,000 new electric vehicles registered last year represented a 41% increase from 2022, an even faster increase than the prior year. (The state counts plug-in electric hybrids as electric vehicles.)

A new analysis by S&P Global Mobility, cited in The New York Times, finds the Portland area ranks seventh among the nation’s 50 largest metro areas by share of new electric cars.

“People want more fuel-efficient vehicles,” said Sata Donaca, economist with the Oregon Department of Transportation. Others want a vehicle that stands out, she said, and most electric vehicles sold today are designed with luxury features to justify their typically higher price tag.

Strikingly, sales kept climbing all year, even after the state suspended a $2,500 electric vehicle rebate in April because the program ran out of money. (The rebates will resume, for up to two months, beginning this week.)

The vast majority of vehicles sold in Oregon still run on internal combustion engines. Though electric vehicle sales are growing rapidly, there are several reasons most people still prefer a gas-powered vehicle:

• People who rent their homes may not have a place there to charge an electric car. Others have “range anxiety” about potentially running out of power during a long drive. Oregon has about 2,900 public charging ports statewide, up about 30% from 2018.

• The up-front cost of electric vehicles is generally much higher than comparable gas-powered cars, though rebates, tax incentives and the savings from not having to buy gasoline can help bridge the gap.

• There’s concern about reliability. A report last fall by Consumer Reports found electric vehicles have 79% more issues than gas-powered cars. (However, hybrid vehicles had 26% fewer problems than those with only internal-combustion engines.)

The Biden administration issued new rules this month aimed at reducing auto emissions. By 2032, it expects slightly more than half of new vehicles sold will be electric.

Oregon forecasts it will hit that inflection point a bit earlier, in 2029 or 2030.

Because there are already so many gas-powered cars on Oregon’s roads, Donaca said it will take a decade longer before the total number of electric vehicles outnumber those with internal combustion engines.

Oregonians are still acquainting themselves with electric cars, Donaca said. She said people are learning about their range and capabilities and working through concerns about how to maintain them and when they might replace an aging electric car’s battery.

Still, Donaca said it’s clear Oregonians are warming to electric vehicles as they learn more about them.

“We are going to see more EV sales as the market becomes more familiar,” she said.