
Our transition from fossil fuels continues. Every three months, I report here how the transition is going. With recent events at the federal level, I was reluctant to look at how we’re doing. But, so far, not too bad.
EV Purchasing
Over the last year, in the Edmonds-Lynnwood-Mountlake Terrace area, electric vehicle purchasing rose 26% from 6% of vehicle purchases in the first three months (Q1) of 2024 to 8% in Q1 2025, according to data from the Washington State Department of Licensing. Gasoline-powered vehicle purchases fell from 94% of sales to 92%.
In the Edmonds-Lynnwood-MLT area, the portion of used vehicle purchases that were electric is up 146% from 2% in Q1 2024 to over 4% in Q1 2025. The portion of new vehicle purchases that were electric held steady at 20%.
In Washington state overall, electric vehicle purchasing rose 18% from 4.5% of purchases in Q1 2024 to 5.3% in Q1 2025.
For Washington state overall, EV purchasing rose 48% for used vehicles and 6% for new. The higher EV growth in used vehicles reflects EV growth in new vehicles in prior years. The increase in EV buying in used sales is partly because there are more used EVs to buy.
What you see on the road
Electric vehicles are now 3% of the vehicles registered in Washington State. In the Edmonds-Lynnwood-MLT area, one out of 25 vehicles is electric.
Although 20% of new vehicle purchases are electric, the total number of vehicles on the road are no more than 4% electric. You don’t see many EVs because electric vehicles are a new thing. Of the electric vehicles in Washington state, half were built in the last two years.
The oil commitment of a new gasoline-powered car
If you’re in the market, buying a used EV is a great thing to do. You save money on energy and maintenance and you save on the purchase price too. The tax credit of $4,000 (or 30% of the purchase price) continues through this year. You are also joining the gasoline boycott. A boycott stopped the ozone hole, and boycotts help stop global warming.
Buying or leasing a new electric vehicle saves on energy costs and maintenance. It also reduces the total gasoline burning and greenhouse gas pollution of the cars on the road. Used car sales move cars around. New car sales feed the pool.
Each new gasoline car comes with a guarantee of releasing about 76 metric tons of carbon dioxide pollution by burning about 8,000 gallons of gasoline. By comparison, the average American causes about 15 metric tons of carbon dioxide pollution each year. Buying a gasoline-powered car is making a commitment to 5 years of an American’s global warming pollution.
Burning those 8,000 gallons of gasoline requires extracting about 400 barrels of oil, which is about 2,250 cubic feet of oil. That is for one car. When you drive your new car off the lot, everything in that car adds up to less than 10 cubic feet of material. (When a car crusher squishes a car into a block, the block is about 8 cubic feet.) If your new car is gasoline powered, along with those 8-10 cubic feet, you made a commitment for another 2,250 cubic feet of resources dug and pumped out of the ground to move you from place to place.
You could sell that gasoline-powered car tomorrow and buy an EV, and your 2,250 cubic feet of oil and 76 tons of carbon dioxide are still committed. Someone will drive that gasoline car 200,000 to 300,000 miles.

If you are planning to buy a used EV, don’t feel hassled into buying a new one. You’re doing great driving a used EV. But if you are planning to buy a new car, get an EV. Even better, lease one. With leasing, you can launch a new EV into the world every three years.
Tesla Sales
With Elon Musk’s DOGE and his support of the AfD in Germany, there have been efforts to discourage people from buying Teslas. Tesla sales have fallen in Europe. In Washington state, after selling 49.6% of the new EVs in 2024, Tesla’s EV market share dropped to 42% in February and fell again in March, down to 37%.
It’s not clear how much of that Tesla drop is due to anti-Musk publicity. Tesla has been losing market share every year since 2020, long before Musk joined up with Donald Trump. This year’s drop might be just more of what has been happening for years.
In Washington state, the Tesla Model Y is the best-selling EV, and the third bestselling vehicle model of any kind, behind only the Toyota RAV4 and the Honda CR-V. You can still get a $7,500 EV tax credit if your household income is less than $150,000 per person/spouse.
Even Better: Walk
Walking and biking are also boycotting gasoline. These days, I’m getting around mostly on bicycle and foot. Riding electric public transportation is boycotting gasoline too.
Nick Maxwell is a certified climate action planner at Climate Protection NW, teaches about climate protection at the Creative Retirement Institute and serves on the Edmonds Planning Board.
Real first and last names — as well as city of residence — are required for all commenters.
This is so we can verify your identity before approving your comment.