Which Utah city has the most clean cars? Data reveals the changing ways we drive.

The Utah Division of Motor Vehicles has released the latest data on vehicle registrations, meaning every vehicle that received a Utah license plate sticker last year. Here’s how the cars and trucks in the state are changing:

More people than vehicles, but the gap is closing

Utah had an estimated 3,417,734 people on July 1, 2023, and 2,942,473 vehicles that received 2024 registration stickers last year. We have added about 56,000 people a year in recent years. Last year, we added 77,536 vehicles. The ratio of vehicles to people is similar to national statistics.

Trucks and SUVs rule

The SUV/pickup truck love affair continues. Since 2020, Utah has added 393,875 “light trucks,” which include pickups and SUVs, including small SUVs like the Subaru Forester. That is a 32% jump. Over the same period, the number of passenger cars in the state has declined by 154,421, a 12% drop.

Heavy and dirty

Heavy trucks, defined as everything from delivery vans to semitrucks, have gone up 11,868 since 2020, a 13.6% gain. Heavy trucks are overwhelmingly powered by fossil fuels, mostly diesel. Of the 99,293 heavy trucks in Utah, there are only 95 electric and 12 hybrid trucks.

Natural gas losing ground

Compressed natural gas vehicles, once thought to be a clean-air solution, are in decline. There were 6,064 natural-gas-powered vehicles in 2020. That’s now down to 4,744. One segment, heavy trucks, has seen a gain in natural gas vehicles, rising from 792 trucks in 2020 to 1,012 trucks in 2024.

Tier 3 coming on strong

As Utah’s fleet gets updated, it’s getting cleaner, largely because of the federal Tier 3 program that combines cleaner fuel with cleaner-operating cars.

Four of Utah’s five gasoline refiners have converted to Tier 3 fuels, and the fifth, Big West Oil, plans to convert this year. When Tier 3 fuels are put in Tier 3 cars (model year 2017 or newer), it cuts pollution by up to 80%. Some 37% of Utah’s passenger cars and light trucks are now 2017 or newer, up from 32% last year and 17% in 2020.

EVs rise, but still a small number

Electric vehicles are the fastest-growing segment in Utah, but they remain a small fraction. Utah registered 37,175 electric vehicles in 2023, up from 25,532 in 2022, a 45.6% leap in one year. EVs are now 1.26% of Utah’s fleet.

Last year’s numbers for all states aren’t available yet, but a U.S. Department of Energy comparison of 2022 numbers puts Utah in 10th place among states (and the District of Columbia) for the percentage of electric vehicles. Utah’s 0.93% in 2022 was slightly above the national average of 0.86%.

Utah’s ranking comes despite the fact that it is not a “ZEV” state. There are 17 states that have mandated that a certain percentage of vehicles be “zero-emission vehicles,” and automakers have prioritized sending clean vehicles to those states.

Of the eight states and District of Columbia that have a higher percentage than Utah, only Arizona is not a ZEV state.

Twice as many hybrids as EVs

Hybrid vehicles have been around longer than EVs (Toyota brought the Prius to the U.S. in 2000), and there are twice as many hybrids (76,598) as EVs (37,175) in Utah. But we added close to the same number of each last year: 11,643 EVs and 12,671 hybrids.

We also have 11,777 plug-in hybrid cars registered last year, up 2,633 over the previous year. (Like hybrid vehicles, plug-in hybrids have a gas motor and an electric motor. Plug-in hybrids can be charged from a charger. Regular hybrids charge their batteries only when they’re driving.) Plug-in hybrids are still a small fraction of the fleet, but they’ve shot up by 126% in the past five years.

Where are the clean cars?

Combined, EVs, hybrids and plug-in hybrids are now 4.27% of the state’s motor vehicles.

In general, EVs and hybrids are more common in higher-income areas. They’re also more common in bigger cities, where there is more charging infrastructure. There are some exceptions to that in moneyed rural towns like Rockville and Hideout.

Here are the top 10 Utah cities and towns in percentage of clean cars:

• Holladay 8.84%

• Brighton 8.42%

• Millcreek 8.40%

• Cottonwood Heights 8.18%

• Rockville 8.15%

• Vineyard 7.90%

• Hideout 7.79%

• Highland 7.57%

• Park City 7.56%

• Draper 7.56%

Summit leads among counties

Summit County is the clean-car leader among Utah’s 29 counties, with 5.99% of registered vehicles being either EV or hybrid. Rural counties with little charging infrastructure — and petroleum-producing counties — are at the bottom.

• Summit, 5.99%

• Utah, 5.11%

• Salt Lake, 5.07%

• Davis, 4.81%

• Washington, 4.28%

• Wasatch 4.11%

• Cache 3.65%

• Morgan 3.64%

• Weber 3.29%

• Grand 2.65%

• Iron 2.47%

• Tooele 2.36%

• Box Elder 2.22%

• Kane 2.01%

• Garfield 1.71%

• Wayne 1.69%

• Juab 1.65%

• San Juan 1.61%

• Sanpete 1.59%

• Rich 1.50%

• Beaver 1.41%

• Sevier 1.24%

• Carbon 1.20%

• Millard 1.17%

• Emery, 0.98%

• Uintah, 0.98%

• Duchesne, 0.85%

• Daggett, 0.85%

• Piute, 0.79%

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