Tesla outsells Porsche, Jaguar, others in Calif.

Chris Woodyard | USA TODAY

While much of the U.S. is slow to embrace electric cars, California seems to be falling in love with them -- especially Tesla's Model S.

The swoopy electric sedan outsold all models from other luxury brands Porsche, Volvo, Lincoln, Land Rover and Jaguar during the first half of the year in the Golden State, reports the California New Car Dealers Association, based on new-vehicle registrations.

With 4,714 new Teslas registered over the six months, it even topped some established conventional luxury models like Lexus GS, at 2,298, and Audi A6, at 1,619.

All that is impressive for a new model costing more than $60,000 and upwards of $100,000. Its even more impressive for a car that can only be fueled from an electric plug. Unlike the Chevrolet Volt, the Tesla has no backup gas engine, but has far greater range than other electric cars, rated at up to 265 miles.

Of course, CEO Elon Musk has a long ways to take Tesla before it truly becomes a permanent player in the automotive world. It not only has to hit this year's sales target, but keep the momentum going into next year. So far it has only the single model, and another, the Model X crossover, is on the way.

California may be the country's largest state for auto sales, forecasted by the association to be 1.7 million for the year, up 11.1% over last year. But it is also unusual. The top-selling new car for the state was the Toyota Prius hybrid, with 33,987 for the first half of the year. It handily outsold the vehicle that is the nation's top seller, the Ford F-Series pickup truck, at 19,887.