Car culture. There are lots of other places where people have money and concern for the environment. I grew up in NY (right near Roosevelt Field, actually), and I probably wouldn't have considered a Tesla if I still lived there. Crappy roads full of potholes, salt and slush in the winter and tons of traffic make driving a chore in that part of the country. Florida and California both have great weather year-round, good roads (parts of SoCal are starting to age in this respect), and a large group of affluent natives who love to have nice cars. My neighborhood is affluent, but the houses aren't multi-million dollar mansions or anything, yet we have every conceivable luxury car brand in our tiny development, and many other similar developments in Florida are the same. People would simply rather spend on their cars than houses. I think Cali is very much the same.