California leads the nation in electric vehicle sales, and now is joining forces with Oregon and several Northeastern states to put 3.3 million zero-emission vehicles on the road by 2025.

Gov. Jerry Brown and his counterparts in Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont signed a set of agreements Thursday that includes adding zero-emission vehicles to public fleets and harmonizing building codes to make it easier to install electric-vehicle charging stations.

“This is not just an agreement but a serious and profoundly important commitment,” Brown, long a champion of electric vehicles, said in a statement. “From coast to coast, we’re charging ahead to get millions of the world’s cleanest vehicles on our roads.”

California and the population-dense Northeast corridor account for roughly 1 in 4 vehicle sales in the United States. The hope is that additional state incentives can help drive consumer demand and ultimately lower costs through economies of scale.

“One of the biggest barriers for folks to buy ZEVs is price,” Colin Santulli, of the California Center for Sustainable Energy, or CCSE, said in San Diego. “The price is high because of the cost of the batteries. The mores states can commit to supporting the vehicles, the more we can help to drive the cost of batteries down.”

California currently has about 50,000 zero-emission vehicles on its roadways. They include Tesla’s all-electric Model S sedan, the Chevy Volt, the Nissan Leaf, and the plug-in Toyota Prius, as well as fuel cell vehicles. By 2025, California hopes to have 1.5 million ZEVs on the road.

The state offers up to $2,500 in rebates for the purchase or lease of zero-emission and plug-in hybrid light-duty vehicles. The CCSE administers the Clean Vehicle Rebate Project on behalf of the California Air Resources Board. To date, more than 37,000 rebates have been issued. Of those, nearly 5,400 rebates were issued in Santa Clara County. More than $36 million remains in the state fund for clean-vehicle rebates.

Some auto analysts question if the ambitious targets can be met, noting that persuading consumers to migrate en masse to electric and plug-in hybrid cars remains a challenge.

“As it stands today, zero-emission vehicles remain out of reach for the typical budget-conscious consumer, especially when compared to far more affordable compact and subcompact cars,” said Alec Gutierrez, a senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book. “Until battery costs come down, electric-vehicle range increases, and infrastructure to support zero-emission vehicles improves, we expect to see market share continue to grow at a snail’s pace in the short term.”

Susan Griffin, a member of the board of the American Lung Association, applauded the multistate agreement. Her grandson has asthma, and Griffin stressed that zero-emission vehicles are key to improving air quality and reducing asthma attacks, heart attacks, strokes and other harmful health impacts caused by traffic congestion and vehicle exhaust.

“In addition to helping children like my grandson, the air quality improvements from zero-emission vehicle technologies will also benefit seniors, low income communities and communities of color, anyone who is suffering from heart or lung disease and other sensitive groups,” said Griffin. “Every zero-emission vehicle on the road will help people breathe easier.”

Each state has its own package of incentives but plan to coordinate more closely. Rhode Island has installed 50 electric-vehicle charging stations, including 25 at state parks with free public charging. Vermont and the Canadian province of Quebec are building a “Green Corridor” with a series of charging stations connecting Burlington and Montreal. Oregon offers partial rebates for the cost of a home or workplace charging station.

“One of the largest complaints from automakers has been that states are approaching zero-emission vehicles differently,” said Simon Mui, a senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council. “This is a clear signal that at least eight states have a common vision to help grow the market.”

Contact Dana Hull at 408-920-2706. Follow her at Twitter.com/danahull.