April was another strong month for plug-in electric car sales around the world, although this time the result is lower than one million units – maybe the last time in history.
According to EV-Volumes data, shared by Jose Pontes, some 928,739 new passenger plug-in electric cars were registered globally in April. That’s about 70 percent more than a year ago and about 14 percent of the total market.
The majority of rechargeable cars are all-electric with a result of more than 660,000 and a 10 percent market share. Plug-in hybrids are significantly behind with just over a quarter million units.
An interesting finding is that non-rechargeable hybrids are also growing (808,000 units in April), which takes the total electrified car sales to more than 1.7 million.
Plug-in car registrations:
- BEVs: about *663,000 and 10% share
- PHEVs: about *265,000 and 4% share
- Total: 928,739 (up 70% year-over-year) and 14% share
* estimated from the market share
So far this year, more than 3.5 million plug-in electric cars were registered around the world, which is about 13 percent of the total volume.
Plug-in car registrations year-to-date in 2023:
- BEVs: about *2.51 million and 9.2% share
- PHEVs: about *0.99 million and 3.8% share
- Total: 3,500,691 (up 38% year-over-year) and roughly 13% share
* estimated from the market share
For reference, in 2022, more than 10 million new passenger plug-in electric cars were registered globally for the very first time.
In April, without any surprise, the Tesla Model Y continued to be the best-selling electric car in the world (almost 75,000 units).
The rest of the pack was led by the BYD Qin Plus (BEV + PHEV), Tesla Model 3, and the all-electric BYD Yuan Plus – all three in close proximity to each other (38,000-40,000 units).
Overall, only the two Tesla models were able to compete with the invasion of Chinese models, which occupied eight out of ten top positions. The Volkswagen ID.4 was #12 (13,714).
Top 10 for the month:
- Tesla Model Y – 74,546
- BYD Qin Plus (BEV + PHEV) – 40,006
- Tesla Model 3 – 38,217
- BYD Yuan Plus (aka Atto 3) – 38,108
- BYD Song Plus (BEV + PHEV) – 35,927
- BYD Dolphin – 30,607
- GAC Aion Y – 21,069
- GAC Aion S – 19,570
- Wuling Hong Guang MINI EV – 18,089
- Wuling Bingo – 15,011
* BEV and PHEV versions of the same models were counted together in the source.
After the first four months, we can see the Tesla Model Y strengthened at the top. The BYD Song family is competing with the Tesla Model 3 for second place.
There are five BYD model families, and eight Chinese plug-ins in the top 10, which shows us how strong China is in 2023.
In terms of the most popular plug-in brands, BYD noted almost 200,000 units, far outselling any other brand.
Top 10 for the month:
- BYD – 198,941
- Tesla – 116,954
- GAC – 41,114
- SAIC-GM-Wuling – 34,551
- Volkswagen – 33,714
- BMW – 33,610
- Mercedes-Benz – 26,182
- Li Auto – 25,681
- Volvo – 22,313
- Geely – 21,797
After the first four months, BYD remains the largest manufacturer of rechargeable cars (over 20 percent share) with a solid advantage over Tesla. BYD also expands sales of BEVs/PHEVs faster than Tesla expands sales of BEVs. Tesla, of course, is the sole leader in the all-electric car category.
BMW, Volkswagen, GAC, SAIC-GM-Wuling, and Mercedes-Benz also sold a six-digit number of plug-in cars during the first four months.
