Global Plug-In Electric Car Sales - May 2021

Global passenger plug-in electric car sales increased in May by 199% year-over-year to about 442,000, which happens to be the third-highest monthly result ever.

Plug-ins market share improved to 6.6%, including:

• BEVs: 295,000 (4.4%)

• PHEVs: 147,000 (2.2%)

See more of our sales reports for the month May 2021.

Sales are expected to further expand later this year, reaching new all-time highs.

During the first five months of 2021, plug-in sales stand at almost 2 million, while the market share increased to 5.8% (3.8% BEVs), compared to 4% a year ago.

Model rank

The Tesla Model 3 and Tesla Model Y were the top-selling models in May, followed by the Wuling Hong Guang MINI EV, Volkswagen ID.4 and a Chinese newcomer - the Changan Benni EV.

The top-selling models for the month:

1. Tesla Model 3 - 30,874 and 172,672 YTD (#1)

2. Tesla Model Y - 29,378 and 101,674 YTD (#3)

3. Wuling's Hong Guang MINI EV - 26,742 and 152,667 YTD (#2)

4. Volkswagen ID.4 - 8,529 and 26,271 YTD (#5)

5. Changan Benni EV - 8,371 (22,819 YTD #12)

6. Volkswagen ID.3 - 6,227 and 23,929 YTD (#10)

7. Renault ZOE - 6,020 and 22,987 YTD (#11)

8. Toyota Prius Prime - 5,850 and 20,096 YTD (#20)

9. BYD Han EV - 5,764 and 32,865 YTD (#4)

10. Hyundai Kona Electric - 5,241 and 24,914 YTD (#7)

The top-selling plug-in hybrid was the Toyota Prius Prime (5,850). There were only four PHEVs in top 20.

Brand rank

Tesla continues to be the top EV brand globally with a huge advantage both for the month and for the year. In May, we can see strong results also from BYD and Volkswagen.

The brands for the month:

1. Tesla - 60,282 and 276,459 YTD (#1)

2. BYD - 31,736 and 110,427 YTD (#4)

3. Volkswagen - 29,203 and 118,856 YTD (#3)

4. SAIC-GM-Wuling - 27,890 and 161,610 YTD (#2)

5. BMW - 21,537 and 105,419 YTD (#5)

6. Mercedes-Benz - 16,044 and 88,186 YTD (#)6

7. SAIC - 15,364 and 73,086 YTD (#8)

8. Volvo - 15,269 and 75,763 YTD (#7)

9. Audi - 13,232 and 60,763 YTD (#9)

10. Toyota - 11,714 and 43,960 YTD (#13)

An interesting thing is that Nissan is no longer listed among the top 20 EV brands for the year, as Skoda took #20 with 26,061 units. It's amazing what happened with Nissan, who was an EV pioneer.

Among automotive groups, Tesla remains the top player (14% share), followed by Volkswagen Group (13%) and SAIC (12%).

Source: Jose Pontes (EV Volumes) - CleanTechnica