Electric Car Sales 2021

Global sales of plug-in electric vehicles in May 2021: more than 440,000

May was the third best month ever, as sales tripled year over year.
Worldwide sales of plug-in electric passenger cars rose 199% year-over-year in May to around 442,000, making it the third-highest monthly result ever.

The accessories market share improved to 6.6%, which includes:

BEV: 295,000 (4.4%)
PHEV: 147,000 (2.2%)
See more of our sales reports for the month of May 2021.

Sales are expected to expand further 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:

Tesla Model 3 – 30,874 and 172,672 YTD (# 1)
Tesla Model Y – 29,378 and 101,674 YTD (# 3)
Wuling’s Hong Guang MINI EV – 26,742 and 152,667 YTD (# 2)
Volkswagen ID.4 – 8,529 and 26,271 YTD (# 5)
Changan Benni EV – 8,371 (22,819 YTD # 12)
Volkswagen ID.3 – 6,227 and 23,929 YTD (# 10)
Renault ZOE – 6,020 and 22,987 YTD (# 11)
Toyota Prius Prime – 5,850 and 20,096 YTD (# 20)
BYD Han EV – 5,764 and 32,865 YTD (# 4)
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:

Tesla – 60,282 and 276,459 YTD (# 1)
BYD – 31,736 and 110,427 YTD (# 4)
Volkswagen – 29,203 and 118,856 YTD (# 3)
SAIC-GM-Wuling – 27,890 and 161,610 YTD (# 2)
BMW – 21,537 and 105,419 YTD (# 5)
Mercedes-Benz – 16,044 and 88,186 YTD (#) 6
SAIC – 15,364 and 73,086 YTD (# 8)
Volvo – 15,269 and 75,763 YTD (# 7)
Audi – 13,232 and 60,763 YTD (# 9)
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%).

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