Tesla Model Y became the best-selling electric car in the world in August, selling twice as many vehicles as its closest competitor, BYD Song. Thanks to unstoppable sales growth from Tesla and several other manufacturers, global sales of electric vehicles have reached 18%.
The sales data for all electric vehicles for August 2023 has been processed and José Pontes, who published them via CleanTechnica. Obviously, there were no surprises and Tesla Model Y continues to firmly hold its place as the best-selling electric car in the world. With 115,885 sales, the SUV left no chance for its competitors.
In second place was BYD Song, whose combined sales of plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) and battery electric vehicle (BEV) variants brought in only 57,603 units. Unfortunately, separate sales data for PHEVs and for BEVs are not provided, so it is difficult to estimate how many of the total units sold represent true environmental value. In third place, only behind by fewer than 1,000 units, was Tesla Model 3 with 48,518 sales. BYD Qin Plus (PHEV and BEV) was in fourth place with 42,818 units. In fifth place was BYD Seagull with 34,841 units sold.
In August 2023, global electric vehicle registrations increased by 45% compared to August 2022. A new milestone was reached: sales of 1,238,00 units. Thus, the total share of plug-in vehicles in the world has increased to 18% of the total automobile market share. Meanwhile, the share of BEVs alone (excluding PHEVs) was an impressive 13%. This means that BEVs accounted for 71% of plug-in registrations, maintaining a year-to-date share of 70%.
It is noteworthy that Tesla continues to produce more Model Ys, and still the car’s share of the global market continues to increase. Model Y is the best-selling car in Europe in the first eight months of the year. Overall data for all other countries is not yet available. However, as of July, Model Y was the best-selling car in the world regardless of powertrain type. The Texas manufacturer’s electric SUV is expected to become the world’s best-selling vehicle in 2023, as predicted by Elon Musk.
