A Look At Tesla's Plug-In Electric Car Sales Dominance In U.S.

Four out of five BEVs sold in the U.S. were Teslas in 2018

Tesla was the author of unprecedented growth for plug-in electric cars in 2018 as without the Model 3, the results in the U.S. would be - we believe - moderate at best.

As we dig deeper into the numbers, it turns out that the majority of plug-ins sold had a Tesla badge. In the case of all-electric cars the share is crushing.

See Also

U.S. Plug-In Car Sales – December 2018

Let's start with the general plug-in electric car category. Tesla delivered around 191,627 cars, which is 53% of the total 361,307.

A year ago, the share was about 25.1% (50,139 vs. 199,818), so Tesla basically more than doubled its market share in the plug-in segment.

The Model 3 alone holds 37%! Here are the stats:

• Model 3 – 38.7% (139,782)
• Model X – 7.2% (26,100)
• Model S – 7.1% (25,745)
• Total: 53% (191,627)

The comparison of Tesla with plug-ins is not necessarily the best one, because the plug-in hybrids are a different species compared to fully electric cars, especially those with short range. We will see then how Tesla stands in the BEV category.

We estimate that in 2018, some 235,758 all-electric cars were sold, which gives Tesla a share of 81.3% (with peak of 89% noted twice - in September and December)! Model 3 alone is responsible for almost 60%! A year ago Tesla had "just" 48.4% share.

• Model 3 – 59.3% (139,782)
• Model X – 11.1% (26,100)
• Model S – 10.9% (25,745)
• Total: 81.3% (191,627)