Global Plug-In Car Sales: Chinese Models Dominate Top 20 In January 2022

The Tesla Model Y was #1, but the Tesla Model 3 weakened.

Tesla Model Y home charging

Mark Kane

By: Mark Kane

Mar 9, 2022 at 8:25am ET

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After a stunning year in 2021, global passenger plug-in electric car sales continue to increase in January 2022 at a very high rate.

According to EV-Volumes data, shared by Jose Pontes, over 603,000 new passenger plug-in electric cars were registered last month, which is 87% more than a year ago.

Not only that, the market share was estimated at 10%, one point above the 2021 average (9%).

Plug-in car registrations:

BEVs: N/A (up 94% year-over-year)
PHEVs: N/A (up 72% year-over-year)
Total: 603,007 (up 87% year-over-year) and 10% share

See more of our sales reports for the month January 2022.

A very strong start of the year, combined with the trend that usually sales increase towards the end of the year, makes us very optimistic about the possibility to exceed 10 million units for the very first time.

Global Plug-In Electric Car Sales – January 2022

For reference, in 2021, almost 6.5 million new passenger plug-in electric cars were registered globally, which is about 108% more than the 3.1 million in 2020.

The average market share improved to about 9% (including 6.1% BEVs), compared to 4% in 2020 (including 2.8% BEVs),

Plug-in car sales:

BEVs: about 4.6 million (up about 115% year-over-year) and 6.1% share
PHEVs: about 1.9 million (up about 93% year-over-year) and 2.9% share
Total: 6,495,388 (up 108% year-over-year) and 9% share

Model rank

If we check the top 20 most popular plug-in models, it turns out that in January, the list was dominated by the Chinese models. There are 17 Chinese plug-in cars in the top 20 (including 7 BYD), and the remaining three - Tesla Model Y, Tesla Model 3 and Volkswagen ID.4, are partially produced in China too.

Jose Pontes noted that a year ago, there were 9 Chinese models in the top 20, while two years ago only 2.

Nonetheless, the Tesla Model Y managed to beat all of the Chinese plug-ins and take #1 with 32,700 units. The Model Y is clearly on the rise (best January ever), while the Model 3 noted its lowest monthly result since April 2021.

Top 10 in 2021:

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Brand rank

Tesla had a very strong end of 2021, but in the first month of 2022, there is no match for BYD, which noted some 93,263 units, compared to 51,302 Tesla. The third best is the SAIC-GM-Wuling joint venture.

Top 10 in 2021: