Global Plug-In Electric Car Sales Increased 70% In April 2023

April was another strong month for plug-in electric car sales around the world, although this time the result is lower than one million units - maybe the last time in history.

According to EV-Volumes data, shared by Jose Pontes, some 928,739 new passenger plug-in electric cars were registered globally in April. That's about 70 percent more than a year ago and about 14 percent of the total market.

The majority of rechargeable cars are all-electric with a result of more than 660,000 and a 10 percent market share. Plug-in hybrids are significantly behind with just over a quarter million units.

An interesting finding is that non-rechargeable hybrids are also growing (808,000 units in April), which takes the total electrified car sales to more than 1.7 million.

Plug-in car registrations:

• BEVs: about *663,000 and 10% share
• PHEVs: about *265,000 and 4% share
• Total: 928,739 (up 70% year-over-year) and 14% share

* estimated from the market share

Global Plug-In Electric Car Sales – April 2023

So far this year, more than 3.5 million plug-in electric cars were registered around the world, which is about 13 percent of the total volume.

Plug-in car registrations year-to-date in 2023:

• BEVs: about *2.51 million and 9.2% share
• PHEVs: about *0.99 million and 3.8% share
• Total: 3,500,691 (up 38% year-over-year) and roughly 13% share

* estimated from the market share

For reference, in 2022, more than 10 million new passenger plug-in electric cars were registered globally for the very first time.

Model rank

In April, without any surprise, the Tesla Model Y continued to be the best-selling electric car in the world (almost 75,000 units).

The rest of the pack was led by the BYD Qin Plus (BEV + PHEV), Tesla Model 3, and the all-electric BYD Yuan Plus - all three in close proximity to each other (38,000-40,000 units).

Overall, only the two Tesla models were able to compete with the invasion of Chinese models, which occupied eight out of ten top positions. The Volkswagen ID.4 was #12 (13,714).

Top 10 for the month:

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1. Tesla Model Y - 74,546
2. BYD Qin Plus (BEV + PHEV) - 40,006
3. Tesla Model 3 - 38,217
4. BYD Yuan Plus (aka Atto 3) - 38,108
5. BYD Song Plus (BEV + PHEV) - 35,927
6. BYD Dolphin - 30,607
7. GAC Aion Y - 21,069
8. GAC Aion S - 19,570
9. Wuling Hong Guang MINI EV - 18,089
10. Wuling Bingo - 15,011

* BEV and PHEV versions of the same models were counted together in the source.

After the first four months, we can see the Tesla Model Y strengthened at the top. The BYD Song family is competing with the Tesla Model 3 for second place.

There are five BYD model families, and eight Chinese plug-ins in the top 10, which shows us how strong China is in 2023.

Brand rank

In terms of the most popular plug-in brands, BYD noted almost 200,000 units, far outselling any other brand.

Top 10 for the month:

1. BYD - 198,941
2. Tesla - 116,954
3. GAC - 41,114
4. SAIC-GM-Wuling - 34,551
5. Volkswagen - 33,714
6. BMW - 33,610
7. Mercedes-Benz - 26,182
8. Li Auto - 25,681
9. Volvo - 22,313
10. Geely - 21,797

After the first four months, BYD remains the largest manufacturer of rechargeable cars (over 20 percent share) with a solid advantage over Tesla. BYD also expands sales of BEVs/PHEVs faster than Tesla expands sales of BEVs. Tesla, of course, is the sole leader in the all-electric car category.

BMW, Volkswagen, GAC, SAIC-GM-Wuling, and Mercedes-Benz also sold a six-digit number of plug-in cars during the first four months.

See also

Europe: Plug-In Car Sales In April 2023 Amounted To Almost 200,000

Estimated Tesla Order Backlog Increased To 83,000 On May 16, 2023

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