According to new registration data, Tesla (TSLA) is leading a 95% increase in electric car sales in the US.
However, the automaker’s market shares are sliding, but that’s something that was expected.
As we previously reported, Tesla’s market share of the electric vehicle market in the US is quite ridiculous.
For the entire year of 2020, Tesla vehicles accounted for 79% of new electric vehicles registered in the US.
During that period, the automaker was leading an 11% increase in electric vehicle sales in the market.
It didn’t sound like much, but the results were impressive considering that broader car sales were down in 2020 due to the pandemic.
Now in 2021, it looks like electric vehicles are back to significant growth in the US.
A new report from Experian digs into new car registrations to show that electric vehicle sales grew 95% between January and April 2021 compared to 36% for the overall US new car market.
Tesla is still leading, but its lead eroded to 71% market share.
The top-selling models look somewhat similar to last year’s with a few changes, like Ford adding itself to the list with the Mustang Mach-E and Audi and Porsche accelerating sales.
Here are the top 10 best-selling EVs in the US from January to April 2021, according to registration data:
- Tesla Model Y: 53,102
- Tesla Model 3: 35,468
- Chevrolet Bolt EV: 13,611
- Ford Mustang Mach-E: 6,104
- Nissan Leaf: 5,023
- Audi e-tron: 4,321
- Porsche Taycan: 3,002
- Hyundai Kona: 2,192
- Tesla Model X: 1,730
- Tesla Model S: 1,633
Electrek‘s take
As we stated in our last report about registration data, we expect Tesla’s sales in the US to keep growing, but its EV market share to drop as more EVs become available, and they account for a larger portion of the overall new car market in the country.
It might be what is happening now with Tesla going from 79% in 2020 to 71% in the first four months of 2021.
However, I would note that the lack of Model S and Model X sales for most of those four months due to delays in bringing the new version to market account for a significant part of the market share eroding.
It will be interesting to see what happens in the second half of the year with Model S and Model X back in the mix and new EVs hitting the market like the Ioniq 5 and the VW ID.4 in higher volumes.
While I am a big fan of Tesla, I am looking forward to seeing their market share drop in the US because it would mean that there are more compelling EV options becoming available and overall EV market shares would be gaining on gas-powered cars, which is Tesla’s mission.
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