Top 10 Electric Vehicles in USA — Charts

Some key US electric vehicle sales data aren’t easy to come by these days. We don’t get numbers for several of the most popular models because their makers don’t break out sales of different models (Tesla — Model Y versus Model 3) or different powertrains of the of models that come in gas or electric versions (the Hyundai Kona and Kia Niro). As a result, my quarterly reports on US EV sales exclude the latter and involve an estimate for the Model Y vs. Model 3 split. Also, Tesla’s doesn’t even report its US sales, only global sales, so even the Tesla sales are a combined 3 + Y estimate.

Though, Experian collects registration data from various states and has apparently just released some numbers for EV sales in the first half of the year. We now have a list of the top 10 highest selling electric vehicle models in the country based on registration data (see above for a chart for the first half of the year, and see the bottom of the article for additional charts).

Note that Experian’s numbers are a bit different from what automakers who do share detailed monthly or quarterly sales results have reported — sometimes a couple thousand higher, sometimes a couple thousand lower. Nonetheless, it’s a good data check for the Tesla models and the Kia Niro EV and Hyundai Kona EV.

Since we have Q1 data for 8 of those 10 models, we can also have a look at how those 8 models did in the second quarter. Interestingly, the data show a drop (sometimes a dramatic drop) for 7 of those 8 models.

Is there a data collection problem (delayed registrations in second quarter)? Have automakers been prioritizing other regions to the detriment of the US market? Are supply challenges (chips, chips, chips) reducing deliveries and registrations? Elon Musk has certainly been bringing up supply challenges routinely in recent conference calls and tweets, which seem to indicate a bigger problem than in the past.

Any other thoughts on the results?

For a little more fun, here’s an interactive version of the Q1 versus Q2 2021 chart (but note that it may not display well on mobile devices):