March saw the Chinese plug-in electric vehicle market surpass 110,000 units, up 86% year over year (YoY). Meanwhile, the mainstream market was down 7% in March, allowing the March plug-in vehicle (PEV) share to reach 5.8%. That pulls the PEV market share to 5.1%, which is already well above the 2018 result (4.2%).
Global sales, growth, and market data for China, the US, and Europe
Traditionally, February, along with January, are the two slowest months in the Chinese plug-in vehicle market, but with sales growing 58% year over year (YoY) last month, to some 53,000 units, especially in the context of a falling market (the mainstream market was down 17% last month), one can’t really complain about this market, despite the plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) market share dropping slightly to 4.7% (4.3% in February). However, the 2019 result is already above the 2018 result (4.2%).
Traditionally, January, along with February, are the two slowest months in the Chinese plug-in vehicle market, but tradition is not what it used to be. Even with disruption hitting the Chinese automotive market (the mainstream market was down 18% last month), plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) sales were up an amazing 175% year over year (YoY), to some 96,000 registrations.
Following up on my “Top 10 Best Selling Plug-In Vehicle Brands In 2019” article, this one is for EV purists. If you missed the intro in that one, I recommend reading it. Otherwise, let’s jump into my forecast for the best selling fully electric vehicle brands of 2019.
When people ask me which will be this year’s best selling EV, the answer is simple: Tesla Model 3.
But when people want to know more, I can guesstimate that the runner-up spot should come from one of these three models: Nissan Leaf, BAIC EC-Series, or BYD Yuan EV, with the Japanese hatchback probably surpassing the Chinese models.
China’s biggest EV maker, BYD, had strong EV sales in January 2019, pointing towards another breakout year of EV growth in the middle kingdom.
We’ve published something like a bazillion Tesla sales charts and stats. (See “30 Nasty Charts,” for example.) But this is actually a new one. Jose Pontes of EV Volumes and CleanTechnica has his 2018 tally wrapped up and it puts the Tesla Model 3 in the #1 position globally among all plug-in vehicles.
After a 3 month streak of record-breaking sales, plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) in December just kept on pushing forward. China registered over 180,000 PEVs in December, making it the 4th record month in a row and achieving 70% year-over-year (YoY) growth. That meant that 2018 sales ended north of the 1 million units mark. Yes, over 1 million PEVs in one year. And to think that 2017 was the first year that plug-ins reached 1 million sales globally. Whoa.
After two record-breaking months (September with 105,000 sales and October with 120,000), plug-in vehicles in November just kept on pushing forward. There were more than 140,000 registrations there last month, up 59% year over year (YoY). The previous record was beaten by a significant margin (18%).
