Global plug-in electric vehicle market share reaches 5.8 per cent in 2021

The global share of plug-in electric vehicles has  surged in recent months, and according to recently gathered figures, the global share registered so far this year has reached 5.8 per cent, with full battery EVs (BEVs) making up a total of 3.8 per cent.

The figures were published at the end of April by José Pontes of EV Sales, who regularly tracks global EV sales on his blog.

According to Pontes, over 1.1 million PEVs (plug in vehicles, including plug in hybrids – PHEVs – and full battery vehicles) have been registered so far in 2021 with nearly half of these, 531,000 units, coming in March, marking the second-best month on record.

Battery EVs saw a total of 351,000 units registered in March, leading Pontes to conclude that “we might be seeing the plugin market hit over 5 million units this year.”

Unsurprisingly, Tesla keeps a tight grip on the top EVs sold, with two of the top three models, led by the Model 3, replicating the same standings recorded in February.

Moreover, according to Pontes, the Tesla Model 3 set “a new all-time monthly record for a single EV model” with close to 76,000 units registered in March. The top three together also represent almost 30% of total March deliveries.

Of the others, the Nissan Leaf came in sixth in year to date sales and seventh in March, while the Hyundai Kona EV was sixth in terms of March registrations, and eight in terms of sales/registrations this year.

The leading plug-in hybrid EV for the month of March was again the Volvo XC60 PHEV, with 6,081 units registered, followed by the Volvo XC40 PHEV, with 5,812 registered in March.

In total, Tesla became the first company to record a six-digit total sales/registrations for the month, with 108,398 for March.

Behind Tesla in terms of percentage of EVs is Chinese vehicle manufacturer SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile, a joint venture between SAIC Motor, General Motors, and Liuzhou Wuling Motors, which recorded a 9% total share.

Mercedes also jumped up to a 5% share thanks to its lineup of PHEVs and its ever expanding BEVs.