In August, global sales of plug-in electric cars exceeded 1.2 million units, which was the third-best result ever (almost a new record).

According to EV-Volumes data, shared by Jose Pontes, 1,238,484 new passenger plug-in electric cars were registered globally in August (45 percent more than a year ago). That’s about 18 percent of the total market (compared to 15 percent a year ago) and one of the best results so far this year.

Together with some 800,000 non-rechargeable hybrids, once again, roughly a quarter of the global car market is somehow electrified – xEVs (BEVs, PHEVs, HEVs).

All-electric car sales were close to 900,000 units and represented 13 percent of the total volume alone. Plug-in hybrids are a much smaller segment with some 350,000 units sold (rough estimate).

Plug-in car registrations for the month:

• BEVs: about *880,000 and 13% market share
• PHEVs: about *358,000 and 5% market share
• Total: 1,238,484 (up 45%) and 18% market share

* estimated from the market share

So far this year, more than 8.1 million plug-in electric cars were registered around the world, which is about 16 percent of the total volume, we estimate.

Plug-in car registrations year-to-date:

• BEVs: about *5.7 million and 11% market share
• PHEVs: about *2.5 million and 5% market share
• Total: 8,184,819 (up 42%) and 16% market 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

Just like in previous months, the Tesla Model Y was the best-selling plug-in model in August with 115,885 new registrations, far above other models.

The other best-selling rechargeable cars are the BYD Song (BEVs and PEVs counted together), Tesla Model 3, and BYD Qin (BEVs and PEVs counted together), followed by three all-electric BYD models – Seagull, Yuan and Dolphin. With three more Chinese BEVs, including the GAC Aion Y, BYD Han, and GAC Aion S, the top 10 is 80 percent Chinese.

Top 10 for the month:

1. Tesla Model Y – 115,885
2. BYD Song Plus (9,081 BEVs + 48,522 PHEVs) – 57,603
3. Tesla Model 3 – 48,815
4. BYD Qin Plus (11,663 BEVs + 31,155 PHEVs) – 42,818
5. BYD Seagull – 34,841
6. BYD Yuan Plus (aka Atto 3) – 32,690
7. BYD Dolphin – 32,288
8. GAC Aion Y – 26,719
9. BYD Han (10,506 BEVs + 12,355 PHEVs) – 22,861
10. GAC Aion S – 22,650

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

After the first eight months of the year, the Tesla Model Y further expanded its advantage over other models, while the BYD Song family (mostly PHEV) beat the Tesla Model 3 for second place.

Brand rank

BYD continues to be the most popular plug-in brand with a record of over 261,000 new registrations in August.

Tesla was the second best with over 170,000 units (the best result for all-electric car registrations).

The next best was the GAC Aion with over 51,000, followed by Volkswagen and BMW (both above 43,000). The next five brands had around 30,000-35,000 registrations.

Top 10 for the month:

1. BYD – 261,504
2. Tesla – 170,171
3. GAC Aion – 51,570
4. Volkswagen – 43,711
5. BMW – 43,304
6. SAIC-GM-Wuling – 35,110
7. Li Auto – 34,914
8. Geely – 31,751
9. Changan – 30,758
10. Mercedes-Benz – 29,354

After the first eight months of 2024, there is now a step change between BYD (over 1.7 million) and Tesla (over 1.17 million). However, Tesla has an upper hand in terms of all-electric car volume (BYD also sells plug-in hybrids and is the world leader in this segment, closely following Tesla in terms of all-electric car segment).

Most recently, the first brands reached the level of 300,000 new registrations (GAC Aion and BMW), while Volkswagen was not far behind.

Top Brands And Automotive Groups

Additional data related to the automotive group reveals the largest players when it comes to plug-in electric cars or more specifically, all-electric cars.

Top automotive groups by share in the plug-in segment for the January-August period:

• BYD – 21.8% (1,783,739)
  including Denza brand
• Tesla – 14.4% (1,177,908)
• Volkswagen Group – 7.3% share (594,562)
• Geely–Volvo – 6.1% (498,145)
• SAIC – 5.4% (444,431)
  including SAIC-GM-Wuling joint venture (between SAIC, GM and Liuzhou Wuling Motors)
• Stellantis – 4.6%
• BMW Group – 4.1%
• Hyundai Motor Group – 4.1% (just about 4,000 units behind BMW Group)
• GAC – 4.0%

The same comparison, but limited to all-electric cars only brings us a different view (BYD is gradually approaching Tesla).

Top automotive groups by share in the all-electric segment for the January-August period:

• Tesla – 20.6% (1,177,908)
• BYD – 15.7% (897,768)
  including Denza brand
• Volkswagen Group – 7.8% share (443,618)
• SAIC – 7.5% (426,106)
  including SAIC-GM-Wuling joint venture (between SAIC, GM, and Liuzhou Wuling Motors)
• GAC – 5.6% (321,664)
• Geely–Volvo – 5.6%