Electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming more & more popular each passing year with developed markets witnessing a flurry of options offered by various global automakers. Every automobile manufacturer is heavily investing in EVs and it is predicted that within a few years from now, electric vehicles will achieve the same level of production as that of petrol and diesel powered cars today.
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Most automakers have already announced their road map to go all-electric, ditching the production & development of combustion engine cars. It is assumed that by 2035 almost all major passenger car production around the world will be electrified. But in a race to grab the EV market share, which automaker sells the most number of electric vehicles in the world today? Well, the latest report by InsideEVs has the answer. Keep in mind only pure electric, or simply Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) are being discussed here, and not HEVs (Hybrid Electric Vehicles) or PHEVs (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles).
For many years, Tesla and Volkswagen Group (including VW, Audi, Porsche, Skoda and SEAT) remain the two EV manufacturers battling for the top 2 positions. Tesla recently achieved another quarterly record of electric car deliveries: 310,048 units were sold in Q1, 2022 which is massive compared to other manufacturers.
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Volkswagen Group was often seen as a company that will be able to quickly scale up battery-electric car sales of multiple brands and overtake Tesla in the BEV business. However, the company struggles with semiconductor shortages and more recently with wire harnesses supply issues. Due to these constraints, Volkswagen Group’s BEV sales are growing slower than Tesla on year-over-year basis, and are actually lower than in the previous three quarters.
As a result, the difference between the two has expanded to over 210,000 units. Tesla managed to produce and deliver over three times more electric cars during the period, which is the highest ratio in quite some time. VW just managed 99,100 units, which is just 32% of Tesla’s sales or 148,800 less units in Q1, 2022.
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But the result like this means there is a new contender to claim the slot for second position among the bestselling BEVs. China’s BYD, saw its battery-electric car sales increased by staggering 271% year-over-year to 143,224 units in Q1, 2022. That’s significantly more than the BEV sales of Volkswagen Group.
This is also the first time that BYD has surpassed VW Group in the global BEV sales while its numbers are 46% compared to that of Tesla. Analysts believe, if BYD continues with this pace it will remain the 2nd bestselling BEV brand of this year & not just this quarter, but we will have to wait to see if VW Group bounces back.
Related: BYD Aims to Become Second Car Company to Reach 1 Million EV Sales in a Year
Sales of the 3 above mentioned automakers are expected to grow even further in future. Tesla just opened two new plants (in Germany and in Texas), the Volkswagen Group is expected to gradually solve its parts supply issues and unlock full potential with 300,000 orders in hand for BEVs in Western Europe alone. BYD is already targeting 600,000 BEV sales in 2022. Last year, BYD also became the second car company to clock 1 million EV sales in a year. However the way global EV sales are increasing, other automotive groups will soon join the race for grabbing the top sales spot.
Source: InsideEVsÂ
A computer animation professional with over 23 years of industry experience having served in leading organizations, TV channels & production facilities in Pakistan. An avid car enthusiast and petrolhead with an affection to deliver quality content to help shape opinions. Formerly written for PakWheels as well as major publications including Dawn. Founder of CarSpiritPK.com
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