In August, new all-electric car registrations in the United States continued to grow at a healthy rate but slightly missed the 100,000 mark, which was exceeded in July for the first time.
According to the registration data from Experian (via Automotive News), the total number of BEV registrations, during the first eight months of 2023, amounted to 754,811, which is about 64 percent more than a year ago and about 7.3 percent of the total market (up from 5.0 percent at the time in 2022). The market share of 7.3 percent is the highest value ever recorded.
Registration data lags behind sales/deliveries, by at least several weeks, but can be used as a proxy of sales, especially since not all sales numbers are publicly available (specifically on a monthly basis).
A comparison with the previous report for the January-July period allows us to calculate the number of new registrations in August, which amounted to almost 99,000 (up 53 percent year-over-year).
The Automotive News article says that Tesla noted 437,944 new registrations (46 percent more than a year ago) during the eight-month period. The non-Tesla BEV registrations (calculated as the difference between the total and Tesla) amounted to 316,867 (up about 98 percent year-over-year) and 42 percent share.
The most interesting thing is that Tesla’s share in the BEV segment decreased from over 65 percent a year ago at this point of the year to 58 percent this year.
BEV registrations in January-August 2023:
- Tesla (58% BEVs): 437,944 (up 46%)
- Non-Tesla (42% BEVs): 316,867 (up 98%)
- Total: 754,811 (up 64%) and 7.3% market share (vs. 5.0% a year ago)
The article says that Tesla’s year-over-year growth of new registrations amounted to 21 percent in August (47,583 units), which is more than two times slower than in the case of the overall BEV expansion and almost four times slower than the non-Tesla BEV expansion (up almost 100 percent year-over-year).
Brands
When it comes to BEV sales, Tesla remains significantly ahead of other brands. Chevrolet and Ford were the best of the rest with respectively 45,295 and 40,125 new registrations.
BEV registrations (brands for which data are available) in January-August 2023:
- Tesla: 437,944 (up 46%)
- Chevrolet: 45,295 (up 174%) and 6% share
- Ford: 40,125 (up 22%) and 5.3% share
- Hyundai: N/A, 4.6% share
- BMW: N/A, 3.7% share
- Rivian: 25,694 and 3.4% share
- Mercedes-Benz: 23,798 and 3.2% share
- Volkswagen: 23,576 (up 158%)
- Kia: N/A, 2.7% share
- Nissan: N/A, 1.6% share
- Volvo: N/A, 1.3% share
- Subaru: 5,313
- Toyota: 5,283
- Lucid: 4,267
- VinFast: 215
- Fisker: 106
Overall, out of 27 brands, 15 had a market share lower than one percent in the BEV segment.
Models
In terms of the best-selling models (most registered, to be precise), the Tesla Model Y registrations doubled year-over-year, reaching 263,971 during the first eight months of the year. The Tesla Model 3 increased by 19 percent, while the Model S and Model X are down by 51 percent and 18 percent respectively year-over-year.
Among the best-selling and fastest-growing models are the Chevrolet Bolt EV/EUV (both to be discontinued soon) and the Volkswagen ID.4.
BEV registrations in the US (models for which data are available) – January-August 2023:
- Tesla Model Y – 263,971 (up 95%)
- Tesla Model 3 – 148,068 (up 19%)
- Chevrolet Bolt EUV: 27,802 (up 136%)
- Volkswagen ID.4: 23,576 (up 158%)
- Ford Mustang Mach-E: 22,785 (down 11%)
- Hyundai Ioniq 5: 21,170 (up 25%)
- Chevrolet Bolt EV: 17,368 (up 270%)
- Tesla Model X: 16,162 (down 18%)
- Tesla Model S: 9,743 (down 51%)
- BMW i4: 16,117 (up 415%)
- Rivian R1S: 13,241 (up 140x from 94)
- Rivian R1T: 8,108
- Subaru Solterra: 5,313
- Toyota bZ4X: 5,283
- Lucid Air: 4,267
- VinFast VF 8: 215
- Fisker Ocean: 106
- Chevrolet Blazer EV: 96
- Chevrolet Silverado EV: 29