Despite consistent hurdles to EV adoption, namely price and range-anxiety, the world is intent on electrifying its cars. EV sales in June made up a 19% chunk of the total automotive market, globally. And plug-in vehicle registrations were up nearly 40% in June 2023 compared to the same month last year.
And, unsurprisingly, Tesla (TSLA) -) handily dominated global EV sales in June, with its Model Y selling more than 130,000 units and its Model 3 selling 68,850. And though Tesla took the top two slots, BYD (BYDDY) -), a leading Chinese EV maker, filled the best-selling list behind Tesla. Eight of the company's models were among the top 20 best-selling plug-in EVs in the world. Five of these models were in the top 10.
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BYD in total sold more than 251,000 plug-in EVs in June alone, InsideEVs reported. The company remains the top-selling plug-in brand worldwide -- including all-electric and hybrids, slightly beating out Tesla, though the two are far above the rest of the competition. Tesla doesn't produce hybrids.
Tesla's Chinese EV sales dropped around 30% from June to July to around 64,000 cars. BYD surged into the gap, reporting a 61% year-over-year increase in July sales to 261,105 passenger vehicles.
Over the past three months, BYD delivered 383,000 fully-electric, or battery-electric vehicles (BEVs), as opposed to Tesla's record 466,000 BEV deliveries. Though Tesla delivered more than BYD, the Chinese automaker is not far behind.
And even as Tesla works to cut prices to entice consumers to go all-in on EVs, even a Model 3 loaded up with the best federal and state tax credits out there can't come close to the price of one of BYD's newest models, the Seagull.
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The Seagull starts at $10,200 -- BYD sold more than 23,000 of these cheap EVs in June alone. Though it isn't clear when the model might be made available in the US, it will help the company continue to pressure Tesla for that sought-after bestseller spot on the charts.
Despite its prominence, BYD, at $110 billion, is valued at a fraction of Tesla's $820 billion market cap.
