US: BEV Car Registrations Reached Nearly 350,000 In Jan-Apr 2023

That's about seven percent of the total sales.

Jun 15, 2023 at 6:21pm ET

All-electric car sales in the United States accelerated in April, far outpacing the general car market and expanding its market share.

According to the registration data from Experian (via Automotive News), the total number of BEV registrations during the first four months of 2023 amounted to 348,258, which is 72 percent more than a year ago and about 7 percent of the total market (up from 4.4 percent at the time in 2022).

For reference, the total number of light-duty vehicle registration amounted to over five million.

Registration data lags behind sales/deliveries, by at least several weeks, but can be used as a proxy of sales, especially because not all sales numbers are publicly available (specifically on a monthly basis).

Tesla, as the largest BEV player, noted 211,842 new registrations (up 52 percent year-over-year) in the January-April period, which translated into about 60.8 percent share out of the total BEV segment. That's a very high result (slightly better than in Q1), but not as high as a year ago (close to 70 percent), because the overall market expands faster.

This allowed us to calculate that non-Tesla BEV registrations amounted to 136,416 (up about 116 percent year-over-year) and 39.2 percent share.

BEV registrations in January-April 2023:

Tesla (60.8% BEVs): 211,842 (up 52%)
Non-Tesla (39.2% BEVs): 136,416 (up about 116% from roughly 63,000)
Total: 348,258 (up 72%) and 7% market share (up from 4.4% in 2022)

It's worth noting that in April alone, more than 90,000 new BEVs were registered, including over 56,000 Tesla. The top three BEV brands in the country were Tesla, Chevrolet and Ford.

BEV registrations (select brands) - January-April 2023:

Tesla: 211,842 (up 52%) and 60.8% share (down from close to 70%)
Chevrolet - 24,689 and 7.1% share
Ford - 17,167 and 4.9% share
Volkswagen - 11,858 (up 236%)
Rivian - 9,302
Lucid - 2,298
VinFast - 83

In terms of the best-selling models (most registered to be precise), the two at the top are the Tesla Model Y (127,541) and Model 3 (72,259). One of the most interesting things is that the Tesla Model 3 is still growing (up 28 percent year-over-year), while the Tesla Model Y doubled its volume, taking more than a third of the BEV segment for itself.

Next is the Chevrolet Bolt EV/Bolt EUV duo with almost 25,000 units and the Volkswagen ID.4 (11,858). However, in the later part of the year, we are expecting a strong push from the Ford Mustang Mach-E and the Ford F-150 Lightning.

BEV registrations in the US (select models) - January-April 2023:

Tesla Model Y - 127,541 (up 99%) and 36.6% share
Tesla Model 3 - 72,259 (up 28%)
Chevrolet Bolt EUV - 16,036 (up from 1,191)
Volkswagen ID.4 - 11,858 (up 236%)
Chevrolet Bolt EV - 8,653 (up from 454)
Tesla Model X - 8,216 (up 15%)
Ford Mustang Mach-E - 7,972 (down 25%)
Hyundai Ioniq 5 - 7,957 (down 7.4%)
Ford F-150 Lightning - 7,085 (up from 100)
BMW i4 - 6,560 (up from 250)
Rivian R1T/R1S - 9,302
Tesla Model S - 3,826 (down 67%)
Lucid Air - 2,298
Ford E-Transit - 2,110
VinFast VF 8 - 83
GMC Hummer EV Pickup - 28 (down from 156)

Additionally, Automotive News report includes a comparison of total registrations of premium brands, including Tesla.

As we know, not everyone perceives Tesla as equivalent to other premium brands (an apple-to-apple comparison). Still, as of now, the automotive industry lists Tesla among the premium/luxury brands.

The top five after April remain stable, with Tesla far ahead of everyone else and with the highest growth rate and BMW as the best of the rest. The important thing is that most of the top 15 premium brands in the US noted year-over-year growth.

Premium brand registrations in the US - January-April 2023: