In the last few months, almost all the major automotive groups has announced their entry into the EV market. Be it Jaguar or General Motors through the new Chevy Bolt. The point is clear! The days of combustion engines are limited and electric vehicles will soon be the new normal. Until now, the EV market was dominated solely by Tesla. Combining innovation and technology, Tesla has surely changed the way the automobile industry works today.
But with other major players coming to the EV market, will Tesla still hold on to its top spot? Only time will tell. But one thing we can be sure about is the fact that the Elon Musk-led EV brand will continue to surprise us with its innovation and vision.
So let’s take a quick look at the Automotive EV groups and their sales of 2020 –
For those who are unaware, the EVs can be categorized into two categories, Hybrid which is also known as plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) and the other is pure electric-battery electric vehicles (BEV). As you might have guessed, BEV is completely electric. It has an on-board battery which supplies power to the electric motor. EVs are charged from an external electricity supply. Whereas PHEV has a small combustion engine along with an electric powertrain, which lets you have the bot the options.
Sales of Battery-electric only (BEV)
When you consider Pure-EVs’ sales, Tesla completely dominates the market with approximately 500000 sales, contributing to 23% of the total share. In fact, if you see the figures, you will notice that Tesla’s sales are more than double the second spot, which SAIC holds with 11%. The third spot is captured by the Volkswagen group, which is behind SAIC by just 16k sales. It also holds 11% of the share.
The next 2 spots are covered by The Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, which holds 8% of the shares, followed by BYD, which stands on 5h with 6% of the shares.
If you notice the proportions, the top 5 Pure-EVs cover nearly 60% of the market. At the same time, all the other brands make up the rest 40%.
List of the top 5 EV brands based on car sales in Q1-Q4 2020:
- Tesla: 499,535 (23% share)
- SAIC: 243,201 (11% share)
- Volkswagen Group: 227,394 (11%share)
- Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance: 172,673 (8% share)
- BYD: 131,705 (6% share)
Sales of Plug-ins (PHEVs)
The next major section is the Plug-ins EVs. It’s a great choice for someone who isn’t much comfortable with pure-Evs and hence wants to have the features of both. The only issue is that PHEVs have a much more complex inner design as both engines are integrated. PHEVs also offer less range as compared to pure Evs. Yet, it brings the best of both worlds, allowing the user to use sustainable energy and turn to fuels when required.
So when you consider the sales of PHEVs, you will again find Elon Musk’s Tesla leading the charts. But the fact is Tesla’s sales in PHEVs have dropped since last year. It fell from 17% to 16% in 2020. In fact, it was the Volkswagen group that has dominated the list and also the Q4. It rose from the number 6 spot in 2019 to be the most sold PHEV in 2020, after Tesla. Following its surge and Tesla’s drop, it won’t be wrong to expect Volkswagen to top the chart in 2021.
List of the top 5 PHEVs based on sales in Q1-Q4 2020:
- Tesla: 499,535 (16% share)
- Volkswagen Group: 421,591 (13% share)
- SAIC: 272,210 (9% share)
- Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance: 226,975 (7% share)
- BMW Group: 195,979 (6% share)
Here too, if you pay attention, you will notice that the top 5 brands contribute to more than 51% of the total sales while the rest of the brands make up just 48%. Also, an interesting fact to notice here is that PHEVs have more sales (3 million) in total than BEVs (2 million).
The automotive sector is witnessing a massive shift towards electric vehicles, and these EV groups are leading the way. In fact, it is expected that by 2030, the majority of the cars sold will be Evs. The future is rather unpredictable, and it will be fascinating to see what other major brands bring to the table. The question remains, will Tesla be able to hold on the top spot?