Electric Vehicle Registrations Jump First Half of 2021

Electric vehicle registrations nearly doubled during the first four months of 2021. Data from Experian and reported by Automotive News show that between January 1 and April 30 of 2021, 133,509 new EVs hit American roads, a 95 percent increase compared to the same period in 2020. As a portion of the entire U.S. vehicle market, EVs accounted for 2.3 percent of new registrations during the first four months of 2021.

Tesla leads the pack by a wide margin, chalking up nearly 92,000 newly registered vehicles during the period. The automaker’s new Model Y compact crossover SUV accounted for more than 53,000 registrations alone. Tesla’s other vehicles, the Model 3, Model S, and Model X, declined in registrations, though the Model 3 remained securely in the second-most-popular slot at nearly 35,500 registrations. 

With the dramatic performance of the Model Y, Tesla remains the fourth best-selling luxury brand in the U.S. behind BMW, Lexus, and Mercedes-Benz.

Mass-market brands fill the next three slots on the new-registrations list. Chevrolet ranks third with its Bolt EV, putting a little more than 13,600 examples on the road. Ford’s new Mustang Mach-E comes in fourth, followed by the Nissan Leaf with 5,023 new registrations.

Another finding in the Experian registration data is that California’s share of new EV registrations declined during the first part of 2021. The state accounted for 38 percent of registrations, down from 45 percent in 2020. Florida and Texas saw the next largest share of EV registrations at 7.2 percent and 5.9 percent, respectively. This data suggests residents in other states are rapidly adopting EVs.

New vehicle registration data is an important market signal because some automakers have quit reporting monthly sales figures while others, such as Tesla, do not report any sales information.

Experian is the source of information for this article, as reported by Automotive News. It was accurate on June 21, 2021, but it may have changed since that date.