Competition looming, Tesla still dominates top 10 best-selling EVs in 2022

The electric vehicle market in the U.S. is still fairly new, and Tesla has largely dominated that market since its inception. However, competition in the EV space is increasing as legacy automakers begin releasing their own zero-emission vehicles, and although Tesla still dominates the market, the automaker’s market share has gradually been decreasing over the past few years. 

Tesla’s Model Y SUV and Model 3 sedan were the two top-selling vehicles in the U.S. in Q1 this year, according to a report from MarketWatch (via KBB). The news comes at a time when electric vehicles made up over 5 percent of total car sales for the first time ever, and as many legacy automakers are starting to see substantial sales of their first few EVs.

Tesla sold 46,707 Model 3 units in the first quarter, and its sales of the Model 3 and Model Y combined made up an impressive 68 percent of the overall EV market share. By comparison, Tesla’s vehicles made up 70 percent of the market share in 2021, and they made up 75 percent of the EV market share in 2020.

Still, the slight decline in Tesla’s market share is to be expected, and will continue so long as old wave automakers continue to release their EVs. Despite the increasing competition, traditional automakers have a long way to go before reaching the EV sales volume Tesla has achieved.

Tesla’s Model 3 and Y sales were followed distantly by Ford’s electric Mustang Mach-E, which sold just 6,734 units. Tesla’s Model X followed the Mach-E, and the Model S was the quarter’s seventh most sold EV.

Other vehicles on the top 10 best-selling list for Q1 include the Hyundai Ioniq 5, the Kia EV6, the Nissan Leaf, the Kia Niro and the Audi e-Tron.

The news also comes as Ford, Rivian General Motors and others are releasing their first electric pickups — something Tesla currently doesn’t offer, with the highly-anticipated Cybertruck to begin production next year.

The first 99 buyers received their GMC Hummer EV units in Q1, while 43 took delivery of the Amazon- and Ford-backed startup Rivian’s R1T. Ford is also just beginning delivery of the Ford F-150 Lightning.

For Tesla, the completion of the new Gigafactory location in Austin, Texas will also play a crucial role in the coming years as U.S. EV competition continues to increase. With production set to increase, sales are likely to follow suit, and Tesla is uniquely positioned as a company to weather the oncoming EV revolution.

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