Registrations of new battery-electric vehicles in the United States have surged in the first quarter of the year, meaning EVs now account for 4.6 per cent of the light vehicle market.
Data firm Experian reports that 158,689 EVs were registered in the U.S. in the first quarter, per Automotive News. It is estimated that Tesla accounted for 113,882 of these registrations, representing a 59 per cent gain over the same time period last year.
Kia secured second place among brands with 8,450 registrations of EVs, thanks primarily to the launch of the EV6 as well as increased demand for the Niro EV. Ford also enjoyed a successful quarter for EV registrations, securing 7,407 of them, a 91 per cent increase over Q1 2021 and driven by an 80 per cent spike in Mustang Mach-E registrations. The first 54 F-150 Lightnings were also registered in the quarter.
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Registrations of EVs at Hyundai also spiked, hitting 6,954 compared to the 2,072 in the first quarter of 2021. The Ioniq 5 accounted for the bulk of these registrations with 6,265 while 685 Kona Electric models were registered alongside 14 of the now discontinued Ioniq Electric, Auto News reports.
Nissan and VW registrations also rose, with the former selling 4,401 examples of the aging Leaf and Volkswagen reporting 2,926 registrations of the ID.4, a significant rise from the 387 reported 12 months ago.
Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t good news for the Chevrolet Bolt. Registrations dropped to just 479 for the quarter compared with 9,099 a year earlier due to ongoing battery issues and a large recall. Other EV players such as Polestar, Rivian, and Lucid Motors had registrations of 2,384, 701, and 308 respectively.
It must be noted that registration data does not precisely track sales data and some figures rely on estimates, particularly since Tesla does not break down sales by market.
