Whereas automakers used to point to their huge horsepower figures, the rise of the electric vehicle has created a new figure for them to boast about. Registration numbers for 2022 show that Americans love an EV with more than 300 miles of range.
The 10 best-selling new EVs in 2022 all shared one thing in common: long range. Only two of the bestsellers had less than 300 miles (483 km) of range in their biggest-battery variant, reports the U.S. Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, a part of the Department of Energy.
Although the office does not offer information about which trim levels were purchased, the list does point to a taste for vehicles that can at least advertise their remarkable battery capacities. On average, the vehicles included in the list below have a longest possible range of 320 miles (515 km).
Best-Selling EVs of 2022
Indeed, the longest-range vehicle on the list, the Model S with its 405 miles (652 km) of range, sits in fifth place and is the worst-performing Tesla. Meanwhile, the longest-range EV on sale today, the Lucid Air, which can go up to 516 miles (830 km) on a full charge, per the EPA, does not appear on the list at all.
As you might expect, the two vehicles with the most registrations in 2022 were from Tesla. The Model Y saw 228,312 registrations, while the Model 3 had 196,503 registrations. The fact that the crossover, with a maximum possible range of 330 miles (531 km), outsold the sedan, which has a maximum possible range of 358 miles (576 km), points to the fact that that figure isn’t the only one that matters to buyers.
Read: Mazda’s U.S. Boss Doesn’t Think Long-Range EVs Make Sense
The Lucid and other long range EVs like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 (303 miles/488 km) and the Rivian R1T (314 miles/505 km) were all outsold by the Chevrolet Bolt EUV. Despite being the shortest-range EV in the top 10, with just 247 miles (397 km), its starting price of $33,995 made it one of the cheapest EVs on sale in 2022.
While price and availability also appear to have an impact on how well an EV sells, the list of the 10 best-selling models of 2022 does point to a preference for longer-range vehicles among American buyers, despite studies suggesting that most drivers don’t really need the massive batteries that make those figures possible.
