Americans purchased one million fully electric cars in 2023, the first time that many EVs have ever been sold in this country in a single year.
Did you know that fifty-five percent of the electric cars Americans purchased in 2023 were from Tesla?
Right now Tesla controls a shrinking piece of a growing pie as it held over 70 perent of market share in the first quarter of 2022. But it rallied in the fourth quarter, having seen its market share fall to just 50 percent by October due to electric cars coming in from China, Korea and Europe.
Did you know that Hyundai electric car sales rose 48 percent in 2023.
Americans bought 1,189,051 electric vehicles last year – more than most observers had predicted.
EVs made up 7.6 percent of all new vehicles sold, up from 5.8 percent in 2022 and 3.2 percent in 2021. EV sales growth slowed slightly during the year, but EVs remain the fastest-growing car sales category.
EVs broke records for both volume and market share in the fourth quarter. Americans bought 317,168 electric cars between October and the end of the year – 8.1 percent of all new cars sold. EV sales were 52 percent higher than in the fourth quarter of 2022.
1. Tesla Model Y
Units sold: 394,497. Tesla’s most popular model accounted for roughly a third of all EV sales in the US last year.
A cheaper base model rolled out last year helped the Model Y gain even more popularity. The car is up for a refresh later this year.
2. Tesla Model 3
Units sold: 220,910. Tesla’s first mass-market vehicle and the car sold to Hertz for rentals continued to dominate the EV market in 2023.
The Model 3 has become one of the most affordable EVs on the road after a series of price cuts last year. You can get a great deal on a new or used Model 3.
3. Chevrolet Bolt
Units sold: 62,044. The longest-selling electric car in GM’s lineup notched a distant third place in US EV sales last year, with sales of 60,045 EV and EUV body styles.
GM walked back plans to phase out the Bolt for 2024, with Mary Barra, the CEO of GM, saying the nameplate will carry over onto the new Ultium battery platform.
4. Ford Mustang Mach-E
Units sold: 40,771. The Mustang Mach-E cracked the top five for EV sales in 2023 despite the car’s issues on dealer lots starting in the summer. By July of last year, dealers said they were turning away Mach-E allocations due to a drop in demand.
5. Volkswagen ID.4
Units sold: 37,789. Volkswagen dealers had a lot more ID.4s in their inventory last year, making this EV one of the easier models to find. The starting price of an ID.4 is around $39,000, well below the segment average of $50,789.
6. Hyundai Ioniq 5
Units sold: 33,918. The Hyundai Ioniq 5 replaced Kia’s EV6 on the top 10 list for 2023. This was one of Business Insider’s favorite cars last year, with an “edgy, futuristic” look and a relatively quick charge time.
7. Rivian R1S
Units sold: 24,783. Rivian’s R1S helped the EV startup climb the top-seller list in 2023 with sales of around 24,780. The R1T, Rivian’s first model, barely cracked the top 10 in 2022, with about 20,300 units sold.
8. Ford F-150 Lightning
Units sold: 24,165. Ford pushed out more electric F-150 Lightnings in 2023, even as the company pulled back on production and executives warned it would not meet its earlier EV-production goals.
While the Lighting had a lot of demand in its early days of production, dealers have told BI that the electric trucks are getting harder to move.
9. Tesla Model X
Units sold: 23,015. The more expensive Tesla SUV is farther down on the top 10 list in a year when EV shoppers became more price-conscious. This car can cost over $100,000, a price point not many EV shoppers are considering anymore.
10. BMW i4
Units sold: 22,583. In a departure from BMW’s quirkier i3, launched in 2013 and discontinued in 2022, the BMW i4 looks more like its internal-combustion-engine siblings at first glance. BI called it a more luxurious alternative to the Tesla Model 3.
