The auto industry sold or leased 106,864 full-electric vehicles in the U.S. through the first six months of 2019, according to estimated and announced sales figures charted by our affiliate website InsideEVs.com. That’s a significant increase over the first half of 2018 when 63,752 battery-powered models were delivered to customers.
Much of that boost can be attributed to the skyrocketing popularity of the Tesla Model 3, which on its own accounted for a whopping 63 percent of all full-EV sales. Model 3 sales were more than 7,000 units higher in June than they were in May, and over 11,000 more than they were in April. And that’s despite the federal tax credit for Tesla buyers being slashed in half since January 1 because the company had reached the 200,000-unit sales threshold in 2018. The Model 3’s June sales surge could be attributed at least partially in anticipation of Tesla’s tax credits dropping a second time as part of its phase-out on July 1 to $1,850.
Among individual models, sales of the Chevrolet Bolt EV dropped from 2,166 units in March to just 910 in April when its federal tax credit likewise fell to $3,750. It rebounded in May and June, however, likely buoyed by generous sales incentives. Chevy’s currently offering up to $5,500 cash back or $1,000 cash and zero percent financing for 72 months on its EV through the end of July. Overall, the Bolt’s numbers are about 500 units higher than they were during the first two quarters of 2018, and it’s now outselling the Tesla Model S by a slight margin.
Nissan Leaf sales have been up and down from one month to another this year and have so far dipped by around 650 units over 2018’s numbers. The addition of the longer-range Leaf Plus should help boost its fortunes moving forward.
Among recently introduced electrified rides hitting the market for 2019, the Audi eTron and Jaguar i-Pace luxury crossover EVs made the charts, with the former topping the latter despite being on the market for just the last three months.
We’re featuring the nine most popular EVs so far this year in the above slideshow that have sold at least 1,000 units so far this year, based on InsideEVs.com’s data.