UK: Tesla Model 3 most popular EV

 

There are 39,900 Tesla Model 3s in the UK. Photograph: Sandor Szmutko/Alamy

From The Guardian

The Tesla Model 3 has become the most popular battery electric car on British roads after a surge in sales, as the race to dominate the car industry’s new era heats up.

The number of Model 3s on British roads overtook Nissan’s Leaf models during the first four months of 2021, according to calculations by Matthias Schmidt, an independent electric car analyst. There are now 39,900 Model 3s in the UK, compared with 38,900 Leafs, many of which are built at Nissan’s factory in Sunderland.

In April, the Model 3 population remained slightly behind the most popular plug-in hybrid, the Mitsubishi Outlander, but the Tesla is expected, within months, to become the most popular car that can recharge from a plug.

Electric car sales are surging across rich nations as traditional carmakers face up to tightening carbon dioxide emission rules and the prospect of bans. New cars solely reliant on petrol and diesel engines will be banned in the UK from 2030, and hybrids that combine engine and battery will be stopped after 2035.  By May 2021, 232,000 electric cars had been sold in the UK, a tenfold increase over five years, according to the New Automotive thinktank. Battery electric cars accounted for 8.4% of total sales in May, according to figures published on Friday by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), the UK car lobby group.

Traditional carmakers have offered a slew of new electric models, although Schmidt said the Tesla Model 3 would probably be the most popular UK model for a “relatively long period” because of its narrow product range. However, the Model Y crossover SUV could quickly become Tesla’s most popular UK version after 2022.

Globally, [Tesla] was the largest seller of electric cars in 2020 but two European carmakers – Germany’s Volkswagen and Stellantis, a product of the merger between Peugeot and Fiat Chrysler – sold more electric cars than Tesla in western Europe during the first three months of 2020, according to Schmidt’s research.

Ben Nelmes, the head of policy at New AutoMotive, said the Model 3 had been “a revolutionary car” because of its effect on other carmakers, forcing them to accelerate the introduction of their own electric models.

“The speed at which the Tesla Model 3 has gone from zero to market leader has shown other carmakers the opportunities in electric vehicles,” Nelmes said. “As a result, they are tearing up their strategies. Manufacturers are launching more electric models and driving the growth of the market.”