Plug-In Car Sales Amaze Despite Lockdown In April 2022

In April, the passenger car market in China collapsed by 43% year-over-year (lockdowns), but it seems that nothing is able to stop the tremendous growth of plug-in electric car sales.

According to EV Volumes’ data shared by Jose Pontes, some 280,614 new passenger plug-in electric cars were registered in China in April, which is 61% more than a year ago. That’s more than the rest of the world combined (although the number includes microcars).

The plug-in segment, of course, has been affected by the lockdowns too, but maintains momentum and expanded its share to a very good 29%, including 22% for all-electric cars.

Results for the month:

• BEVs: about *213,000 and 22% share
• PHEVs: about *68,000 and 7% share
• Total: 280,614 (up 61%) and 29% share

* estimated from the market share

So far this year, over 1.4 million new passenger plug-in electric cars were registered in China, while the market share reached 22% (17% BEVs).

• BEVs: about *1.09 million and 17% share
• PHEVs: about *0.32 million and 5% share
• Total: 1,404,261 and 22% share

* estimated from the market share

For reference, in 2021, the total plug-in electric car registrations increased by about 153% year-over-year to over 3.2 million (from 1.27 million in 2020). In 2022, the total volume might reach 5-6 million, according to some forecasts.

The biggest achievement in April is that, for the first time, a total of five plug-in models managed to break into the overall top 10 (if all versions are counted together).

The lucky five include:

• Wuling Hong Guang MINI EV: #1 overall (27,181)
• BYD Song (BEV + PHEV): #3 overall (25,108)
• BYD Qin Plus (BEV + PHEV): #4 overall (20,292)
• BYD Han (BEV + PHEV): #8 overall (13,421)
• BYD Dolphin: #10 overall (12,040)

Tesla was mostly offline during the month, as the Shanghai area was heavily affected by the lockdown, but it’s returning to high volume now.

Meanwhile, BYD surges with new records (over 105,000 units), and is #1 among the brands overall. The Chinese company spectacularly placed 7 plug-in models in the top 8 plug-ins:

1. Wuling Hong Guang MINI EV: 27,181
2. BYD Song PHEV: 20,181
3. BYD Qin Plus PHEV: 12,465
4. BYD Dolphin: 12,040
5. BYD Han: 10,225
6. BYD Yuan Plus: 10,100
7. BYD Tang PHEV: 8,818
8. Byd Qin Plus BEV: 7,827
9. Leap Motor T01: 7,156
10. Chery QQ Ice Cream – 7,078

Ano now let’s take a look at the top 10, after the first four months of the year:

Results year-to-date:

1. Wuling Hong Guang MINI EV – 127,542
2. BYD Song Pro/Plus PHEV – 78,030
3. Tesla Model Y – 75,250
4. BYD Qin Plus PHEV – 59,417
5. BYD Dolphin – 41,708
6. BYD Han (BEV) – 39,396
7. Li Xiang One EREV – 35,884
8. BYD Tang PHEV – 36,747
9. Chery QQ Ice Cream – 35,191
10. Tesla Model 3 – 33,883

The list of brands, once again, reveals a pretty strong position for BYD.

Top plug-in brands by share in the plug-in segment year-to-date:

• BYD: 27.8%
• SAIC-GM-Wuling: 10.3%
• Tesla: 7.8%
• Chery: 4.8%
• GAC: 3.9%

Top plug-in automotive groups by share in the plug-in segment year-to-date:

• BYD: 27.8%
• SAIC: 13.4%
  including SAIC-GM-Wuling joint venture (between SAIC, GM and Liuzhou Wuling Motors)
• Tesla: 7.8%
• Chery: 4.9%
• Volkswagen Group: 3.5%
• Geely-Volvo: 4.6%
• XPeng: 3.1%