From when the Nissan Leaf first launched in USA late 2010, to 2015, almost half of all EVs sold in the world are Nissan Leafs. Since 2015, annual EV sales have increased from 580,000 to over 3 million in 2020. As the first strong traditional brand making EVs, Nissan fell to 7th by 2020, gazumped by new players in the EV car categories.
Of all EVs sold in 2020, Tesla sold more than 500,000 of them. In 2021, BloombergNEF project global sales of EVs will achieve 4.4 million - so you can see the trend slope stiffening.
Australia's love affair with fossil fuels has a pile of flow on impacts - and one is that it's been pretty much impossible for EVs to get government support and certainly no subsidies. This means that in Australia, EVs are comparatively expensive, leaving their uptake to only the most committed greenies - or light greenies with a pile of money. In 2020 however, while off a low base, 30% of all Tesla sales ever made in Australia were made in 2020. I like to think it's because we were locked up with not much to do and plenty of time to do research. Tesla 3 price point (in terms of bang for buck), makes it comparatively good value in anyone's language even those who couldn't give a toss about the planet.
Globally, right behind Tesla in sheer numbers is Chinese company, Build Your Dreams (BYD) and while we haven't seen many BYDs in the west yet, that is about to change. According to the McKinsey Electric Vehicle Index (data collated by Moneyshake, which is statistical nirvana), Tesla sells 42 EVs per hour and BYD sells 26 per hour. You can see the top 10 sellers below.
BYD makes buses and trucks as well as cars. The Tang SUV and Han Sedan are direct competitors of the Tesla Model X and 3 - but at a much cheaper price point. In China, the Han is outselling its competitors already. (I should also note that the Chinese Han uses Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) “blade” batteries. They are safer and cheaper than Lithium Ion, and contain no cobalt.)
On the point of batteries and pollution, if you have friends like mine, and you are an EV protagonist, you will most like be subjected to a barrage of battery shaming. The graph below shows the whole life cost of emissions of ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) vehicles versus BEC (Battery Electric Cars). According to BloombergNEF
THE LIFECYCLE CO2 EMISSIONS OF MEDIUM SEGMENT BATTERY ELECTRIC CARS PRODUCED IN 2020 AND USED FOR 250,000 KM WOULD BE BETWEEN 18% AND 87% LOWER THAN THOSE OF EQUIVALENT INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE VEHICLES IN THE FIVE COUNTRIES INCLUDED IN THIS REPORT. THE BREAKEVEN POINT IS FAR SOONER IN FRANCE AT 25,000 KM, COMPARED TO 153,000 KM IN CHINA.
The difference in the manufacturing emissions depend directly on the location of battery cell production and material refining. By 2030, all countries will see this emissions breakeven point occur far earlier.
Pic and Infographics in order: Unsplash | Marko Bugarski / Statista / Moneyshake / BloombergNEF