Which company sold the most electric vehicles in 2024?
BYD. The Chinese carmaker sold 4,272,145 new energy vehicles in 2024, all of them battery electric or plug-in hybrid, up 41% on 2023 [4]. Tesla delivered 1,789,226 cars in the year, its first annual fall after 1.81 million in 2023 [5].
The answer changes if you only count fully electric cars. BYD sold 1,764,992 battery electric passenger cars in 2024 and 2,485,378 plug-in hybrids [4]. Tesla, which only makes battery electric cars, sold slightly more of them, so it stayed the world’s biggest seller of battery electric vehicles for the year with BYD a close second [5][6]. Which of the two “sells the most EVs” depends on whether plug-in hybrids count.
The gap was already clear early in the year. As the Visual Capitalist chart above shows, BYD sold about 1.2 million electric vehicles between January and May 2024, nearly twice Tesla’s 625.6K, using EV Volumes data [1]. The exact BYD figure for those five months was 1,191,478, of which 580,974 were fully electric [1].
Top electric vehicle manufacturers in 2024
These are the 20 brands with the most battery electric and plug-in hybrid sales from January to May 2024, from EV Volumes data published by Visual Capitalist [1]. Figures are rounded and the home country is the brand’s origin.
| Rank | Brand | Home country | EV sales, Jan to May 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BYD | China | 1.2 million |
| 2 | Tesla | US | 625,600 |
| 3 | BMW | Germany | 212,300 |
| 4 | Wuling | China | 179,700 |
| 5 | Volkswagen | Germany | 157,200 |
| 6 | Li Auto | China | 153,400 |
| 7 | Mercedes-Benz | Germany | 150,600 |
| 8 | Geely | China | 145,800 |
| 9 | AITO | China | 144,700 |
| 10 | Volvo | Sweden | 144,300 |
| 11 | Aion | China | 123,600 |
| 12 | Audi | Germany | 107,500 |
| 13 | Kia | South Korea | 106,600 |
| 14 | Toyota | Japan | 100,900 |
| 15 | SAIC | China | 100,300 |
| 16 | Hyundai | South Korea | 89,000 |
| 17 | Changan | China | 81,700 |
| 18 | Zeekr | China | 70,000 |
| 19 | Ford | US | 68,800 |
| 20 | Jeep | US | 68,000 |
Source: EV Volumes via Visual Capitalist, July 2024 [1].
Below the top two the field is crowded. Only about 1,500 sales separate Geely, AITO and Volvo, and Audi, Kia, Toyota and SAIC are all within about 7,000 of each other. Small swings in a single month can reorder that middle group, which is why full-year rankings from different data firms don’t always match.
The full-year picture from TrendForce, which tracks battery electric and plug-in hybrid sales separately, was broadly the same at the top [6]. On battery electric cars, Tesla was first, BYD second and SAIC-GM-Wuling third, with Volkswagen and GAC Aion fourth and fifth. Zeekr and Leapmotor entered the top 10 for the first time, and Hyundai slipped to ninth after a 21% fall. On plug-in hybrids, BYD had 38% of the world market on its own, followed by Li Auto, AITO and Changan [6].
Chinese brands dominate the list
Nine of the top 20 brands from January to May 2024 were Chinese, against four German, three American, two South Korean, one Swedish and one Japanese [1]. Added together, the nine Chinese brands sold about 2.2 million vehicles, roughly 55% of the top 20 total of about 4 million (our arithmetic from the rounded figures).
China is also by far the biggest market. TrendForce estimates global sales of battery electric, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell cars at 16.29 million in 2024, up 25% on 2023, with China accounting for 67% of them [6]. Most Chinese brands still sell the bulk of their cars at home: BYD sold 417,204 vehicles outside China in 2024, under a tenth of its total [4].
Home country and ownership are not always the same thing. Volvo and Zeekr are both part of China’s Geely group, Wuling is part of the SAIC-GM-Wuling joint venture, Aion is GAC’s electric brand, and Jeep belongs to Stellantis. Counted by owner rather than brand, the Chinese share would be higher still.
Where are Toyota, Ford and the other big carmakers?
The world’s largest traditional carmakers are well down the electric list. Toyota, the world’s biggest carmaker by total sales, was 14th with about 100,900 electric and plug-in hybrid sales in the first five months of 2024 [1]. Ford and Jeep took the last two places, at about 68,800 and 68,000 [1].
The German brands did better. BMW was third overall with 212,300 sales, ahead of Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and Audi [1]. TrendForce notes that BMW’s plug-in hybrid sales fell 3% in 2024 while the gap between its battery electric and plug-in hybrid sales widened [6], so more of its electric total now comes from fully electric models.
BEV and PHEV, what counts as an electric vehicle?
Most EV sales rankings, including the one above, combine two types of car.
- Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) run only on a battery that is charged by plugging in. They have no petrol or diesel engine [2].
- Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) have both an internal combustion engine and an electric motor with a battery that can be charged from an outside source [3]. They can drive a limited distance on electricity and then use the engine.
Brands that sell a lot of plug-in hybrids rank higher on a combined list than on battery electric sales alone. BYD is the clearest case: plug-in hybrids made up about 58% of its passenger car sales in 2024 (our calculation from BYD’s figures) [4], and the Voronoi post notes that most of BYD’s growth early in 2024 came from plug-in hybrids, which rose 54% year on year in May [1]. Li Auto and AITO, which ranked second and third for plug-in hybrid sales in 2024 [6], are in the same position. Tesla, by contrast, is entirely battery electric.
Questions about the top electric vehicle manufacturers
Who is the largest EV manufacturer in the world?
BYD, counting battery electric and plug-in hybrid cars together. It sold 4.27 million in 2024 [4], more than twice Tesla’s 1.79 million deliveries [5]. On battery electric cars alone, Tesla was narrowly ahead in 2024 [6].
Did BYD sell more electric cars than Tesla in 2024?
Yes in total, but not on fully electric cars. BYD sold 1,764,992 battery electric passenger cars in 2024 [4] against Tesla’s 1,789,226 deliveries [5], a gap of about 24,000 (our arithmetic). Plug-in hybrids made up the rest of BYD’s sales.
What is the best-selling electric car brand in the US?
Tesla. It was the second biggest EV brand in the world from January to May 2024 and the leading American brand by a wide margin; the other US brands in the global top 20 were Ford and Jeep, at about 68,000 each [1].
How many electric cars were sold worldwide in 2024?
About 16.3 million battery electric, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell cars, according to TrendForce, a 25% rise on 2023. China accounted for 67% of them [6].
Sources
- Visual Capitalist, Top Brands by EV Sales (Jan to May 2024), Voronoi, 21 July 2024. The publisher’s post of this chart, using EV Volumes data accessed via CleanTechnica.
- US Department of Energy, Alternative Fuels Data Center, All-electric vehicles.
- US Department of Energy, Alternative Fuels Data Center, Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
- CnEVPost, BYD sells record 514,809 NEVs in Dec, full year 2024 sales reach 4.27 million, 1 January 2025.
- CNBC, Tesla reports first-ever drop in annual deliveries, 2 January 2025.
- TrendForce, Global NEV Sales Expected to Grow 18% in 2025, 20 February 2025.
Last reviewed 4 November 2026
