Volkswagen sold more electric cars worldwide than Tesla at the end of last year for the first time, according to an analysis by trade consultancy Alix Partners.
Volkswagen group brands, which include Porsche and Audi, sold 192,000 fully electric cars or plug-in hybrids in the fourth quarter, compared to Tesla’s 181,000 all-electric models.
The Managing Director of Alix Partners, Nicolás Franzwa, said: “the e-car market is experiencing an unprecedented surge in demand worldwide, from which German car manufacturers in particular are also benefiting.
“Our study results impressively prove that they have now probably finally awakened and are putting their sales horsepower on the road in e-vehicles as well.”
Nicolás Franzwa
According to Alix Partners, Europe surpassed China as the world’s largest electronic car market with sales of 1.4 million in 2020, and the global share of electric cars in new registrations doubled in a year to almost 6 percent by the end of that year.
Both fully battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, also equipped with a combustion engine, generally count as “electric cars” in official and objective documents, but the non-plug-in hybrids do not.
Image: hibridosyelectricos.com
Tesla only sells electric cars without a conventional motor, while plug-in hybrids also contribute to VW’s tally.
Many mobility advocates say that plug-in hybrids are not as clean as automakers say because many are often driven in combustion engine mode and are not charged.
This is reflected in Alix Partners’ ranking of the combined total electric range of all cars sold, where the Californian company remained the undisputed leader. Tesla sold cars with a combined range of about 100 million kilometers in the fourth quarter, compared to VW.
Written by: Jhonattan González
