The shift to electric vehicles in the global auto market is picking up speed again. While plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) are weak, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) continue to post double-digit growth and are taking center stage in the plug-in market.

CleanTechnica reported on Aug. 29 that global plug-in vehicle registrations in July totaled about 1.8 million, up 7 percent from a year earlier. BEVs rose 16 percent while PHEVs fell 11 percent. BEVs accounted for 71 percent of all plug-in vehicles, or about 1.3 million. On a year-to-date basis, the BEV and PHEV shares were 71 percent and 29 percent, respectively, with the BEV share the highest since 2022.

In the overall new-car market, BEVs held a 19 percent share in July, while plug-in vehicles including PHEVs posted 27 percent. Year-to-date shares were 17 percent and 7 percent, with plug-in vehicles overall at 24 percent. Excluding China and the United States, July plug-in vehicle sales jumped 50 percent from a year earlier and BEVs surged 61 percent, showing that electrification is not confined to only some markets.

Tesla’s Model Y kept the top spot by model, but sales fell 9 percent. The Model 3 plunged 44 percent to about 19,000 units, slipping to 11th. Xiaomi’s SU7 rose to 8th with about 21,000 units, ahead of the Model 3. BYD Song took second place, known as the BYD Seal in some regions.

Geely Xingyuan, BYD Yuan Up, known as Atto 2 in some regions, BYD Seagull, known as Dolphin Mini in some regions, Leapmotor A10 and BYD Dolphin took ranks 3 to 7, dominated by relatively small electric cars. BYD Dolphin posted about 26,000 units, its best result since September last year. Rising overseas sales supported the performance, with 6,492 registrations in Brazil and 1,264 in South Korea. Toyota’s bZ4X also entered the top 20 at 19th, the only model from an established automaker brand to make the list.

In the brand race, China’s Leapmotor stood out. It topped 100,000 monthly sales for the first time in July, up 102 percent from a year earlier. Tesla fell 19 percent, slipping to fourth in the monthly brand rankings. Toyota set an all-time high with 50,415 units, narrowing the gap with Volkswagen to fewer than 100 vehicles.

Year-to-date plug-in market share stands at 19.8 percent for BYD, 9.9 percent for Geely and 8.3 percent for Tesla. For BEVs alone, BYD holds 14.8 percent, Tesla 11.8 percent and Geely 8.7 percent. Growth in the global EV market appears to be diversifying rapidly away from Tesla toward Chinese automakers and smaller, mass-market models.