New data shows that global EV sales in the first three quarters of this year exceeded 3 million for the first time, with South Korea seeing a 96% surge.

Korea Automotive Technology Institute (KAII) (via Just Auto) reports that South Korea ranked as the seventh-largest market for EVs. The country is topped firstly by China with its 1.76 million sales figure, followed by the US with 272,554 units, Germany with 243,892 units, the UK with 131,832 units, France with 114,836 units, and lastly Norway with 84,428 units.

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In this time period, electric car sales amounted to about 5.5 percent of the South Korean automobile market, compared to 9.4 percent in China and 2.3 percent in the United States.

The research institute further revealed that Tesla was the largest EV manufacturer in the first three quarters of 2021, with sales of over 625,624 electric vehicles. Its share of the total EV sales figure exceeded 20%.

In addition to Tesla, SAIC, Volkswagen, BYD and other manufacturers’ electric vehicles also saw good sales up to Q3 this year. Among them, SAIC sold over 413,037 units, Volkswagen sold 287,852 units, and BYD sold 189751 during the same period.

Korean Hyundai Motor Group’s electric sales also saw a boom, rising by 67% in 9 months to 159,558 units, making it the fifth-largest EV maker in the world.

The sales of EVs is expected to rise further in the coming years owing to the drop in EV prices, increase in performance, and improved range.

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