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Regarding December’s best selling electric vehicles, the big news is that thanks to a strong month in China, Tesla partly recovered from the hangover on the US market and saw its best sellers return to leading positions. The Model Y (132,327 units, down 3% YoY) won the best seller spot, followed by the Model 3 (54,745 units, down 4% YoY). Still, both models saw their sales drop year over year, and expect that trend to continue for a couple more quarters, at least.
Looking at the rest of the competition, another veteran couple followed the Tesla duo. BYD’s Qin Plus and Song were 3rd and 4th. Funny enough, the two models had very different stories. While the SUV continued its never ending slide, seeing sales drop by 42% in December, the Qin Plus took profit from steep discounts in order to clear stock for the refreshed 2026 version of the sedan, allowing it to score its best result in 18 months.
Off the podium, the highlight was the Xiaomi YU7. The model ended in 5th, ahead of the #6 Geely Xingyuan and #7 BYD Seagull. With the production ramp-up seemingly finished, expect the sporty crossover to become a regular in the top positions.
Below the BYD Seagull, the usual BYD Armada isn’t as compact as before, with several models living among them, with the most surprising being three full size SUVs — the #8 FCB Tai 7, the #10 AITO M7, and the #14 NIO ES8.
Okay, okay, the Fang Cheng Bao belongs to BYD, but this is its premium arm, and the Tai 7 has no direct competitor in the BYD lineup at the moment. High on the big, comfy, SUV trend, AITO continues to launch a never ending stream of full size SUVs, with the M7 being its third representative in the category. And people just keep on buying them….
After a passing success with the ONVO L90, NIO is back again scoring big with full size SUVs, with its new ES8, the 3rd generation of its large SUV in only 8 years (in the same timeline, Tesla is still selling the same Model 3) allowing it a 14th position on the global stage. This is the first time the Chinese startup has achieved this. A future star player for the NIO brand? It’s damn time to fulfill your potential, NIO….
As for the second half of the table, we have a few new models breaking records, like the #16 MG 4. The MG 4 is turning out to be a success for the Sino-British brand, with over 18,000 deliveries in December. It was immediately followed by the new baby from BAIC — the Arcfox T1, a compact hatchback that joined the table at #17 thanks to a record 17,170 sales.
BAIC has a lot of expectations for this new EV, as it hopes the model will allow the OEM to turn its fortunes around. After all, BAIC has already won the global model best seller title in the past thanks to the EC-Series, back in 2017….
Regarding the last position on the table, we have the new Li Auto midsize SUV/MPV, the i6, which hopefully will allow the startup to recover sales and catch the current BEV wave in China.
Off the table, for once, the highlights came from outside of China. The most striking example was the Vietnamese Vinfast Limo Green, a midsize MPV disguised as a crossover. After only a few months on the market, production of the model has quickly ramped up and it delivered an impressive 11,205 units in December. Is this the star player that Vinfast needs in order to win in export markets?
(Please Vinfast, please, add this model to your lineup in export markets. The world needs more MPVs that aren’t the size of a yacht!)
In Europe, the highlights go to the Renault 5 and Alpine A290 twins. The French EVs reached a record 12,978 sales, while in Czechia, the Skoda Elroq continued to rack up record results. It ended December with 13,698 sales.
Finally, in Sweden, the Volvo EX30 is back to 5-digit scores. Its 10,894 sales in December provided the model with its best score in past year and a half.
Top 20 EV Models YTD — Geely Xingyuan Climbs Closer to the Model 3’s Bronze Medal
Regarding the year-to-date (YTD) or full-year table, different year, same podium. As in 2022 (and in 2023, and in 2024…), at the top of the podium was the Tesla Model Y, which secured another best seller title, its fourth in a row. That’s a feat only previously achieved by its sibling, the Tesla Model 3 (from 2018 to 2021), and the Nissan Leaf (2011, 2013, 2014, and 2016).
Will the Model Y be the first to win five best seller titles? Quite likely, but expect sales to continue dropping (it was down 9% in 2025). Also, the overall title, all powertrains included, is now out of reach, as the Toyota Corolla is running well ahead of the Model Y.
Despite slowly going towards that big charging station in the sky, the BYD Song still managed to win another silver medal, its fourth in a row, but do not expect it to stay on the podium in 2026.
Completing the podium, we had the Tesla Model 3 for the fourth time in a row. It thus won its 8th consecutive medal, making it the model with the most medals in EV history. But the question now is: Will it get a 9th medal in 2026?
Despite dropping only slightly in 2025 (-1% YoY), the truth is that there is a lot of young blood (Geely Xingyuan, BYD Seagull, 2nd generation Wuling Mini EV, Xiaomi YU7…) in search of fame and glory, and if sales continue to slide, as they most likely will, the Tesla sedan will most likely be knocked off the podium by these new models, especially the Geely Xingyuan, which is set to be exported in large volumes this year, allowing it to push over the 500,000-unit mark.
So, more likely than not, we will see what already happened in Europe in 2025 happening on the global stage: The Model Y staying at #1, but the remaining positions getting fresh faces.
Back to December, the first position change on this chart saw the #12 BYD Yuan Up switch positions with its BYD Yuan Plus sibling, while the VW ID.4 took profit from a strong performance in Europe and slow months from the models ahead of it to jump three positions in December, to 15th, which is actually one position above of its 2024 standing (#16). Despite all initial criticism, the ID.4 has proven to be a useful workhorse for Volkswagen, pulling the weight of the German OEM throughout these years.
With the ID.Tiguan replacing it later this year, we celebrate the career of this useful, if slightly vanilla, crossover.
Finally, despite only landing last summer, the Xiaomi YU7 still managed to join the top 20 in December, allowing Xiaomi to place two models in the top 20, in only its first full year on the market….
Have you ever wondered how the EV ranking would look if we excluded the Chinese market?
Well, wonder no more. Here is a chart of the top 5 models excluding sales in China:
As one can see, there are no real surprises. The Tesla Model Y continues to be a distant leader, followed by its sibling the Tesla Model 3, with the BYD Song in 3rd.
Basically, the podium remains the same, with the only change being that the Model 3 jumps ahead of the BYD SUV.
In the remaining positions, the VW ID.4 is 4th, proving its worth as a globetrotter, while the BYD Seagull, aka Dolphin Mini, aka Dolphin Surf, aka Atto 1, is 5th, proving to be BYD’s entryway in many export markets.
This is a path the Geely Xingyuan, aka EX2 in export markets, is expected to replicate this year.
Now, looking at the best sellers in the global electric pickup truck market, here’s the podium:
#1 — Ford F-150 Lightning (31,536)
#2 — BYD Shark 06 (31,428)
#3 — Tesla Cybertruck (21,284)
After the Rivian R1T won this title in 2022, the Ford F-150 won it in 2023, and the Tesla Cybertruck took the trophy in 2024, this year the title again went to the Big Ford.
But it was almost a tie, between the Ford and the BYD pickup truck. Although, looking from a manufacturer point of view, Ford benefited from an additional 10,000 units from its new Ford Ranger PHEV to win that title easily…
… Something it won’t be able to do in 2026, as Ford will euthanize the electric F-150 (because?…). So, it won’t be able to defend its title in either category, models or manufacturers.
Dodge Charger Daytona Scat Pack (shown in Bludicrous) & Dodge Charger Daytona R/T (shown in Peel Out) represent the first–ever all-electric vehicles from Dodge. Image courtesy of Stellantis
As for Sports Cars, we also have a podium:
#1 — Dodge Charger (7,421)
#2 — Ferrari 296 (4,671)
#3 — Mercedes CLE (3,868)
This is the most exotic of the EV podiums, with the muscular Charger (I want one!) winning the title, followed by the exotic Italian Ferrari 296 — despite starting at over $300,000, it still managed to sell over 4,000 units in 2025.
Next to these two, the Mercedes CLE seems a bit … too normal? Still, it has enough appeal to gather almost 4,000 buyers in 2025, allowing it to narrowly beat the MG Cyberster (3,763 units) in the race for the last position on the podium.
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