EVwire brief: The Tesla Model Y and Model 3 became the two best-selling electric vehicles globally in Q1 2026, followed by Geely Geome Xingyuan.
The Model Y led with 242,420 units, while the Model 3 ranked second with 99,524 units, making Tesla the only automaker to occupy both top positions, with Geely’s Geome Xingyuan on the Model 3's tail with 95,728 sales.
Big hat tip to our friend José Pontes for the data and continued industry tracking, which was initially published on CleanTechnica.
Here are the Q1 rankings globally, the top 14 BEVs sold:
Tesla Model Y 242,420
Tesla Model 3 99,524
Geely Geome Xingyuan 93,728
BYD Seagull / Dolphin Mini 72,932
Xiaomi YU7 71,653
Li i6 57,088
BYD Yuan Up / Atto 2 50,445
BYD Dolphin 49,756
NIO ES8 / EL8 45,236
BYD Yuan Plus / Atto 3 41,981
Toyota bZ4x 39,168
MG 4 38,611
BYD Sealion 07 30,831
BMW iX1 30,293
Context:
Naturally, with China commanding around 56% of all EVs sold in the world, we’ll see many Chinese EVs in the list. And, of course, nowadays their sales abroad start mattering, too.
Geely’s Geome Xingyuan has been a somewhat sensation at a great starting price. Xiaomi, the one EV maker that has shown nearly ridiculous growth in just two years, takes 5th place with the YU7.
Across the full quarter, BYD recorded multiple ranking gains, with several models climbing positions in the global top 20. The legacy makers like Toyota pushed for 11th place with the bZ4x, and BMW managed to get the iX1 to 14th place.
Looking at March, this dataset below includes both battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) — we removed the PHEVs for the Q1 data above — with Tesla’s results driven entirely by BEV sales.
Here are the March rankings:
The Model Y and the Model 3’s sales in focus
A look at the Q1 and March 2026 numbers shows that the Model Y is still a domineering force in the electric vehicle segment. Even with PHEVs in the mix, the Model Y’s lead is still substantial. This is not that surprising considering that the Model Y already took the world’s best-selling vehicle title for three years running.
Apart from this, Tesla has also padded the Model Y lineup with additions such as the six-seat extended wheelbase Model Y L, which is now being released across several countries in Asia, as well as the base Model Y, which lowers the entry point to the Tesla ecosystem.
The Model 3, on the other hand, is a sedan that’s been on the market for nine years now. Tesla did roll out a notable update for the Model 3 with its recent facelift/refresh, but it also has a lot of competition in key markets such as China. Being a premium sedan, its price is also close to the Model Y, which likely results in some customers going for the crossover SUV instead.
Source: CleanTechnica
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