Europe’s top carmaker doubles EV sales, Tesla still out of reach

Volkswagen sold nearly 500,000 electric cars in 2021, Musk’s company sells more than twice as many

Volkswagen nearly doubled the number of electric cars it produced last year compared to 2020, delivering almost 432,000 to its customers, the German carmaker said on Wednesday. Tesla, meanwhile, sold over 936,000 vehicles.

Volkswagen Group mentioned supply-chain issues that led to shortages of computer chips and other parts as an obstacle to progress, describing the conditions as “extraordinarily challenging.”

The company, which owns brands including Audi, Porsche and Skoda, pledged last month to spend half its budget – a little more than $100 billion – on electric vehicles in the next five years to challenge Tesla.

Currently, only 5% or 6% of the vehicles VW produces are battery-powered but it expects to increase that share to 25% by the end of 2026.

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Volkswagen is the top seller of electric cars in Europe but the worldwide sales crown belongs to Elon Musk’s company.

Tesla managed to overcome the chip-shortage issues and has seen its total EV sales rise by 87% compared to 2020.

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