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Tesla Model Y overtakes Model 3 in April Global EV sales, Model 3 #1 in 2021

Credit: Tesla China/Twitter

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The Tesla Model Y crossover has overtaken its sibling vehicle in the Tesla Model 3 in April’s global electric vehicle sales figures, new data shows.

In April, around 392,000 electric vehicles were registered globally, making it the fourth-best month in the history of electrification. Tesla, the world’s leader in electric vehicles, maintained 2nd and 3rd place on April’s sales charts, with the Model Y overtaking its sibling Model 3 for the first time globally.

The Model Y crossover debuted in March 2020 when Tesla first delivered the all-electric vehicle to customers. Since then, it has gained popularity thanks to its trendy body style and impressive performance specifications. Combine this with affordability, and the Model Y is one of the most appealing automobiles on the market today.

Credit: Tesla China/Twitter

In April, the Model Y accumulated 16,232 registrations, according to the EV Sales Blog, a website that tracks global electric vehicle sales. The Model 3 sold only 14,980, making it the third most popular EV globally. The first was the HongGuang Mini EV from Wuling. Its highly affordable price tag that starts at around $5,000 makes it one of the most popular vehicles globally despite not having standard features without additional charges. The vehicle is sold in China mostly, where the Wuling-General Motors-SAIC joint venture vehicle has dominated the Chinese EV sector’s sales figures for around 8 consecutive months.

Credit: EV Sales Blog

The Model Y overtaking the Model 3 was an impressive move, but it was something Tesla’s executives always imagined. “We’re confident this product will be our best-selling product ever,” Musk said in regards to the Model Y during the Q1 2020 Earnings Call. Tesla was able to achieve profitability with the Model Y in its first quarter of production, something that the automaker could never achieve with any of its previous vehicles.

Looking forward, Musk believes that the Model Y will be the best-selling car on Earth in 2022. “When it comes to Model Y, we think Model Y will be the best-selling car or vehicle of any kind in the world and probably next year,” Musk said during the Q1 2021 Earnings Call. “So I’m not 100% certain next year, but I think it’s quite likely. I’d say more likely than not, that in 2022, Model Y is the best-selling car or truck of any kind in the world.”

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As for the year so far, the Model 3 still stands as the best-selling EV globally. Despite reports of a weak April, the Model 3 still maintains a healthy lead in the global EV market over the Wuling HongGuang Mini EV with 141,696 units sold. The latter vehicle stands at 125,925, while the Model Y’s strong April helped it maintain its third-place position on the chart with 72,296 cars sold this year.

Credit: EV Sales Blog

Tesla is still the most popular manufacturer of electric vehicles, according to more statistics. The Model 3 and Model Y have been two of Tesla’s most prominent vehicles so far, despite its very limited lineup of products. Tesla has not delivered a Model S or Model X this year that wasn’t already in its inventory due to a refresh that the automaker decided to perform on its flagship vehicles. This effectively means that Tesla is still dominating the global EV market with 14% of the total market share and 216,079 sales while only delivering half its vehicles. The SGMW joint venture sits in second place with 133,720, accounting for 9% of the market share.

Credit: EV Sales Blog

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below, or be sure to email me at joey@teslarati.com or on Twitter @KlenderJoey.

Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Elon Musk

Brazil Supreme Court orders Elon Musk and X investigation closed

The decision was issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes following a recommendation from Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet.

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Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court has ordered the closure of an investigation involving Elon Musk and social media platform X. The inquiry had been pending for about two years and examined whether the platform was used to coordinate attacks against members of the judiciary.

The decision was issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes following a recommendation from Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet.

According to a report from Agencia Brasil, the investigation conducted by the Federal Police did not find evidence that X deliberately attempted to attack the judiciary or circumvent court orders.

Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet concluded that the irregularities identified during the probe did not indicate fraudulent intent.

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Justice Moraes accepted the prosecutor’s recommendation and ruled that the investigation should be closed. Under the ruling, the case will remain closed unless new evidence emerges.

The inquiry stemmed from concerns that content on X may have enabled online attacks against Supreme Court justices or violated rulings requiring the suspension of certain accounts under investigation.

Justice Moraes had previously taken several enforcement actions related to the platform during the broader dispute involving social media regulation in Brazil.

These included ordering a nationwide block of the platform, freezing Starlink accounts, and imposing fines on X totaling about $5.2 million. Authorities also froze financial assets linked to X and SpaceX through Starlink to collect unpaid penalties and seized roughly $3.3 million from the companies’ accounts.

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Moraes also imposed daily fines of up to R$5 million, about $920,000, for alleged evasion of the X ban and established penalties of R$50,000 per day for VPN users who attempted to bypass the restriction.

Brazil remains an important market for X, with roughly 17 million users, making it one of the platform’s larger user bases globally.

The country is also a major market for Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet service, which has surpassed one million subscribers in Brazil.

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Elon Musk

FCC chair criticizes Amazon over opposition to SpaceX satellite plan

Carr made the remarks in a post on social media platform X.

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Credit: @SecWar/X

U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr criticized Amazon after the company opposed SpaceX’s proposal to launch a large satellite constellation that could function as an orbital data center network.

Carr made the remarks in a post on social media platform X.

Amazon recently urged the FCC to reject SpaceX’s application to deploy a constellation of up to 1 million low Earth orbit satellites that could serve as artificial intelligence data centers in space.

The company described the proposal as a “lofty ambition rather than a real plan,” arguing that SpaceX had not provided sufficient details about how the system would operate.

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Carr responded by pointing to Amazon’s own satellite deployment progress.

“Amazon should focus on the fact that it will fall roughly 1,000 satellites short of meeting its upcoming deployment milestone, rather than spending their time and resources filing petitions against companies that are putting thousands of satellites in orbit,” Carr wrote on X.

Amazon has declined to comment on the statement.

Amazon has been working to deploy its Project Kuiper satellite network, which is intended to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink service. The company has invested more than $10 billion in the program and has launched more than 200 satellites since April of last year.

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Amazon has also asked the FCC for a 24-month extension, until July 2028, to meet a requirement to deploy roughly 1,600 satellites by July 2026, as noted in a CNBC report.

SpaceX’s Starlink network currently has nearly 10,000 satellites in orbit and serves roughly 10 million customers. The FCC has also authorized SpaceX to deploy 7,500 additional satellites as the company continues expanding its global satellite internet network.

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Energy

Tesla Energy gains UK license to sell electricity to homes and businesses

The license was granted to Tesla Energy Ventures Ltd. by UK energy regulator Ofgem after a seven-month review process.

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Credit: Tesla Energy/X

Tesla Energy has received a license to supply electricity in the United Kingdom, opening the door for the company to serve homes and businesses in the country.

The license was granted to Tesla Energy Ventures Ltd. by UK energy regulator Ofgem after a seven-month review process.

According to Ofgem, the license took effect at 6 p.m. local time on Wednesday and applies to Great Britain.

The approval allows Tesla’s energy business to sell electricity directly to customers in the region, as noted in a Bloomberg News report.

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Tesla has already expanded similar services in the United States. In Texas, the company offers electricity plans that allow Tesla owners to charge their vehicles at a lower cost while also feeding excess electricity back into the grid.

Tesla already has a sizable presence in the UK market. According to price comparison website U-switch, there are more than 250,000 Tesla electric vehicles in the country and thousands of Tesla home energy storage systems.

Ofgem also noted that Tesla Motors Ltd., a separate entity incorporated in England and Wales, received an electricity generation license in June 2020.

The new UK license arrives as Tesla continues expanding its global energy business.

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Last year, Tesla Energy retained the top position in the global battery energy storage system (BESS) integrator market for the second consecutive year. According to Wood Mackenzie’s latest rankings, Tesla held about 15% of global market share in 2024.

The company also maintained a dominant position in North America, where it captured roughly 39% market share in the region.

At the same time, competition in the energy storage sector is increasing. Chinese companies such as Sungrow have been expanding their presence globally, particularly in Europe.

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