Sales of electric vehicles have taken a hit globally as the coronavirus pandemic continues to take its toll on the economy, a new report has revealed.

According to data from market analyst company SNE Research, global sales of electric cars between January and May this year dropped by 20.3 percent to 710,000 units, compared to the same time last year.

Due to the worsening impact of the pandemic in the US and Europe in particular, global sales of electric vehicles in May were down by 28.7 percent year-on-year. The figures include both electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids.

Tesla came out on top, owing to an increase in sales of its Model 3, accounting for 17.7 percent of the market, closely followed by BMW which made up 7 percent.

South Korean automakers Hyundai Motor Group and Kia Motors ranked fifth and sixth, accounting for 3.7 percent and 3.5 percent of the market, respectively.

In Europe, Hyundai sold 26,500 units during the first five months of this year, slightly down from last year’s figure of 27,000 units.

Kia beat its last year’s performance as the sales figure went up from 21,300 to 24,600 units on the back of its plug-in hybrids Ceed and XCeed, as well as its electric truck model Bongo 1T over the same period of the time.

By Yim Hyun-su (hyunsu@heraldcorp.com)