Which electric car became the first to reach 500,000 global sales?

The Nissan Leaf became the first electric car to reach 500,000 global sales. Nissan announced the milestone in December 2020, about a decade after the model entered production.

The Leaf was introduced in 2010 as a purpose-built battery-electric hatchback. Unlike converted petrol cars, it was designed around an electric powertrain and a dedicated underfloor battery. It became one of the first electric cars sold at large scale across multiple continents.

Early Leafs used a 24 kWh lithium-ion battery, while later versions offered larger packs and longer range. The model was sold in markets including Japan, the United States, and Europe, where government incentives and expanding charging networks supported adoption.

The sales figure refers to cumulative global deliveries of the Leaf, not sales in a single country or a single model year. Tesla later surpassed it with the Model 3, but the Leaf’s early volume made it a landmark mass-market EV.