GM surpasses Ford to become the second-best-selling EV in the U.S., but it still lags well behind Tesla

GM overtook Ford Motor Company to become the country's second-largest seller of all-electric vehicles during the first quarter of 2019, trailing only the market leader, Tesla, by a wide margin.

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The first three months of the year saw 20,670 EV sales, according to GM's announcement on Monday. In the same period, Ford, which came in second last year, posted EV sales of 10,866.

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Ford's EV sales during the first quarter, according to Motor Intelligence, caused it to fall to fifth place in EV sales in the United States. The auto industry statistics company claims that Hyundai Motor, which includes Kia, and VW have overtaken Ford and GM.

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Due in large part to production halts at two of its North American plants that make electric vehicles, Ford's sales and ranking declined. During the quarter, sales of its Mustang Mach-E decreased by 19.7% as it retooled a factory in Mexico to raise its production capacity to 210,000 units annually. A battery fire at Ford's factory cost the company roughly five weeks of production of its F-150 Lightning pickup and caused a limited recall.

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GM continues to sell fewer EVs than Tesla. According to Motor Intelligence, Tesla sold 161,630 EVs in the U.S. during the first quarter despite not breaking down sales by geographic location.

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Ford and GM have both stated that they intend to surpass Tesla in terms of EV sales in the next years, but Elon Musk's business is aiming for a large increase in its own EV output. By 2030, Tesla anticipates producing 20 million electric vehicles annually, according to earlier statements.

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Most of General Motors' EV sales come from the sub-$30,000 Chevy Bolt variants. The GMC Hummer and Cadillac Lyriq are two newer, more expensive EVs that use a battery technology called Ultium, which is older and less expensive.

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As Lyriq manufacturing increases and shipments of the electric Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck start later this spring, General Motors (GM) said on Monday that it intends to construct 50,000 EVs in the first half of 2023 and "double that" in the second.

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Ford is increasing the manufacturing of its electric vehicles as well. One example is the company's plans to increase the F-150 Lightning's output at a Michigan facility to 150,000 units annually this year, which it reaffirmed on Tuesday.

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Ford says it's going to accomplish the production of two million electric vehicles a year by 2026 globally, while General Motors has said it's going to achieve that same threshold a year earlier by 2024.