Chevy beats Tesla for October's highest-selling electric car

Tesla sells more electric vehicles than any other car manufacturer in the U.S., but the Chevy Bolt is snapping at its heels.

The Bolt dominated electric vehicle sales in October, selling over twice as many cars as the Tesla Model S, according to Inside EVs. The numbers show 2,781 Bolts sold, followed by the Toyota Prius Prime with 1,626 cars sold. The Model S came in fourth place, with 1,120 vehicles driven off the lot (although taking into account all three Tesla cars, the company sold 2,115 vehicles).

Unlike the luxurious Model S, the Chevy Bolt is meant to be a more affordable, mass-market vehicle, so it makes sense that the Bolt might outpace the Tesla Model S in sales. The Model S starts at $94,000, whereas the Bolt starts at around $30,000 after tax incentives.

Still, with two months left to go in 2017, Tesla has outsold all of its electric vehicle competitors in the U.S., tallying 20,570 for the year (the Bolt is next at just over 17,000 sold).

Although still leading the electric pack, Tesla has hit some production woes with its new Model 3 vehicle — which is its more affordable class offering. Starting at around $35,000, the Model 3 will likely pose stiff competition to the Bolt — whenever enough can be produced. Back in July, Tesla's visionary CEO, Elon Musk, said the company would churn out 1,500 Model 3s by September as the company gradually scaled up production.

But by October, Tesla admitted it had built just 260 Model 3s over that three-month span. Now, Musk, who frequently notes that Tesla "is in production hell," says the company won't ramp up production to 5,000 Model 3s per month until March. This is well below Musk's July estimates of 20,000 Model 3s produced each month by this December.

Meanwhile, the Chevy Bolt EV continues its success as a completely electric, affordable class vehicle. Mashable reporter Chris Taylor took the 238-mile range Bolt on a test drive in 2016, and was thoroughly impressed:

The Bolt has passed an important middle-class milestone: you can drive for a full and harried work week, at the distance of the average American commute, with miles to spare for evening jaunts, and you won't have to think about plugging in until Saturday.

Overall, electric vehicle sales in the U.S. are booming. According to Inside EVs, October marks the 25th straight month of gains in U.S. EV sales, and over 157,000 electric vehicles have been sold this year — a notable 30 percent increase from 2016.

Competition in the electric vehicle world is certainly vibrant, but it seems everyone is doing some winning.