In figures released overnight by JATO Dynamics, the BAIC EC notched up 25,630 sales (up 260 per cent) during the first quarter of this year, taking the provisional sales crown from the Nissan Leaf, which thanks to a new generation model was up 47 per cent to 22,124.

Both vehicles handily outsold the third-placed model, the Tesla Model S, which slipped 6 per cent to 11,450.

The BAIC EC is available as the EC180 with 30kW/140Nm electric motor, and an NEDC range of 156km, or as the EC200 with a 36kW/140Nm motor, and a range of 162km.

With China's government heavily pushing electric and plug-in hybrid cars through consumer incentives and industry quotas, it's not surprising to see four China-only models in the global top 10.

Despite that, Tesla was still the top global pure EV brand with 27,529 cars sold (up 35 per cent), followed by BAIC (26,409), and Nissan (22,666). Three other Chinese marques (JAC, Chery and Zotye) made it into the top 10.