EV sales are getting hotter, and these are the cars catching up to Tesla

Tesla TSLA, -1.47% lost ground in the electric vehicle sales race but retains a huge lead over the field. Sixty-four percent of the EVs Americans bought in the third quarter were Teslas — down from more than 70% a year ago.

But the slip requires some important context. Tesla sales grew throughout the quarter, with the company losing ground only because of new competition. The Tesla Model Y and Model 3 once again placed first and second in EV sales, respectively.

Sales of both models grew year-over-year. They represent a smaller proportion of the market only because the market is growing in every direction.

Both trends — the growing size of the EV pie and Tesla’s shrinking share of it — are likely to continue in the fourth quarter. Several EV models with high sales potential were introduced late in the third quarter and had little effect on the results.

The Chevy Bolt EV and Bolt EUV (considered one vehicle for sales purposes) came in third, with the Ford F, +2.34% Mustang Mach-E fourth and the Tesla Model S closing out the top five.

Check out: 3 reasons the Hyundai Ioniq 6 makes the Tesla Model 3 seem a bit boring

Sales of hybrid cars slipped year-over-year. Americans bought 206,072 hybrids in the third quarter — 16% fewer than a year ago.

Toyota TM, +0.79% remains the dominant force in hybrid sales. Forty-seven percent of the hybrids Americans bought last quarter wore a Toyota badge.

The Toyota RAV4 Hybrid remains America’s best-selling hybrid vehicle.

This story originally ran on KBB.com.