Georgia Imported 6,087 EVs in Six Months. The Listing Market Barely Moved.
Georgia imported 6,087 electric cars in January–June 2026, up 39.3% year on year — 80% of them from the United States, mostly used Teslas. Over the same months the electric share of newly advertised cars stayed between 4.2% and 5.2%, and only 1,002 EV cards were first advertised in March–June. An import is not a listing, and the gap between the two is the story.
Two true numbers that look like a contradiction
Georgia imported 6,087 electric cars in the first half of 2026 — up 39.3% year on year, worth $89 million in total. The surge is American above all: 4,891 of those cars — 80% — came from the United States, 58.4% more than a year earlier, with China a distant second at 637 and Japan third at 357.
Over the same months the electric share of cars newly advertised in Georgia barely moved: 4.2%, 4.4%, 4.7%, 4.7%, 5.2%, 4.7% from March to mid-August. If imports grew by two-fifths in half a year, why does the listing market look flat?
Because an import and a listing are different events, and the arithmetic of this market dwarfs the EV flow. In March to June alone — four of the import period's six months — 29,267 cars of all powertrains were newly advertised in Georgia, and only 1,002 of them were electric. Even before counting January and February, the country imported roughly six electric cars for every one that first appeared as a listing. Most imported EVs never enter the Georgian listing market at all; a listing is a separate decision that most of these cars never get.
Two true numbers that look like a contradiction
Georgia imported 6,087 electric cars in the first half of 2026 — up 39.3% year on year, worth $89 million in total. The surge is American above all: 4,891 of those cars — 80% — came from the United States, 58.4% more than a year earlier, with China a distant second at 637 and Japan third at 357.
Over the same months the electric share of cars newly advertised in Georgia barely moved: 4.2%, 4.4%, 4.7%, 4.7%, 5.2%, 4.7% from March to mid-August. If imports grew by two-fifths in half a year, why does the listing market look flat?
Because an import and a listing are different events, and the arithmetic of this market dwarfs the EV flow. In March to June alone — four of the import period's six months — 29,267 cars of all powertrains were newly advertised in Georgia, and only 1,002 of them were electric. Even before counting January and February, the country imported roughly six electric cars for every one that first appeared as a listing. Most imported EVs never enter the Georgian listing market at all; a listing is a separate decision that most of these cars never get.
An import is not a listing
This is the distinction that makes the two figures compatible. An import is a car crossing the border once. A listing is a car offered for sale, which happens when an importer advertises stock before clearance, or when an owner decides to sell.
Of the 573 electric cars advertised in Georgia, 54.8% are listed before Georgian customs clearance — the import lane is visible, and it is the larger half of the advertised EV market. What the import boom has not yet produced is a second-hand electric market stocked by Georgian owners reselling; that takes ownership cycles, not import growth.
The stock reading confirms where advertised EVs come from. The median advertised EV is a 2022 car asking $17,000 — a young fleet by Georgian standards, where the overall median across listings is a 2020 car at $14,000. These look like recent imports finding their first Georgian buyer, not a mature resale pool.
Advertised electric cars by brand
573 advertised electric listings; all Chinese brands together account for 20.
The import story is Tesla-shaped, and so are the listings
The average American EV crossing the border is a used Tesla: the US lane works out to about $12,900 per car, while the Chinese lane averages about $22,100 — new cars at new-car prices. The listings have the same shape. Tesla alone accounts for 284 of the 573 advertised EVs — 49.6%, with a median asking price of $15,700 on 2021 cars.
The Chinese part of the import story — 637 cars, 10.5% of EV imports — has not reached the listings yet. Every Chinese brand combined accounts for 20 advertised EVs: BYD 5, Hongqi 4, Changan 4, Zeekr 2, Geely 2, and one listing each for Xiaomi, Xpeng and Neta. Nissan, on the strength of an ageing Leaf population, has 58 — nearly three times all Chinese brands together.
For context, the supply base behind the Chinese story is real: across the 18 largest Western European markets, Chinese brands sold 14.2% of all battery-electric cars in the first five months of 2026 — one in seven, up almost five points on a year earlier, by Schmidt Automotive Research's count as reported by The Guardian. In Georgia that wave is still on the water: the Chinese cars arriving now are 2024–2025 models in first ownership, while the Teslas and Leafs on offer today were imported in earlier years and have already changed hands. The Chinese share of listings — not of imports — is what will show when that wave has actually landed in the Georgian used market.
The import story is Tesla-shaped, and so are the listings
The average American EV crossing the border is a used Tesla: the US lane works out to about $12,900 per car, while the Chinese lane averages about $22,100 — new cars at new-car prices. The listings have the same shape. Tesla alone accounts for 284 of the 573 advertised EVs — 49.6%, with a median asking price of $15,700 on 2021 cars.
The Chinese part of the import story — 637 cars, 10.5% of EV imports — has not reached the listings yet. Every Chinese brand combined accounts for 20 advertised EVs: BYD 5, Hongqi 4, Changan 4, Zeekr 2, Geely 2, and one listing each for Xiaomi, Xpeng and Neta. Nissan, on the strength of an ageing Leaf population, has 58 — nearly three times all Chinese brands together.
For context, the supply base behind the Chinese story is real: across the 18 largest Western European markets, Chinese brands sold 14.2% of all battery-electric cars in the first five months of 2026 — one in seven, up almost five points on a year earlier, by Schmidt Automotive Research's count as reported by The Guardian. In Georgia that wave is still on the water: the Chinese cars arriving now are 2024–2025 models in first ownership, while the Teslas and Leafs on offer today were imported in earlier years and have already changed hands. The Chinese share of listings — not of imports — is what will show when that wave has actually landed in the Georgian used market.
Advertised electric cars by brand
573 advertised electric listings; all Chinese brands together account for 20.
What to watch
Three readings will move first if the import boom starts reaching resale: the electric share of newly advertised cars breaking clearly above 5% and staying there; Chinese-brand EV listings passing Nissan's 58; and the uncleared share of advertised EVs falling, which would mean local resale rather than the import lane is supplying the market.
Methodology
BM.GE's reporting of official foreign-trade statistics: 6,087 electric vehicles worth $89 million imported in January–June 2026, up 39.3% year on year; 4,891 from the United States (up 58.4%, $63.1 million), 637 from China, 357 from Japan. AutoBridge listing database.
2,530 to 6,353 listings per month from March to mid-August reported a fuel type. The 17 August figures include 11,931 listings with a stated fuel type, including 573 electric vehicles.
Imports: January–June 2026.