Tesla's US market share grows through the EV carnage

• Tesla's US electric vehicle market share has grown to 51.3%, despite numerous challenges.

• Overall US EV sales dropped 15% in Q1 as buyers favored hybrids.

• Tesla's future partly depends on the reception of Elon Musk's ambitious robotaxi service.

Lately, it feels like almost everything is going wrong for Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk.

However, there's some surprisingly good news buried in the carnage of the electric vehicle market.

Tesla's US market share actually grew in the first quarter. That follows a similar increase in the fourth quarter, according to EV sales data from Cox Automotive's Kelley Blue Book.

Since the end of September, Tesla's share of the US EV market has grown by 1.3 percentage points to 51.3%. That outpaced all other automakers. Hyundai, VW, and BMW lost market share in the period.

This leaves Tesla way ahead. The next closest rival is Ford, with a meager 7.4% market share.