CEO Elon Musk crowned Tesla victor among electric vehicle automakers last month, saying his company was "1st, 2nd & 3rd in August sales" in a tweet, citing a report by InsideEVs.

@elonmusk: Tesla 1st, 2nd & 3rd in August sales

Shares of Tesla rose 1.9 percent in trading Thursday.

CNBC did not independently verify InsideEVs report. The monthly scorecard says it tracks "all the plug-in EV" sales and deliveries in the U.S.

Tesla shares are down 18 percent in the last one month heading into Thursday's trading day as the controversy surrounding Musk's tweet about possibly taking the company private and an SEC investigation of that matter unfolds.