Sales of electric vehicles (EVs) and plug in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) more than tripled during January and February of 2013 when compared to the same period in 2012.
Overall, sales totaled 9781 during the first two months of 2013 vs 3089 during the same period of 2012.
Significantly reduced prices of lithium ion batteries has allowed automakers to offer substantial incentives on EVs and PHEVs while still making a profit. In addition, the number of plug in hybrid and base electric vehicles keeps expanding. The result has been a massive sales jump over 2012.
Leading EV and PHEV sales is the Chevy Volt with nearly 3,000 US sales so far in 2013. Chevy expects to sell 36,000 Volts globally, a healthy increase over strong 2012 sales. The Volt’s competitors the Plug in Prius Hybrid and the Ford CMax and Fusion Energi PHEVs also made strong showings with combined sales of these models only a few hundred less than that of the Volt. While sales of competing vehicles continues to grow the Volt’s long base electric range of 40 miles combined with a number of very appealing purchase incentives provide a strong basis for the Volt’s continued lead in the PHEV market. Ford CMax and Fusion Energi which both support base electric ranges of 20 miles appear poised to take market share from the shorter range Prius Plug-in although significant incentives and strong marketing may help support the Prius for some time.
Base electric vehicles including the Leaf, Tesla luxury EVs, the Ford Focus Electric, Toyota’s RAV 4, Honda’s Electric FIT, and the Mitsubishi iMiEV showed combined sales of about 4,200. Among these, the increasingly cost-competitive Leaf, the Mitsubishi iMiEV, and Tesla’s luxury brands appear to dominate. A very economic SMART ForTwo EV will begin selling in March for a base price of 25,000 dollars without incentives and a range of 68 miles. As a city-only vehicle and including state, federal and dealer incentives, the ForTwo will likely be very appealing to customers in metro areas where the price of gasoline currently averages over 4 dollars per gallon (cutting 2,000 dollars or more each year off the gas bill).
If current trends in EV and PHEV sales continue, it appears these vehicles may approach the 100,000 sales mark by the end of this year. Gasoline prices are likely to continue to push drivers toward these far more efficient vehicles with prices for gasoline in 2012 showing highest ever averages that are unlikely to abate much through 2013.
Links:
http://insideevs.com/february-2013-plug-in-electric-vehicle-sales-report-card/
http://www.electricdrive.org/index.php?ht=d/sp/i/20952/pid/20952
robertscribbler 