Electric Car Sales Up Strongly In August

Inside EVs provides a community service as the official guardian of electric car sales numbers each month both in the US and worldwide. It reports that in August, EV sales were up strongly compared to last year. It says last month 14,882 electric cars were sold it the US, almost 6,000 more than in August of last year. On a percentage basis, that’s a 66% increase.

The total number of electric cars sold it the US is still far below expectations, but the trend line is starting to show the beginnings of exponential growth. Year to date, 93,197 plug-in cars have been sold — 29% more than during the same period last year. The Tesla Model S — which just happens to be the most expensive of all electric cars sold in the US market — was the sales leader with an estimated 3.125 cars sold. Tesla, unlike other companies, does not release monthly sales figures and refuses to report sales by region.

The second generation Chevy Volt is in second place with 2,081 delivered and the Ford Fusion Energi took third place with 1,422 cars. The real star of the latest report is the BMW X5 xDrive 40e. It is setting the world on fire with 876 cars sold in August, just a few hundred behind the venerable Nissan LEAF. The message appears to be that customers are hungry for plug-in sport utility vehicles. We knew that a year ago, but it has taken the industry a while to catch on.

One statistic we will be watching closely is how many of its new Pacifica PHEV minivan Chrysler will be able to sell when it arrives in showrooms later this year. Industry research says van buyers don’t want their vehicles to come with plugs. The betting around here is that the research is wrong and other manufacturers will soon be hurrying plug-in versions of their own vans to market.

There are a number of new electrified models in the pipeline. With any luck, we are just starting to see the shift away from conventional cars to electric vehicles beginning. Once underway, the rate of increase should be geometric instead of arithmetic. It needs to be if electric cars are going to play a major role in de-carbonizing the transportation sector.

Here’s the full report for August from Inside EVs.

Photo credit: Tesla Motors