US Electric Car Sales Soar, Bolt Disappoints

US electric car sales are soaring. If you look at the numbers, plug-in hybrids are the most popular choice for mainstream drivers who want to drive on electrons rather than molecules, at least most of the time. Tesla continues to put up impressive numbers but their cars are really in a class by themselves since their average costs is well beyond the means of most drivers.

2017 Monthly Sales Chart For The Major Plug-In Automakers – *Estimated Tesla Sales Numbers – Reconciled on Quarterly Totals, ** Fiat/Hyundai-Kia Do Not Report Sales Directly, Estimate Based on State/Rebate Data

Topping the sales chart in sales of US electric cars is the Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid followed closely by the all new Toyota Prius Prime which is also a plug-in hybrid. The bad news for Chevrolet is that sales of its groundbreaking electric car, the  Chevy Bolt, were actually less in February than they were in January. Yes, February had three fewer days than the prior month, but the Volt, Prius Prime, Tesla Model S, Ford Fusion Energi, and Ford C-Max Energi all had strong gains in February.

EV sales were up 55% in February compared to the same month a year ago. Looking at the year so far, the sale of electric or electrified cars is up an impressive 62% on average. Many of the cars on the sales chart are compliance cars that are offered solely for customers in California and a few other states. But the remainder of 2017 will see the introduction of some very appealing new models that will be priced where mainstream shoppers will find them appealing.

You can put the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid, the Hyundai Ioniq plug-in, the Kia Niro plug-in hybrid crossover and maybe the Tesla Model 3 on that list. Once there are more high quality offerings that promise nearly emissions free driving at prices that ordinary people can afford, the EV market could really begin to take off. Inside EVs projects that at the current pace, US EV sales could hit close to 30,000 vehicles this year.

The BMW i3 has longer range this year but like the Chevy Bolt, its sales continue to disappoint in the US even thought it has enjoyed strong sales in the European market. It’s a BMW and all that, but even with the larger battery its range is only so-so compared to the competition.

The question raised by the latest data is, in the market for affordable EVs, is there now a clear preference for plug-ins rather than electrics among mainstream shoppers?

Source and graphics credit: Inside EVs

BMW Claims High Battery Costs Will Hamper Electric Car Sales For Years

BMW is none too optimistic about the electric car future. “We’ve learned that people aren’t prepared to pay a higher price for an electric vehicle,” BMW Chief Financial Officer Friedrich Eichiner told reporters in Lisbon last week. “I don’t see some kind of disruptive element coming from electric cars that would prompt sales to go up quickly in the next five to six years.”

Improving battery performance is key, Stefan Juraschek, vice president of electric powertrain development for the company told reporters at a briefing in Munich, “There’s a clear trend to bigger electric cars and longer driving ranges.” But his company sees no quick way to boost electric car profits. Instead, it expects battery capacity and costs will weigh on the technology for the foreseeable future. Juraschek says it will take about 7 years to double the amount of energy stored in a battery.“We simply have to walk through the valley of tears,” to figure out how to save more money on producing battery powered cars he told the press.

That hasn’t kept BMW’s rivals from investing heavily in electric car technology. Mercedes recently revealed it will invest $11 billion to bring 10 new electric cars to market in the next 9 years. Those cars will be sold under the new EQ brand the company created last September. Volkswagen is also spending big on electric cars as it tries to dig out from under the diesel cheating scandal that broke more than a year ago. It has created a new division for its electric cars which will be marketed under the I.D. brand.

Meanwhile, Ford CEO Mark Fields is whining to anyone who will listen that nobody wants to buy electric cars. “In 2008, there were 12 electrified vehicles offered in the U.S. market and it represented 2.3 percent of the industry,” Fields said in an interview with Bloomberg recently. “Fast forward to 2016, there’s 55 models, and year to date it’s 2.8 percent.”

Oh, woe is me, Mark. If only it was 1956 again and all a car company needed to worry about was how big the tail fins on next year’s cars should be. Here’s a question for you, Mark. What good will all those Super Duper Duty trucks be worth to your company when the waters of Lake Michigan close over your factories? Take a look out your window; see what’s going on. In the final analysis, your profits will not save you.

Source: Bloomberg

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

Electric Car Sales Surge In Norway During 2015

There’s no mystery why electric cars are so popular in Norway. To paraphrase an old saying, “It’s the incentives, stupid!” Norway exempts most plug-in hybrid and electric cars from sales tax and registration fees. That makes them price competitive with conventional cars. It also gives EV drivers access to commuter lanes, free parking in most cites, and exempts them from most ferry and bridge tolls. If you look at a map of Norway, you will instantly see it has a lot of ferries and bridges. Finally, Norway is aggressively expanding its charging infrastructure.

Inside EVs put all the numbers together for 2015 and found that combined sales of new and used plug-in hybrid and electric cars and trucks totaled more than 40,000 vehicles. Just looking at new cars, EVs accounted for nearly 30% of all new cars sold in Norway in 2015. It seems clear from the numbers that people are influenced more by economics than environmental concerns when it comes to buying an electric car. What that suggests is that many drivers are perfectly willing to drive electric — if the price is right.

The most popular electric car was the e-Golf, which accounted for more than half of all Golfs sold in Norway last year. Tesla was the second best selling electric car with the Nissan LEAF third. Sales of the LEAF fell off sharply at the end of the year, as buyers decided to wait for the new car with its longer range battery to become available. Plug-in car sales were up over 300% over 2014, after Norway decided to extend some incentives to plug-ins as well. The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV led all plug-in car sales.

Incentves make a huge difference. In  Sweden, which shares the same peninsular with Norway, the government is much less interested in promoting electric cars. As a result, sales of plug-ins and electric cars in Sweden are a small fraction of what they are in Norway.

How likely would the US be to provide such massive support for electric cars? We say we want more of them on the road, but are we willing to put our money where our mouth is? Georgia repealed its $5,000 tax credit for EVs last year. Since then, sales of plug-ins and electrics have plunged 90%, according to WBFO News. Tim Echols, a member of the state’s Public Service Commission, said the issue was about more than money. Rural farmers were displeased that their tax dollars were being given away to eggheads and hipsters in Atlanta’s trendy North End. As TIP O’Neill famously said, “All politics is local.”

Norway has shown what it takes to get people into electric cars. But in the US, which is awash in cheap gasoline, the political will does not seem to exist to provide greater incentives. As a result, sales are holding steady at about 2% a year. By the time the nation gets behind the electric car movement, high tides will be lapping close to downtown Des Moines.