Several Plug-Ins Hit New 2016 Highs, As November EV Sales In US Rise Sharply

Toyota Prius Prime arrives in a big way in November – setting a “debut record” with almost 800 sales (Prime seen here at US dealer – Expressway Toyota)

Many major plug-in offerings in the US surged to new 2016 highs, as plug-in vehicle sales in the US resumed its aggressive second half growth after mostly taking October off.

For the month an estimated 13,337 EVs were sold, a 32.4% gain over the ~10,070 moved a year ago.

The 2nd generation of Chevrolet Volt set its own personal best selling month with 2,531 deliveries in November

Overall for 2016, 133,854 plug-ins have been sold, besting any previous year’s result, while showing a 31% year-to-date gain.

Perhaps even more significant than the full year plug-in sales gains, is the momentum itself.  For the past 6 months, sales are up 44% (84,065 vs 58,417).

Somewhat surprisingly, the big gains did not come on the back of Tesla, as the company spent part of November still dealing with some growing pains surrounding production of its Autopilot 2.0/self driving hardware – a problem the company looks to have sorted out by week 4 of the month.

Picking up the slack was the Chevrolet Volt, which was the best selling plug-in for the 2nd month in a row in the US with more than 2,500 sales (details) – year’s best.

Not to be outdone, the aging Nissan LEAF also managed a year’s best with almost 1,500 sales, while the Ford Fusion Energi set another new year-high with just over 1,800 sales (only ~100 units away from its all-time high).

However, the most surprising result was from a plug-in that wasn’t really even expected this month – the 2017 Toyota Prius Prime.

The Chevrolet Bolt EV arrives in December – can the 238 mile EV dent the “top 5” monthly sales debut?

The Prime arrived early at US dealers (around November 8th), and despite very limited inventory (and limited time to which to sell), the 25 mile extended range Toyota sold an outstanding 781 copies in November – a new monthly sale debut record for any EV offering.

Top 5 debuts all-time in US:

1. Toyota Prius Prime – 781
2. BMW i3 – 336
3. Chevrolet Volt – 326
4. Fiat 500e – 200*
5. Ford C-Max Energi – 144

Looking ahead, we expect December to be an exceptionally strong month.

In fact, with the arrival of the new 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV, a full month’s worth of Prius Prime sales, a resurgent Tesla Motors scrambling to hit full year sales guidance, and the fiscal 2016 year expiry of the federal $7,500 tax credit, we would be surprised if anything less than 20,000 plug-ins were sold for the month.

2016 Monthly Sales Chart For The Major Plug-In Automakers – *Estimated Tesla Sales Numbers, NA for X – Reconciled on Quarterly Totals, ** Fiat/Hyundai Does Not Report Sales Directly, Estimate Based on State/Rebate Data

Other Statistical Points of Interest from November 2016

Top Manufacturers Of Plug-In Vehicles:

Ford was the top plug-in manufacturer in November (new ~115 mile/DCFC equipped 2017 Ford Focus shown above)

1. Ford – 2,604
2. General Motors – 2,575
3. Tesla Motors* – 2,300
4. Nissan – 1,457
5. BMW – 1,453
6. VW Group – 966
7. Toyota – 781

Pure Electric Car Market Share vs PHEV In November*

1. PHEV – 8,162 – 61.2%
2. BEV – 5,175 -38.8%

New Year Highs Set In November By Model (previous 2016 high in brackets)

• Chevrolet Volt – 2,531 (2,406)
• Ford Fusion Energi – 1,817 (1,700)
• Nissan LEAF – 1,457 (1,412)
• Toyota Prius Prime – 781
• Audi A3 e-tron – 394 (361)
• BMW 33o – 215 (92)
• Porsche Panamera S e-hybrid – 88 (59)
• Mercedes GLE 550e – 30 (30)

(*) estimated

Toyota Prius Prime Arrives In US: Will It Be The Plug-In Sales Champion For 2017

New copies of the Toyota Prius Prime (such as this one at Expressway Toyota) arrived at US dealers starting on November 8th

Despite some hiccups getting production underway on the new Toyota Prius Prime in Japan this Fall due to some difficulty manufacturing componentry unique to the plug-in version, Toyota still managed to land the car on US soil ahead of the company’s original schedule.

A Prius Prime (with optional 11.6 inch HD multimedia screen) at Toyota of Oakland waits to find a home

The 25 mile plug-in hybrid Toyota (details) was only expected to arrive just before year’s end, but car’s starting arriving on dealer lots in limited quantities on November 8th nonetheless.

Also of note, and some of those cars have already made it out to states that aren’t California. /refreshing

This pleasant delivery surprise from Toyota means that not only will the company manage to log some plug-in sales of consequence this year, but the plug-in is in no danger of finishing last on our monthly plug-in scorecard for US sales(just 52 of the long out-of production 1st generation Prius PHV had been sold thus far in 2016).

Currently as of press, Toyota has already managed to build inventory of the PHEV up to around 250 units nationally passed the sales demand thus far. (but still mostly in California).

UPDATE (December 1st):  Indeed the Prius Prime was very well received in the US, as Toyota sold just about every copy that arrived on dealer lots, and in so doing set a new all-time record for most plug-in sales by a new offering in its first month – ever, with 781 sales in November.

And if the 2017 Prius Prime heads into 2017 well stocked, it could move all the way from the bottom of the plug-in sales charts ni the US to the very top, as the $27,950 price-point is extremely attractive to not only thrifty EV buyers, but traditional consumers of the standard Prius.

Discounting the $4,500 federal credit the Prime is eligible for (thanks to its new, larger 8.8 kWh battery), the new plug-in Prius has an effective price of $23,450 – which is $1,000 less than the base petrol Prius model…of which Toyota historically sells anywhere from 7,000 to 10,000 a month of those.

Inside the 2017 Toyota Prius Prime

Excluding new plug-in offerings, the Tesla Model S was forecast to sell around ~30,000 to 35,000 copies in the US next year, which translates to a monthly sales rate of 2,500 to 2,900 EVs, while the Chevrolet Bolt EV is estimated to move around 25,000 copies in the US for full year 2017 (~2,100/month).

The original Prius plug-in (which was not competitively priced, and with just 11 miles of electric range) was the #2 best seller in 2012, and #4 in 2013 and 2014 before being discontinued mid 2015.

So what do you think?  Can the much improved, priced-right Toyota Prius Prime be the best selling plug-in for the US?  We think it has a good shot…if properly stocked to demand.

And even if it doesn’t hit the top of the charts, one thing is for certain – the Toyota Prius Prime is here…and it is going to put a lot of new customers behind the wheel of a plug-in car in 2017.

Toyota Prius Prime Priced From $27,950 In U.S., 25 Miles Of Electric Range

Toyota Prius Prime

Toyota Prius Prime Debuted This Past March (InsideEVs/Tom M)

Price is almost always the number one determining factor in sales for plug-in vehicles and it appears as though Toyota actually hopes to move the new Prius Prime off lots in decent numbers.

Awhile back, Toyota execs went public with lofty sales targets for the new Prius Prime and now with U.S. pricing announced, it seems volume sales are indeed a goal with the new plug-in Prius.

Here’s the pricing breakdown for the Prius Prime in the U.S. (all prices include an $850 delivery fee:

• Plus $27,950
• Premium $29,650
• Advanced $33,950

Those figures do not include the federal tax credit, which is up to $4,500 for all three versions of the Prius Prime. With this included, the lowest-priced Prime could be had for only $23,450. As Autoblog notes, the new Prius is some $3,000 less than the last-generation model.

But what’s even more interesting in regards to price is that the plug-in Prius actually slots in quite well with the entire 2017 Prius lineup (see below). It seems almost as though Toyota is encouraging buyers to get the plug-in version of the car:

2017 Toyota Prius Pricing For Conventional Hybrid Versions

Beyond pricing, Toyota has announced official EPA estimates for the plug-in Prius. On the MPG side, we see these figures:

• 55 MPG City
• 53 MPG Highway
• 54 MPG Combined

The MPGe rating was released too:

• 124 MPGe

In the all-important electric-range category, Toyota has over delivered. Originally, the automaker had stated the Prius Prime would have an all-electric range of 22 miles. However, the official EPA electric range estimate is now 25 miles.

Also of interest:  Check out a full library of just released, US test drive video reviews of the Prius Prime here.

In our eyes, the new Prius Prime is an immediate winner, and has no direct competition at its base price-point when it arrives at year’s end.  It boasts substantially more range than the outgoing model, and is priced to sell in volume.

Toyota Prius May Switch To Plug-In Hybrid Technology Shortly

The Toyota Prius is the gold standard when it comes to fuel economy. The new Prius in Eco trim is capable of going up to 58 miles on a gallon of gas. That would have been unthinkable before Toyota married its hybrid technology to the internal combustion engine. The problem for Toyota is that it has painted itself into a corner. Improving on the Prius with its iconic Synergy Drive will be a tall order. It’s easy to make a Belchfire 5000 with a V-8 engine get 10% better gas mileage, but it’s a whole lot tougher to make a current generation Prius 10% more efficient. Nevertheless, people expect continuous improvements. What’s a poor car company to do?

According to Shoichi Kaneko, assistant chief engineer for the Prius Prime, creating the next generation Prius will be a difficult challenge. Because Toyota wants to lead the way in transitioning to a fossil fuel free transportation model, just making a better standard hybrid powertrain might not be enough. “Ultimately, PHEV may be the way to go,” Kaneko says.

Back in 2013, Toyota’s managing officer, Satoshi Ogiso, told the press, “To beat your own record becomes very difficult.” To get the current car to where it is today took a lot of small improvements. The engine is the most efficient production internal combustion engine ever built. Engineers took a little weight out here and massaged the sheet metal to get a tiny aerodynamic gain there. Now to get the next generation car up to 60 mpg or more will be incredibly difficult.

That’s why the company is thinking it may need to make plug-in hybrid technology the foundation of the 5th generation Prius when the time comes for it to debut. Making a plug-in hybrid powertrain standard equipment would allow Toyota to get to that next level.  It would move the brand forward while keeping the Prius relevant.

The new Prius Prime plug-in hybrid is the proof of concept car for Toyota’s future plans. Kaneko says Toyota poured a lot of resources into making the Prime the best Prius possible. Part of that is the addition of a new double wishbone rear suspension to improve ride and handling over the old beam axle. If the Prius Prime struggles in the marketplace, that could force Toyota to reconsider its plug-in hybrid strategy.

That would be unfortunate. Purist bemoan plug-ins as a stop gap measure, but it seems clear they will be an important part of the electric car revolution, at least for the next decade or so. If the Prius Prime has a lackluster sales performance, it will probably have more to do with its polarizing styling than its plug-in hybrid powertrain. The new car, with its multitude of slashes and creases, and its ungainly front and rear treatments, is unlikely to make anyone’s Top 10 Car Designs list.