August 2013 sales figures, or The Little EV That Could **UPDATED**

Well, I have to admit to a level of excitement here. I’m pulling the trigger on the sales figures, even though the Plug-in Prius and the i MiEV (who really cares?) numbers have not yet been announced. **UPDATE** They’ve been released and are noted near the end of this post.

I just could not wait any longer.

August 2013 was one hot mother, at least in Texas, where I am. I’m a warm weather guy, but I find myself thinking of the cooler days of late September. Already, we’ve had some 78 degree mornings and my Volt mileage has been exceptional…until later in the day, when I drive home in 105 degree heat. It’s probably not a great environment for electric vehicle sales, since everyone knows mileage suffers, when it’s hot.

Hold the phone.

Both the Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf set all-time sales records in the heat of August! The Volt had 3,351 sales, compared to the Leaf’s 2,420, but both were record sales months for the respective models! Admittedly, there were five Saturdays in August, and one of those was a holiday weekend, but still, THIS IS GREAT NEWS FOR EV ENTHUSIASTS! Volt August sales were 13% higher than the previous high water mark, which was October 2012. The Leaf’s August sales were 8% higher than it’s previous record of 2,236 units, sold in March of this year. It also does not appear gasoline prices had much to do with this, as they have been pretty stable for four months.

That’s all great, but here’s the thing most people seem to have missed:

For the first time ever, the sales curve for the Chevy Volt has crossed the historical sales curve of the original Toyota Prius hybrid!!! Who says you can’t cross the streams? 😉

The Volt has been attacked viciously by the political right. Lies about it being a fire hazard that could “burst into flames” were bandied about. Derision of it as the “Obama car” was common in Volt owner interactions with other, less… um… informed members of the public. The effect of this campaign can be seen in the lower of the two charts below. In the first 15 months of availability, the Volt (green curve) moved farther and farther away (and below) the red 1st generation Prius’ sales curve. However, beginning in the 15th month of availability, the Volt began to climb. The pace of its sales was accelerating, well beyond the historical Prius sales rate. Then, in the 25th month of availability, the rate slowed and began to parallel the Prius’ historic sales rate. But in August of 2013, the total number of Volts sold in its first 33 months of availability exceeded the original Prius’ total sales at the 33 month mark. That had never happened before. (upper-right corner of the bottom chart: green crosses over red)

In the 33rd month of availability, the Volt had sold 46,452 units, compared to the original Prius’ sales of 45,650, a difference of 802 vehicles.

It was a herculean feat, to catch up to the Prius, after having to struggle through the propaganda, from those opposed to the Volt for political reasons.

But it did it.

It’s the “Little EV That Could.”

Believe it or not, we may finally be at the end of the propaganda campaign. Things have gone so far, that I saw a piece on Fox News where a guest from the Dallas area (not me) was calling the Volt an “Anti-terrorism car,” and “The safest car on the road!” All I can say is: Wow, I’ll bet it’s cold in Hell today… The actual Fox News video is here. I think it’s astounding that they act like they were never smearing the Volt in the first place. It must have been quite a scene at Fox, when they decided to air this piece. I’ll bet it felt like this to them.

P.S. Anyone notice the Corvette keeps sliding downward in sales?

**UPDATE** The numbers for the Plug-in Prius and the i MiEV have been released. First, the bad news: I think it’s time to just give up on the i MiEV. Sales in August totaled only 30 units. I will stop tracking the i MiEV after this post, and attempt to track the Tesla Model S, even though Tesla doesn’t release monthly sales figures. The i MiEV just isn’t relevant. On a more upbeat note, take a look at the light blue curve, in the upper chart. What an upward spike! The Plug-in Prius’ sales increased 219% over the previous month! (1,791 vs. 817) It wasn’t the highest sales volume that the Plug-in Prius has ever seen. That occurred in October of last year when it posted 1,889 sales. Still, a sizable jump up, after a steep decline back in October of 2012. Maybe things are looking up for Toyota.