The news is mixed this month, with some plug-in sales increasing, some decreasing and some about the same. Let’s dive in.
Sales, compared to the previous month, looked like this:
- Chevy Volt: up 24% (2,511 vs. 2,020)
- Nissan Leaf: up 6% (3,186 vs. 3,019)
- Plug-in Toyota Prius: DOWN 40% (818 vs. 1,371)
- Tesla Model S: down (estimate) 14% (1,200 vs. 1,400)
- Cadillac ELR: up 4% (196 vs. 188)*
- BMW i3: UP 282% (1,025 vs. 363)**
- Ford Fusion Energi: very slightly down 0.3% (1,222 vs. 1,226)
- Ford C-Max Energi: up 26% (1,050 vs. 831)
- Chevy Corvette Stingray: down 12% (2,679 vs. 3,060)***
*The ELR’s adoption curve reminds me of the I-MiEV. Great car (the ELR, not the I-MiEV), but price may kill it…
** Charles & I recently test drove the i3 for a couple days and shot a video review. Stay tuned…
*** The switch from the 2014 Stingray to the 2015 model year occurred mid-month in August, which may explain the drop.
The increase in Volt sales, combined with the major drop in Plug-in Prius sales has placed the Volt back ahead of the Prius (year-to-date). However, this year, the big news seems to be the year-to-date dominance of the Nissan Leaf. In the U.S. this year, the Nissan Leaf has outsold the Chevy Volt by 44%! (18,941 Leafs vs. 13,146 Volts) A friend of mine who was looking into leasing a Volt, ended up leasing a Leaf. He told me that the leasing incentives were so good that it was like getting a free car, when compared to the gasoline-powered vehicle he’d owned before. In his opinion, Nissan is “betting the company” on the Leaf. At the current pace, total sales dominance by the Leaf is still about ten months away. Long before then, the new Volt design will be out. The new Volt design, the first major change for the Volt, since its inception in December 2010, is set to be shown to the world at the North American Auto Show in Detroit. I plan on being there to cover it, so stay tuned…
Sales, compared to the same month a year ago, looked like this:
- Chevy Volt: down 25% (2,511 vs. 3,351) This is the same decline as last month year-over-year.
- Nissan Leaf: up 32% (3,186 vs. 2,420)
- Plug-in Toyota Prius: DOWN 54% (818 vs. 1,791)
- Tesla Model S: down 33% (1,200 est. vs. 1,791 actual)
- Cadillac ELR: (did not exist a year ago)
- BMW i3: (did not exist a year ago)
- Ford Fusion Energi: up 104% (1,222 vs. 600)
- Ford C-Max Energi: up 69% (1,050 vs. 621)
- Chevy Corvette Stingray: way up 309% (2,679 vs. 655)
Gas prices continue to decline with the end of the Summer season but do not seem to be impacting EV sales.
