February sales of the Volt and the Leaf were slightly higher than in January. January Volt sales were 1140 and February sales were 1629 while Leaf’s numbers were January 650 and February 653. The recent rise in gas prices will probably result in an increase sales in the next several months.
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Tesla planned, for NY Times writer John Broder, a trip using their model S top of the line all-electric car. The plan was to test out Tesla’s newly “electrified I 95 corridor” that has two charging stations along the way. The idea here is that these two station should allow for a trip from Washington DC to the Boston area. Things did not work out.
The model S is a $101,000 vehicle with a 85 Kilowatt-hour battery that Tesla reports has a range of 300 miles between charges. The EPA rates the range at 265 miles. The distance from Broder’s home to the first charging station in Newark, DE was about 114 miles and the distance to the second charging station in Milford, CN is about 200 miles. So the trip should be easy. Below is a NYTimes graphic of the trip. The numbers represent the each new phase of the journey.
The 2012 Volt sales were 23,461 which surpassed by a wide margin the 2011 sales of 7,671. As reported, Californians were responsible for more than half of the 2012 sales. The HOV (high occupancy vehicle) lanes now allow the Volt even if there is only one person in the vehicle. Initially, the Volt emission levels weren’t low enough when operating on gasoline to qualify for driving in the HOV lanes. This problem was corrected. If you have ever driven in California, you know just how packed roads can be out there.
My wife and I have been driving South several times a year. We use the HOV lanes when driving south out of Washington, DC, around Charlotte, North Carolina and through downtown Atlanta, Georgia. Two things are noticeable; one is that we hardly have to slow down from normal interstate driving speeds and the other is that ours is often the only vehicle in the HOV lane. The vast, and I mean vast majority of the cars, trucks, etc, have only one person in the them. I can understand the allure that driving in the HOV lane must have in Los Angles.
In addition GM worked up an attractive leasing program for the Volt. According to Money.CNN website:”….. the Volt has also been helped by aggressive leasing incentives offered in 2012. Last year, GM was offering the car for $289 a month with a $2,800 down payment. That was far less than a car with the Volt’s nearly $40,000 purchase price would ordinarily lease for, even factoring in a $7,500 plug-in car tax credit.”
The Nissan Leaf improved over last years sales by about 1.5% with total 2012 sales of about 9,800 vehicles.
The sales of the Volt, along with the Toyota Prius are the most successful hybrids on the market, are really not that impressive when you consider 2012 total vehicle sales in the US of 14.5 million. EVs, like the Leaf, are even less impressive. My guess is that gasoline prices are not going to skyrocket in the near term because of the continued world-wide recession and the introduction of a lot of new fossil fuels from fracking. Low fuel prices will depress hybrid and EV sales. And one has to wonder how long GM will be willing to subsidize the Volt.
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Sixteen Fisker Karmas, hybrid autos, caught fire as an aftermath of the storm Sandy. Fisker’s press release concerning the fires follows:
“It was reported today that several Fisker Karmas were damaged by fire at the Port of Newark after being submerged in sea water during Superstorm Sandy. We can report that there were no injuries and none of the cars were being charged at the time.
“We have confidence in the Fisker Karma and safety is our primary concern. While we intend to find the cause as quickly as possible, storm damage has restricted access to the port.”
As you can see from the picture the damage was total:
Photo courtesy of Jalopnik.com
Climate Change Sanity 