Plug-In Car Sales Breakdown: June 2012

by Derek Kreindler

July 5th, 2012 12:32 PM

Now that the dust has settled, it’s time to take a look at our favorite automotive urination competition, the epic battle between the Chevrolet Volt, Nissan Leaf and the Toyota Prius Plug-In.

Chevrolet emerged as July’s victor, as well as the year-to-date champion. With 1,760 Volts sold in June, the General is leading the plug-in sales stakes with 8,817 units sold in the first six months of 2012. Still not the kind of volumes that GM was hoping for. In second was the Toyota Prius Plug-In, with 695 units sold in June and 4,347 in the first half of 2012. The Nissan Leaf finished third, with 535 sold in June, and 3,148 cumulatively.

Nissan is blaming a marketing mishap for the Leaf’s slow sales. Rather than selling them directly to customers via a waiting list, the cars can now be bought off the lot, and a Nissan spokesman told Bloomberg that they “…miscalculated the marketing that had to go behind it.” The Volt, on the other hand, seems to have from a boost in sales in California, now that the car can be driven in the HOV lane without a passenger.

Regardless of the surrounding factors, adoption of plug-in cars is growing, albeit at a slower than anticipated pace. Chevrolet dealers still had a 90 day supply of Volts on June 1st, and breakdowns for the Prius Plug-In and Leaf weren’t available at time of publication. Leaf sales are down 69 percent year-over-year and 19 percent versus the first half of 2011. The Volt, of course, is doing much better.

#Chevrolet #ChevroletVolt #HybridCars #Nissan #NissanLeaf #Plug-in #Plug-inHybrid #Toyota #ToyotaPrius

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Rod Panhard on Jul 05, 2012

Don't kid yourselves with trying to use logic and rational thought for considering the factors in the purchase of an electric vehicle. There's no logical reason to buy one. There are lots of emotional reasons to buy one.

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- KixStart on Jul 05, 2012
  
  The Corvette is like that, too. In fact, any luxury car is like this. Strangely, nobody points this out with the regularity that we hear this of hybrids.
  
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- APaGttH on Jul 05, 2012
  
  @KixStart Very true, and guilty as charged. There is no logical or rational reason to buy a 3-series when a Corolla will get you there just fine. But you won't ever hear anyone on the B&B complain about the emotional reasons for buying something with the BMW roundel on it (or the Porsche shield, or the Audi rings, or the Lexus L, or the Mercedes...) Actually, in a bit of an ironic twist just the opposite applies. You'll hear plenty of, "why would anyone do that," when buying something with the Buick Shields, even if said shielded vehicle is cheaper and better (say Verano versus ILX). Buick - ew-ick! Give me a can opener equipped Acura set of calipers because - well - it's emotional OK!!!
  
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- Secret Hi5 on Jul 05, 2012
  
  @KixStart I strongly believe that emotional "reasons" SHOULD be a factor in choosing what car to buy. If not, then everyone would be driving the same sensible vehicles in each class.
  
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- Luke42 on Jul 05, 2012
  
  @KixStart You've gotta look at what other irrational car the person was planning on buying, in order to really assess whether a hybrid or EV would make sense. When my wife bought her Prius, she was cross-shopping it with some sort of beastly Volvo sedan. The Prius was cheaper, and got way better gas mileage. And it's been super-reliable. So it started out as a financial win and has been saving her (and us) money and time ever since. I start a new job in a few weeks that comes with a big raise. Boring people in my situation with my background would buy a 3-series. I probably won't buy anything but, if I do, it'll be something with a plug -- because I'm geeky enough to think an electric car's coolness is self-evident, and I'm also concerned about the side-effects of gasoline consumption. Also, I drove the Leaf and loved it for completely irrational reasons. It costs almost as much as that 3-series, but it's way cooler and way less conformist. The geeky/green image sure doesn't hurt anything, either. But I fully admit that, if I were to buy/lease a Leaf, it would be an irrational decision. I don't care. P.S. The Prius has settled down to being a mid-priced midsized (inside) car with great reliability and great MPGs. It's not the cheapest car on the market, and it's certainly not the most fun car on the market -- but it does inhabit a sweet spot as an AtoB car for long-term ownership.
  
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- Paul Scott on Jul 06, 2012
  
  As others have pointed out, most car purchases involve a lot of emotion. For electrics, however, that is compounded in a good way because of the fact that EVs allow the driver to get from point A-B without all the massively negative aspects of internal combustion. No war or military actions needed to generate electricity. All of your energy money stays local, and costs 80% less than gasoline or diesel. Virtually no maintenance required. Allows you to use 100% renewable energy so there is no environmental impact from driving the car. These can be considered emotional reasons, and they are definitely good reasons, for buying an EV.
  
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Carlson Fan on Jul 05, 2012

For me it's somewhat ridiculous to even compare the PIP to a Volt. With a charged battery the Volt is a no-compromise EV. Throw it into sport mode, pin up to 80 MPH and it won't burn a drop of gas. I can back a PIP out of my driveway with a charged battery and make it burn gas before I reach the end of my block. That's becasue the PIP is nothing more than your regular Prius with a bigger battery. Meaning unlike the Volt, it doesn't haven't beef in it's electric motors to propel the car under most driving situations.

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- Dynamic88 on Jul 07, 2012
  
  Of course the comparisons get even sillier when we add in the Leaf, a pure EV. Apples to oranges to bananas.
  
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Carbiz on Jul 05, 2012

If nothing else, Lutz was right about one thing: the Volt has brought GM back to the table. It doesn't matter which side of the debate one is on, the Volt has turned conversation back to GM and their technical prowess. I am silently hoping that they gambled correctly and this does not turn out to be a 6-6-4 or Oldsmobile diesel debacle of 30 years ago. And there is no reason to buy a plug in electric - yet. There was no reason to buy a horseless carriage in 1898 either.

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Carbiz on Jul 05, 2012

If nothing else, Lutz was right about one thing: the Volt has brought GM back to the table. It doesn't matter which side of the debate one is on, the Volt has turned conversation back to GM and their technical prowess. I am silently hoping that they gambled correctly and this does not turn out to be a 8-6-4 or Oldsmobile diesel debacle of 30 years ago. And there is no reason to buy a plug in electric - yet. There was no reason to buy a horseless carriage in 1898 either.

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