With the end of 2011 comes the final sales tally for both the Nissan LEAF EV and the Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid, and I am sad to report that both cars failed to meet their goals of selling 10,000 units. On the other hand, both cars came pretty close to those goals. So who won 2011 in terms of total sales in the U.S.?
Your winner this year is the Nissan LEAF, with total U.S. sales tallying 9,674. That is just 326 cars short of their 10,000 car sales goal, falling short by just over 3%. That, despite only being on sale in a limited number of areas.
The Chevy Volt, meanwhile, has been on sale in all 50 U.S. states since October, and has seen its sale steadily increase with each month. However, GM still only managed to sell 7,671 Volts in 2011, falling short by 2,329 sales, despite having their best sales month this past December with over 1,500 Volts. It’s pretty impressive that, given a wave of negative publicity from right-wing pundits and an NHTSA investigation into battery pack fires, Volt sales are continuing to climb. Still, I am a little disappointed that the Volt couldn’t meet its not-so-ambitious goals, and fell short by almost 25%. Hardly a sales flop, but not entirely encouraging either.
Volt sales will have to keep climbing to meet GM’s own ambitious goals for 2011 of selling 60,000 Volts, 45,000 of those in the U.S. To reach that goal, GM will have to sell over 4,000 Volts each month, more than double what they are currently selling. Meanwhile, Nissan managed to sell over 20,000 LEAF’s worldwide in 2011 as well, and Nissan hopes to sell twice that number in 2012, despite the threat of one Republican Congressman to repeal the $7,500 EV tax credit.
I think, given the weak economy, right-wing punditry, and other factors, both vehicles sold pretty well, despite their high prices and controversial politics. Can we credit the tax credit? Higher gas prices? I don’t know…but I do know that electric cars seem to be here for the long run, like it or not. And I do like it. Hopefully in a few years, I’ll be in the market for an EV myself (or maybe a used Volt?)
Source: GM | Nissan
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About Christopher DeMorro
I would like prices of EVs and Plugins to drop further. I was holding out for the Plugin Prius.
The Prius Plugin Hybrid is now coming in at 32k starting compared to 23.5K starting for the regular Prius.Unless I am a taxi driver it will be a while before I can make up that additional cost. It is great that they targeted the early adopters who want all of the amenities. EV manufactures should come up with a barebones vehicle that targets cost conscious buyers in 2012
I have a LEAF and really love it. But, I think the cost has got to start coming down on these cars in order to be a viable option. $40K is too much for the Volt to become as mainstream as the Prius. There’s only so many early adopters.
Sure, if gas prices go up another $1 it will help propel EV sales but they’ve got to get into the $25K range, before rebates, if those new factories are going to be useful. I think the strong yen pushed Nissan to raise the LEAF price. Building LEAFs and battery packs in TN should ease that a bit.
Cheep Net Cost to Drive The Amazing Chevy Volt EREV
AmazingChevyVolt EREV
This is The Amazing Chevy Volt-Facts Guy!
I will prove how inexpensive it is to drive this Amazing EREV for less then $55.00 dollars a week! Ready…..
Driving 30 – 50 miles a day the average American buys almost 2 gallons of gas.
At $3.00 a gallon this is $180.00 a month/ at $4.00 a gallon this is $240.00 per month.
Let us use $4.00 per gallon for now… $240.00 a month fuel cost!
My local utility says on their website that the cost to fill up/charge is $1.20 or so daily if needed and worse case then is $36.00 a month and a gallon of gas or so.
http://www.lbwl.com/PEVintro.pdf
Suddenly I am spending $200.00 a month less to drive my monthly 1000-1200+ miles.
Saving $200.00 a month, $2,400.00 a year, $7,200.00 over the three year lease!
As we know the basic Us Bank/ Ally Lease is $400.00 or so a month-Net, yes there are up front fees including roughly 7% or so.
Us Bank/ Ally get the $7,500.00 Fed up front reducing costs to me then my net cost to drive The Amazing Chevy Volt EREV IS ONLY $200.00 a month or $50.00 a week for this Amazing $40,000 or so EREV!
1 ) Not paying sales tax in most states on $40,000+ MSRP, only on the monthly lease payments!
2 ) No 5, 6 or 7 year contracts! Just 3 year lease obligation.
3 ) ALL components under full factory warranty including 3 years Onstar!
4 ) And best of all, expect Gen2 The Amazing Chevy Volt EREV+ out as lease ends-Ready for my upgrade at once!
Do the math breakout again! I can’t afford not to lease one at once! That is if I can find one…lol
Tom Thias/ Selling Volts at Sundance/ The Amazing Chevy Volt EREV-Facts Guy
Not in 2012. I’m waiting for an EV crossover SUV so probably not until 2015-16.
Auto manufacturers still need more mild hybrids and start-stop engines to get consumers used to things other than regular gasoline engines. So far I’ve only seen one Volt on the road. No Leafs so far.
I think with plug-ins it’s an all-or-none proposition – either all gas or all electric because it’s hard to justify the price that a hybrid will save. Pure EVs are completely different from gas engines so it’s more a style factor as well as gas savings to justify the price.
Still way too expensive to make sense. Through ride sharing, trip planning and my $600 bike I have dropped the numbr of miles I drive to about 5100 from about 9700 a year. I use careful driving – the car is rated at 26/20 and I get closer to 32/24 through careful driving — last year my average was 28.5. I should be able to cut the miles driven a bit more this year. It really doesn’t make sense for me to get anything new until there are dramatic improvements in price and technology.
I know this site doesn’t like volt bashers. I wish this site would consider the fact that the volts twin (not is step child cruze), the Opel Ampera is stealing volt’s US sales. Add the Ampera Sales and presto 10k sales.
http://green.autoblog.com/2011/07/08/report-is-the-2011-opel-ampera-sold-out/
http://www.autoblog.com/2011/05/19/gm-boosting-chevy-volt-production-preparing-for-first-exports/