GM sold 1,849 Volts in July, bringing the year-to-date total to 10,666, and total US sales since launch to 18,663.
So far, it seems that the Chevy Volt’s many naysayers were wrong. Critics of the American standard-bearer have included not only far-right pundits, who seem to see the Volt as an existential threat to civilization, but also skeptical electrification evangelists (including this one), who prefer pure EVs, and feared the Volt would suffer by comparison to the far cheaper gas-burning Cruze.
Well, read the July sales figures and weep, wail and gnash those teeth (or, in our case, simply stand corrected). GM sold 1,849 Volts in July, bringing the year-to-date total to 10,666, and total US sales since launch to 18,663. The Volt’s European cousin, the Ampera (Opel on the Continent, Vauxhall in the UK), is also a leader in its markets – it has 77% of the plug-in market in the Netherlands, 45% in Switzerland, and 33% in Germany, according to technologicvehicles.com.
In second place in the plug-in race, Toyota delivered 688 units of its Prius Plug-In Hybrid in July, bringing total US sales since its February launch to 5,021, although it is currently only available in 14 states.
Nissan is lagging after a promising start. It sold 395 LEAFs in the US in July, for a total of 3,543 in 2012 (down 26 percent from the same point last year), and 13,236 since launch in 2011. The company is now offering what it hopes will be attractive lease terms in order to boost sales.
Mitsubishi doesn’t seem to have much interest in selling its EV, the i, in the US (monthly sales are in the double digits), but it is doing well in Asia and Europe (where it is also badged as the Peugeot iOn and Citroën C-Zero). The company has projected global sales of 25,000 for 2012.
Ford’s Focus Electric went on sale only last month, and the Honda Fit EV went on sale in July, so it’s far too early to consider them contenders in the sales derby.
Coda, Fisker and Tesla Motors do not release monthly sales figures.
Image: Nissan, Chevrolet
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