I've seen more PiPs in one week than Volts in a year

I've seen a C or two. Seeing a lot more of the V now.

Huge numbers of Prius G2/G3 on the roads on my commute. Seems like the most popular model on the road. Saw 4 at one light - 3 G2s and a G3. Still not as many as I see in the Bay Area, though, but quite a few.

 

Funny you should mention that. I signed up for the cars2go site for that very reason so i could move the cars from the spots. It's just a pain to have to play musical parking spot just so i can grab 30-45 minutes of charge while i go to Ikea or Lowes.

 

I think Car2Go is a good idea, but just yesterday two Car2Go cars were occupying the BlinkNetwork spots at San Diego Ikea. Blink says that soon they will begin charging dollars for the entire time an EV is physically connected to their station (not just the time your vehicle is actively being charged), so that should encourage drivers to move their vehicles after a charge.

 

Car2go very likely has a commercial agreement with Blink for use of their charging stations. If you contact Car2go they may be able to link your car2go account to a special account if you tell them you have a plug-in and want to be able to move cars so you can charge without having to pay.

 

Car2Go offered me a free membership so that I could move cars, but I don't really want to be a car jockey for them, and I don't like the idea of exposing myself to any liability when driving their vehicles. BlinkNetwork told me they get a lot of complaints about Car2Go and that they thought the hourly rates would discourage abuse.

 

I've seen 15 Opel Amperas today in my city. Opel has an EU tour and they start selling in May.
Toyota is only starting selling PiP in my country in the fall, but by that time, all the government incentives for this year will be gone (200.000 EUR).
I will probably be receiving an Opel Ampera to test drive for a week and I will probably like it a lot.
I don't know, what's up with Toyota in the EU market, but they are selling the PiP for 45.000 EUR in the Netherlands, 33.000 Pounds in the UK, the rest of EU is forgotten.
I guess Toyota doesn't want our money.

 

Volts sighting = 0
PIP sightings = 6

Is GM going to ramp up production or is the retail price for the Volt just too high???

Time will tell, but I have a funny feeling the PIPs will win out.

DBCassidy

 

There are at least 5 Leafs & 3 Volts at work. I'm the only PiP so far. I see a fair number of Leafs every day on my commute, and I'm starting to see at least 1 or 2 Volts everyday as well. There's at least 1 Prius v wagon at work, and I see one in my neighborhood everyday. I think I've spotted one Prius c so far.

 

In March GM sold 2,289 Volts, Toyota sold 891 PIP, Nissan sold 759 Leafs, Mitsubishi sold 56 I, and Ford Sold 0 Focus EVs.

I think in the long term PIP will outsell Volt simply because it's a Toyota.

BTW - Yesterday I saw 1 Volt, 1 Leaf, 0 PIP - I have yet to see a PIP on the road.

Noel

 

Clearancing out the 2011 models and the introduction of the PZEV model (HOV eligible) likely had a lot of to do that. April & May sales should be quite telling. With such massive $$$ incentives from CA, CO, and some other states, they should easy to sell.

Strangely though, GM just released details of the 2013 model... pointing out that it will come with a HOLD button. Won't that harm demand for the 2012?

 

i had posted about it in the other thread... we may have seen the same PIPs yesterday. actually i saw 2 different ones on 880N between 6:30 and 7pm. i was driving my leaf in the carpool lane but the other lanes were actually moving faster. i hate when that happens!!

 

How the heck can you tell a PIP if you don't get up close and see the charging port?

 

Look at the wheels. Unique wheels for the PiP - chrome trim along the doorsills and bumper, too.

 

All clear taillights with the new 2012 design (although that may be hard to spot from far away) and silver door handles also.. I think the fender badges are also pretty noticeable.. the "PLUG-IN HYBRID" is a pretty big chunk of chrome compared to the badge that just says "HYBRID"