Plenty of Volt related information on my blog

Really like the sales/potential_sales graphs!

My Chevy Volt: Volt Sales

 

I liked this chart from the source article, showing more Volts sold in the US calendar year to date than all other plug in cars combined:

June 2012 Plug-in Electric Car Sales Numbers

Plug-in cars sold in the U.S. (June 2012): 3,318
Plug-in Take-Rate: 0.26%

U.S. plug-in electric sales for June 2012

ModelUnitsvs. last monthvs. June 2011CYTDvs. CYTD 2011
Chevrolet Volt 1,760 4.8% 213.7% 8,817 221.2%
Prius PHV 695 -36.0% n/a 4,333 n/a
Nissan LEAF 535 4.9% -68.7% 3,148 -18.8%
Smart forTwo EV 127 n/a n/a 127 48.3
Ford Focus Electric 89 1,383.3 n/a 97 n/a
BMW Active E 79 618.2% n/a 673 n/a
Mitsubishi i 33 -61.2% n/a 333 n/a
All plug-in cars 3,318 -7.7% 228.9% 17,530 161.4%
All vehicles 1,281,417 -3,7% 22.2% 7,248,893 14.9%​

 

Remember what Volt supporters said last year?

They made it very clear the sales numbers from the limited rollout were misleading and demand should only be considered after nationwide availability began the next year. Look at the graph with the vehicle overlays.

That very same advice should be taken about PHV.

 

Are you predicting that PHV will sell more than the 15,000 units in US that Toyota said they are sending?

 

I'm repeating the same "wait until the second year" advice we told.

 

Are there any Opel Ampera sales numbers available?

 

Thats cool.

If you'd told us all those times you were harping on sales you meant 2013 sales it might have cleared things up.

 

I was one of those, and its definitely the right perspective I thought you were saying the phv was not a niche car though. Do you expect it to outsell the volt in 2013 by a large margin?

I heard 2012 like you, but really we should not hold bad predictions against the car. The leaf sales are the most troubling out of the plug-ins. The prius phv appears to be a good car. Perhaps next year they will drop the price, do a national roll out, and get high sales. The competition from the price of the volt and c-max may get toyota to reduce it. The strong yen may say other wise though

 

I agree, I hope all plug ins sell well.

By the end of 2013 some of the first Volts will be coming off the 3 year leases and I'm sure some people will be looking at their next Volt (I know I will be in early 2014).

 

What part of "second year" wasn't clear?

I was parroting what the Volt enthusiasts said.

Remember, the point is to replace traditional vehicle production. That means profitable high-volume sales without aid from state or federal governments.

 

As one that has argued that early sales are generally only an indication of sales/marketing, I agree that the current sales data says little about the PiP, and even the Volt data is still too early to really judge.

The point is long term transformation, not high-volume profit sales. From that view short term sales have only 1 real meaning/impact-- does the company keep investing in the production/advance of the technology. It does not have to be high-volume yet nor profitable yet.. Better to refine new ideas in smaller volumes. The high-volume profit view is probably a part of why Toyota did NOT release a PiP much earlier and did minimal development in the tech for it.. its less profitable short term. Long term change may, and often is, better served by a truly disruptive change that may not be profitable for many years. Luckily GM was willing to make a big bet with the Volt. Most people, including many at PC, don't understand the EREV concept and its potential. After a year with my Volt my view is only stronger that it is the medium term (10-40year) future. I now see 50 gallons of gas a year as excessive Using gas on any trip < 40 miles is just a waste, and any month under 300MPG (and 100MPGe) is a bad month.

Toyota has less to do to catch up, if they choose to do so. But only time will tell if Toyota really wants to be a player in the PHEV/EV space or just dabble. And while weak sales may impact their decisions, it could just as easily be a decision on their part to go slow and learn from the market.

 

Certainly that may be your goal, I don't know why you think that is toyota's with this generation of phv? Toyota specifically got written into law a lower size battery - 4kwh - into the tax credit, just as gm got their size -16kwh - set as the maximum. You keep saying the phv is high volume and the volt is not. Both companies are trying to establish the technology with this generation. Toyota is unlikely to have developed the phv without Japanese and US government subsidies. I understand you may want them to end, but that doesn't seem to be toyota, the japanese government, or the US governments point of view. From their point of view the money is well spent to develop gasoline saving technology. The president has mentioned the US goal of 1 million plug in cars. This was not a goal that is reachable without subsidies.

Would you have bought your phv if it was anouther $2500 more expensive? Maybe you would, but not enough people for toyota to invest in the manufacturing.

 

You can add this new number in:
Volt deliveries in July at 1849

 

hmm, toyota playing catch-up? Yeah, 12 plus years of US Prius is playing catch up. 15 counting the early years. It's fun to make stuff up...here, let me try: Volt sales are thru the roof because it's so affordable. sarcasm...just another service provided for free. To be truthful, i'm glad they are selling at all...it's my (our tax) money that brought about the Volt. Too bad so few can experience "their" investment. Let me know when the Volt tech trickles down to the masses.

 

More July 2012 USA-only plugin sales:

LEAF: 395
PiP: 688

July Plug-In Electric Car Sales: Volt Steady, Leaf Lethargic (Again)

 

Yes in my view, technologically, toyota has some catch up to do. They had 12+ years of hybrid tech leadership with the most fuel efficient car on the planet. But they sat on the laurels and were late to the EV/PHEV game instead of leading. They could have release a PHEV 5+ years ago.. people were selling mod kits back then. The PiP is a nice car and while ideal for some people, for the average US user its overall fuel efficiency is well below EVs and the Volt, because it spend way too much time on gas compared to EV. The volt is a new revolution, just like the Prius was. Hopefully the Toyota Prius is not like digital equipment and the 8" disk drive from The Innovators Dilema.
And yes the Volt is very affordable, if you do the TCO computation with a reasonable eletricity price and modest driving, its lower cost than most cars, see A free calculator for Economy, Hybrid and Electric Cars. For me it costs less, in the long run, than a Prius and much less than a Plug-in-Prius. Your situation may be different, but do the math. Also this month the Volt outsold the Plug in Prius my nearly 3-1, so your sarcasm fails on multiple fronts.

Glad you are still enjoying your 2004 prius, which also had tax credits. But FYI, the tax credit for my Volt was MY money, not yours. I earned it and just did not pay quite as much tax on my earnings. There are lots of tax deductions US taxpayers get, and not everyone gets them all. Do you consider everyone's mortgages deductions your money, their children, charitable giving, medical expenses?


If you look at it deeper you'll find Colorado, overall, receives federal funding worth about 80% of the taxes colorado residents pay. Oregon is at 98% return on its tax dollar. In fact, most states where the volt is selling well are paying a higher level of tax given the federal return (see United States Federal Tax Dollars -), so most of them are paying taxes that are subsidizing you, not the other way around.


In my case it was even clearer it was my money, I went out and earned a extra 50K last year to buy the Volt.
Even with the Volt my effective 2011 tax rate was just about 30% as I have very few deductions. So in reality the tax credit did not even reduce my normal taxes it just the reduced the tax I paid on that added 50K earning from 15000 to 7500, so I paid an extra $7500 in taxes to own the Volt. Your welcome for my support of your Oregon lifestye.

 

Disregard for availability is what?

 

Irrelevant to the issue of purported "sarcasm".

If one is making a sarcastic remark of the form A because of B, and A is true, then the sarcasm fails. In the EV/PHEV world, the Volt sales can be considered "through the roof" as they are more than all the other EV/PHEVs combined.. and nearly 3x the closest competitor (the PiP). I don't have to address that the competitor might be currently constrained to point out the sarcasm failed.

The fact that the PiP sales are low, given its limited distribution and early stage, does not yet lead me to conclude its failing. But that is neither necessary nor sufficient condition for the volt's increasing sales to be considered doing well. It was not really my goal to put down the PiP.. still hoping it eventually takes off.

 

How about the Ampera sales? Are they already included in the Volt sales numbers? I can't find any information how many Amperas have already been sold.