Some green-minded U.S. motorist helped the nascent battery car market reach a critical milestone this past weekend, purchasing the 100,000th plug-in vehicle.
Despite 100,000 sold, expectations for EVs still lag behind results.
While we’re not exactly sure when or where it happened, some green-minded U.S. motorist helped the nascent battery car market reach a critical milestone this past weekend, purchasing the 100,000th plug-in vehicle – or so claims the advocacy group Plug-In America.
“Our current estimate, based on monthly sales figures from automakers, is that the 100,000th highway-capable plug-in vehicle (was) sold on May 20,” said Tom Saxton, Plug In America’s chief science officer. “We are calling this the #PIA100K mark, and we are excited to see the continued growth of the market.”
Proponents are hailing the news and noting that it’s been barely three years since the launch of the modern battery-car industry with the nearly simultaneous debuts of the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid and the Nissan Leaf battery-electric vehicles.
Since then, similar products have hit the market, from the little Chevrolet Spark battery car to the new Porsche 918 plug-in supercar, which the German maker announced last week. In fact, most major automakers expect to have some form of plug-based vehicle for sale by next year, if only to meet California’s demanding new Zero-Emission Vehicle mandate.
Despite the new offerings, sales have fallen short of expectations. The Obama Administration, for example, drove into D.C. promising to help put 1 million plug-based vehicles on the road by 2015. Few now believe that’s possible.
For now, don’t expect a surge. After all, Toyota sells more Camry sedans in three months than all the plug-ins currently on U.S. roads.
