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This should come as no surprise to anyone, but last week, DailyTech reported precipitous drops in electric car sales in the U.S. They contacted dealerships Florida, Texas, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and the Pacific Northwest. Some of the dealerships didn't pick up their phones and the ones that did were disheartened.
Dealerships are blaming the troubled economy and falling gas prices for slumping sales, but there are reasons to be hopeful. "It will take time to build a customer base", says Tim Sankey, owner of an electric car distributor in Kansas, "but people haven't forgotten about high gas prices."
Not to mention that electric car sales volumes had been relatively low prior to 2008, so declining sales percentages are overplayed. MC Electric Vehicles, a prominent dealership out of Vancouver, Washington is only selling a couple cars per month. By the numbers, that's an 80% drop from earlier in the year. While the economy is certainly taking its toll on this fledgling industry, a new political administration focusing on clean energy and summer gas demand could save the industry from collapse. Politicians usually keep their promises, right?
Source: DailyTech, MCEV Image: The Truth About Cars
