Car Sales

At the moment, plug-in electric car sales are chugging along between 3,000 and 4,000 a month. So with the upcoming 2012 Tesla Model S added to the mix, it seems likely that 30,000 to 50,000 electrics will be sold in the U.S. this year--more than double last year's sales. But lately, the auto press...

Who buys a Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid car? It’s a question that we’ve tried to answer in the past, examining initial sales data from General Motors to try and create the automotive equivalent of an indentikit Volt buyer. Unsurprisingly, many early-adopting Volt buyers were green car...

By carefully controlling the launch of the 2012 Ford Focus Electric, Ford is trying to appease buyers who want an electric car, while satisfying accountants who are hesitant to invest heavily in the launch.

One of the most anticipated cars of the year is the 2013 Ford Fusion, which will be attempting to cater to a much wider audience than the current model thanks to the introduction of three separate variants: regular gas, hybrid and plug-in hybrid. While the plug-in hybrid, or Energi as Ford likes to...

There's no getting around it: Hybrids cost more than gasoline models, and plug-in electric cars cost a lot more than gas vehicles. Each type of green car cuts operating costs, either by raising gas mileage substantially or replacing gas costs with grid electricity that generally cuts the...

They might get impressive gas mileage and be great for towing, but it isn’t a secret that most Americans hate diesel-powered cars. Historically, diesel-powered cars account for less than one percent of all new passenger car sales in the U.S., but according to data released by a non-profit...

We all know that battery packs are the biggest Achilles Heel of the electric car, which is why automakers like Nissan and General Motors are working hard to improve the energy density, cost and lifespan of electric vehicle batteries. But once you've designed a new battery pack, how do you prove its...

Amidst the unveilings and concept cars of the New York Auto Show, carmakers also make other announcements. From General Motors, we learned today that the 2013 Chevrolet Spark minicar will carry a base price of $12,995 including destination. All Sparks are fitted with a 1.2-liter four-cylinder...

Major evolutionary change takes a long time. That's as true for electric cars as for opposable thumbs--though it will be measured in decades, not millennia. We frequently have to say that declaring plug-in cars a sales failure after 14 months (as certain commentators have done) is wildly premature...

Well, the numbers are in. Despite the lingering effects of economic recession, the world's auto industry built more vehicles in 2011 than ever in history: 80 million, in fact. That's a new record, and the number is 3 percent higher than the 2010 total. The data comes from the International...

It sounds like simple economics, because it is: If the cost of running your car increases, you're going to either use it less--not an option for some--or find a cheaper option. February vehicle sales rose by 15.7 percent last month, and many of those were for more compact and fuel-efficient...

Late Friday afternoon, Chevrolet announced it would idle production of its Volt range-extended electric car for five weeks, from March 19 to April 23. The story was first reported by the Detroit Free Press; GM informed the 1,300 assembly-line workers at the Detroit-Hamtramck plant of the shutdown...

U.S. vehicle sales soared in February, and so did sales of plug-in cars. A drop in the number of all-electric Nissan Leaf sales was more than offset by a rise in sales of the range-extended electric Chevrolet Volt. At least 1,500 plug-in cars were sold last month, with totals for the Mitsubishi 'i'...

Is the Chevrolet Volt being outshone by its own little brother? The Wall Street Journal suggests that - just like millions of Americans - the Volt is a victim of some good, old-fashioned sibling rivalry - at the hands of the Chevrolet Cruze. On the face of it, there's not a lot of reason that the...

President Obama might see a bright future for electric cars in the United States, but not everyone shares his positive outlook. Unsurprisingly, oil giants BP and Exxon are among them. In a report released last month, BP outlined data which suggests that electric cars will only account for 4 percent...

Ask most Americans to name a place in the U.S. where hybrid cars are popular, and they’ll probably name somewhere in California, the Pacific Northwest, or Washington D.C. Now the city of Boulder, Colorado is keen to let the world know it also wants to be known for its hybrid-loving...

It may have only gone on sale at the end of October 2011, but Toyota has just announced it managed to sell 8,399 Toyota Prius V Wagons before the start of 2012. In other words, it sold 668 more 2012 Prius V wagons in 2011 than Chevrolet sold Volts, but 1,335 less than the Nissan Leaf. Starting at...

Last year, the electric-car revolution became real. After a late-Nineties false start, much gnashing of teeth, and years of promises, carmakers delivered more than 17,000 plug-in vehicles in the U.S. market during 2011. December sales numbers are being announced today. The relevant figures: Nissan...

It's been a tough few weeks of publicity for the Chevrolet Volt, the extended-range electric car that's the green halo vehicle at General Motors. Now, despite sales below GM's announced target and an NHTSA inquiry into fires in the lithium-ion battery pack several weeks after they were involved in...

It might have an official EPA-approved range of just 73 miles, but the Nissan Leaf, Nissan’s first production electric car, is quickly becoming the primary car in multi-car households where a Leaf is owned. According to Nissan North America, many early adopters purchased the Leaf intending it...