sales

  • 2017 Toyota Prius Prime and 2017 Chevrolet Volt with Green Car Reports editor John Voelcker

    The Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid again took the crown among plug-in electric cars whose makers report monthly sales. A total of 2,132 Volts were sold in March, bringing its three-month sales to 5,563 units, higher than any other car with a plug over the same period. Its stablemate, the Chevy Bolt EV electric car, however, logged only 978 sales, a disappointing number for the 238-mile electric car now in the process of a lengthy national rollout. DON'T MISS: Plug-in electric car sales for Feb: Volt outsells Prius Prime, Bolt EV, Leaf The underwhelming nature of the Bolt EV sales is indicated...

  • 2017 Tesla Model S
    Tesla delivered 25,000 electric cars in Q1 2017, plus or minus

    The numbers are in, and Tesla says it delivered 25,000 electric cars globally in the first quarter of this year, from January through March. That's a new quarterly record for the Silicon Valley company, which delivered 76,230 cars last year. Analysts and Tesla fans had eagerly watched for this...

  • 2017 Renault Zoe
    European electric and plug-in hybrid sales for Jan 2017

    It's a new year, and that means a reset of the tally of European electric-car sales. In January, the top-selling European-market electric car of 2016 maintained its status for one more month. The Renault Zoe accumulated 2,602 sales in the first month of the year. DON'T MISS: Nissan e-NV200 beats...

  • Electric-car rally in Geiranger, Norway [Image: Norsk elbilforening via Flickr]
    Half of Norway's new-car sales are now hybrids or electrics

    Norway has achieved yet another milestone in electric-car sales. The Scandinavian country may be the friendliest for electric cars in the world, thanks to a combination of aggressive incentives, well-developed charging infrastructure, and a citizenry committed to lowering carbon emissions. Thanks...

  • 2017 Ford Focus
    Bargains surge on small, fuel-efficient sedans, hatchbacks

    Automakers are expected to offer greater incentives on sedans and hatchbacks as sales of these models continue to slow. Overall new-car sales fell 1.1 percent in February compared to the same month a year ago, according to Autodata Corp. But sales of passenger cars were hit particularly hard as...

  • 2017 Tesla Model S
    Another day, another positive electric-car adoption rate forecast

    If only success could be guaranteed by positive predictions. While the fossil-fuel industry is notably skeptical of the long-term prospects of electric cars, a growing number of studies and forecasts predict the adoption rate will grow rapidly in the coming decades. Electric cars still face...

  • 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV

    The Chevy Bolt EV electric car got off to a fast start in its first full month of Canadian sales, selling 86 vehicles in February. Excluding its first week of availability in late January, the Bolt enjoyed the fourth-best debut month of any plug-in electric vehicle in the Canadian market. It trailed the Tesla Model S (95 in December 2012), the Chevy Volt (143 in September 2011) and the Tesla Model X (156 in June 2016). DON'T MISS: U.S. plug-in electric car sales for Feb: Volt outsells Prius Prime, Bolt EV, Leaf Sadly for General Motors' marketing team, Jamaica's namesake eight-time gold...

  • 2017 Chevrolet Volt
    Plug-in electric car sales for Feb: Volt outsells Prius Prime, Bolt EV, Leaf (final update)

    Once again, it's the first day of the month following a weekday sales close, when the auto industry turns its eyes to the sales charts emerging from all automakers (except Tesla). For plug-in electric cars, the question this month remains the same as last month: how many Chevrolet Bolt EVs did GM...

  • 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV pre-production vehicles at Orion Township Assembly Plant, March 2016
    Speedy growth of electric cars will challenge automakers

    Estimates of electric-car market share over the coming decades vary wildly, but certain trends seem to be working in their favor. Battery prices should continue to fall, and tougher global emissions standards may put increasing pressure on automakers to build larger numbers of electric cars. But...

  • 2017 Toyota Prius
    Toyota has now sold 10 million hybrids in 20 years, globally

    Toyota has reached yet another significant milestone in global hybrid sales. The Japanese automaking giant has surpassed 10 million hybrid sales globally since the launch of the first-generation Prius in 1997. That total includes hybrids sold under Toyota's Lexus luxury brand, as well as sales of...

  • Renault Zoe electric cars on the Outer Hebrides
    European electric and plug-in hybrid sales for Jan-Dec 2016

    The Renault Zoe closed out 2016 as the best-selling electric car in Europe. While the Nissan Leaf continues to lead in worldwide sales, the smaller electric car from Nissan's alliance partner has remained on top in its home market. These consistent performances have cemented the Renault-Nissan...

  • 2016 BYD Tang plug-in hybrid SUV, made in China
    China's BYD built more plug-in cars than any other maker last year

    Time for a quick quiz: which carmaker sold more plug-in electric vehicles last year—both battery electrics and plug-in hybrids—than any other? If you're a reader in North America or Europe who managed to miss our headline, odds are you may answer "Tesla" or "Nissan," based on media...

  • 2017 Nissan Leaf

    The controlling interest in carmaker Mitsubishi it acquired last year has helped the Renault-Nissan Alliance to solidify its position as the global leader in sales of battery-electric cars. The Nissan Leaf is the best-selling all-electric car in history, while the Renault Zoe has achieved consistent strong sales in Europe. At the same time, Mitsubishi has continued to sell its i-MiEV electric car. DON'T MISS: Next Nissan Leaf: ProPilot self-driving included, 200-mile range or more confirmed Add them all together, and you get the world's largest maker of battery-electric vehicles by far...

  • 2017 Chevrolet Volt 5dr HB Premier Grille
    Plug-in electric car sales in Canada, Jan 2017: Volt on top again

    The Chevrolet Volt continued its reign on top of the Canadian electric-vehicle sales charts for the tenth consecutive month in January. The plug-in hybrid Volt's 256 sales obliterated the prior January record of 99 Tesla Model Ses from two years ago this month. Chevy Bolt EV sales began at the end...

  • 2017 Nissan Leaf
    Real-world data more important than faith in boosting electric cars

    "Big data" is often discussed as a useful tool for everyone from policymakers to corporate marketing departments. But could it also be used to help increase electric-car adoption? Last November, the Obama administration held the first-ever "Electric Vehicle Datathon" with that very goal in mind...

  • 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV, road test, California coastline, Sep 2016
    Plug-in electric car sales for Jan: Bolt EV over 1,100 in second month

    While the auto industry at large waited to see if January sales continued as strong as last year's record-breaking total, electric-car fans waited for a different number. That was the number of Chevrolet Bolt EVs sold last month, the car's first full month on sale, albeit in a small number of...

  • 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV, road test, California coastline, Sep 2016
    McKinsey suggests ways automakers could kick-start electric-car demand

    Despite steady increases over the past few years, electric cars still represent only a tiny fraction of new-car sales. There are no shortage of theories as to why that is the case. Some electric-car advocates blame manufacturers for not adequately promoting the vehicles, while many within the...

  • U.S. hybrid vehicle market: total sales and market share, 2000-2016   [source: PIRA Energy Group]
    Hybrid market share peaked in 2013, down since then

    What's a "green car"? Is it a hybrid? A zero-emission vehicle? One that plugs in? Or just one that uses less fuel than other cars in its segment? It's a perpetual conundrum, for Green Car Reports among others, but it illustrates one of the longstanding challenges in the field. Will the market for...

  • Gas pump

    Continuing low gas prices are often blamed for the current popularity of crossover utilities and SUVs, along with any sales struggles green cars may experience. But would a sudden increase in gas prices cause shoppers to flock to more fuel-efficient vehicles? If so, how high would gas prices have to get in order for consumers to start changing their vehicle preferences? DON'T MISS: Calculated average new-car fuel economy in 3-year plateau The "magic number" is $3.00 a gallon, according to a new study by market-research firm MaritzCX (via Wards Auto). Once the price reaches that point...

  • 2016 Renault Zoe electric car
    European electric and plug-in hybrid sales for Jan-Nov 2016

    In the waning months of 2016, no dramatic changes occurred in European plug-in electric car sales. The established players remained on top of the sales charts, in virtually the same sequence seen in previous months. The Renault Zoe was again the best-selling electric car in Europe between January...

  • 2017 Porsche Cayenne S E-Hybrid Platinum Edition
    Plug-in Electric Car Sales in Canada, Dec 2016: cresting Everest

    While still just shy of the 30,000 vehicle milestone, cumulative Canadian plug-in electric vehicle sales likely finished 2016 high enough to scale Mount Everest (elevation in feet: 29,029). While the full 2016 milestone is unlikely to be reached by January 11—birthday of Sir John A...

  • First 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV buyers, Fremont, California: Bobby Edmonds, Bill Mattos, Steve Henry
    Plug-in electric car sales in Dec: 2016 best year yet, Bolt EV launches, Model S record (update)

    As sales results trickled in from automakers earlier this month, industry analysts waited to see whether enough buyers signed on the line to make 2016 a new record sales year. They did: a record total of 17.55 million new passenger cars and light trucks were sold last year, narrowly beating the...

  • 2017 Toyota Prius Prime Premium
    Toyota Prius Prime buyers misled by dealers; more education needed

    The Toyota Prius Prime is a far better car than its plug-in hybrid predecessor, and it seems likely to become one of the higher-volume plug-in electric cars on the U.S. market. If, that is, Toyota's own dealers prove willing to sell it—or even find out that it exists. After three separate...

  • 2016 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel HFE
    Advocacy group says diesel cars coming back; it meant trucks

    The Diesel Technology Forum notes that diesel's market share increased in the second half of 2016, but that was mostly due to truck sales.

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