We always look forward to December sales when in comes to plug-in vehicles. And why is that? For starters the federal government's $7,500 federal credit/stimulus package exerts the most pressure of the year on would-be EV buyers looking to claim the credit on this year's taxes. Secondly, with year-over-year gains already guaranteed, December is all gravy.
This December it is all about the pure electric vehicles as the extended range cars deal with competition from the low price of gas, with both Nissan and Tesla hitting it out of the park.
All the numbers are in for December and the month crushed the 10,010 plug-ins that were sold in December of 2013.
In fact, a new all-time record for any one month of plug-in sales was set, with an estimated 12,874 EVs being sold - besting the 12,053 moved this past May.
Overall 119,710 plug-in vehicles were sold for the year, good for a 23% increase from 2013 when 97,501 were purchased according to our records.
Heading in December the stories of interest were (with answers as they come in):
- Can Nissan best December 2013's result of 2,529 LEAFs sold and hit 30k for the year? (big time)
- Now that 2015 MY Chevrolet Volt production is up and running again in Hamtramck, Michigan after a 2 month hiatus will GM build inventories (and sales) back up around the country and promote the current generation ahead of the 2016's debut in the fall? (Nope and nope)
- Will Toyota snap their self-inflicted 3 month wound of low sales on the Prius PHV and actually start stocking and delivering the car everyone seemed to want so badly in the Spring? (No they won't)
- The Porsche Cayenne S e-Hybrid quietly hit US soil in November and sold 45 copies, what will the new models first full month bring. (about the same)
(last updated:4:17 PM January 6th, 2015)
Chevrolet Volt: Looking at GM's production level of 2015 MY Chevrolet Volts throughout 2014 it has become clear the company is looking ahead to the next generation launch of the car later in 2015 (recent full reveal pics can be found here).
That malaise has translated into some fairly anemic sales the last 4 months. For December just 1,490 were sold. That number is off 38% from the 2,392 Volts sold in December 2013. (Full recap of December's sales action for the Volt can be found here)
For full year 2014, 18,805 cars were been sold - which is down 18.6% from 2013 when GM moved 20,702 Volts. This means that the Volt is the first electric vehicle to post two consecutive years of falling sales in America.
Perhaps not helping things of late has also been the continue flood of 2nd generation Volt news. In December we got this Driving Dynamics teaser of a camouflaged 2016 Volt, and this Winter Testing teaser of the same car.
GM executives had also already announced that not only would the 2016 Chevrolet Volt have a larger gas engine (1.5l that now runs on regular instead of premium), but that the car would have both a greater range (we suspect about 50 miles), and overall efficiency.
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Behind the numbers: GM decided to shutter the Volt's assembly plant in late August for about 8 weeks as some of that $449 million dollar investment that went into a Hamtramck facility upgrade in anticipation of the 2nd gen Volt as well as some other unnamed plug-in vehicles.
Production came back online in mid-November, but new 2015 inventory stayed below 2,000 units for most of the month.
Nissan LEAF: Nissan almost set a all-time sales record for themselves in December selling 3,102 LEAF (August was the high at 3,186). A full recap on the Nissan LEAF's sales and happenings during December can be found here.
With that result Nissan can now claim 2 things: 1.) the first car to crest 30,000 units sold in one calendar year and 2) 23 consecutive monthly records for LEAF sales in the US
Nissan has sold 30,200 LEAFs, which is a big 34% improvement over 2013, when 22,610 were sold.
For some perspective on how high that 30,200 sales number is, the previous best was by the Chevrolet in 2013 with 23,094 Volts sold.
Perhaps due to late year demand, or seasonality of the delivery schedule Nissan national inventories fell by about 1,000 units during December, the first month of the year we can recall such a significant drop.
Of random interest: Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn made the statement this month that with over 200,000 EVs sold by the Nissan-Renault Alliance, and the quantities they now produce, have put many cost reductions in place, and that they "think it’s time to push".
In a somewhat related matter, the CEO also said that "more than 400 km (249 miles)" will be coming to the LEAF in just a "few years". Important to note that this conversation took place in Japan where range ratings are wildly optimistic, however Mr. Ghosn was asked directly if the range will double - to which he replied "yes" while declining to add any further information.
Cadillac ELR: 118 ELRs were moved in Decemeber, which is just about bang on with the year average.
A lot of dealer-level discounting has turned the luxury Cadillac plug-in into a fairly decent seller recently. In November, 155 were sold.
Overall, 1,310 plug-in Cadillacs were sold in 2014.
The all-time high for ELR sales came in August when 196 were sold.
Heading into January just about 750 ELRs remained to be sold, but this now seems like a manageable level, as production of the Caddy stopped several months ago, and will not restart in November alongside the Chevy Volt.
In fact, there will be no model year 2015 ELR, as that model will be skipped in favor of the refreshed ELR (full story on that here). GM says the new ELR will also receive some "engineering enhancements" for its next iteration.
It should be noted the debut the 2016 ELR at the LA Auto Show this month was scrapped at the last minute. The reason? Its "autonomy" functions weren't ready to go....which seems a little week considering no one expected the car to be driving around by itself on stage.
Instead of the 'next' ELR debut, we got an interview with new Cadillac boss Johan de Nysschen (yes, that Johan de Nysschen), that could not have been more of a wet blanket, complete with the labelling of the brand "niche" and not a priority right now.
BMW i3: BMW returned to 4-digit land in December - the fourth time in 5 months, by selling 1,013 copies during the month.
Previously in November, 816 i3s were sold, while the all-time high still stands at 1,159 from October.
For the full year, BMW sold 6,092 i3s, good for the 7th best overall spot for plug-in sales in America...not bad considering it was only available for 7 full months in the US.
Current owners got some good news this month as earlier, long standing issues surrounding the onboard chargers being muted to avoid failure incidents has now been rectified and BMW has a recall/repair bulletin out for owners to now get new units installed. 7.4 kW charges again for everyone!
Going forward, sales may lapse a bit in the United States in December and January as reports of fall-out from super-typhoon Haiyan has crippled BMW's ability to source carbon fiber raw materials, and the company has temporarily shut-down its furnaces.
Still, details on the 2015 model year BMW i3 are out (details) and include some new creature comforts (heated seats for all models), DC fast charging across the range; as well as some product fixes (keyfob that can both unlock and lock).
Looking at the inventory situation, it has slowly decreased for three months running, and has fallen under the 2,000-unit mark for the first time since (pretty much) the car's launch.
Tesla Model S: Tesla does not give out exact monthly sales (apparently because the public can't handle the concept of regional allocations and delivery lead times)… so we never know for sure what the monthly numbers total up to until their quarterly updates, but we do our best to keep our finger on the pulse of what is happening.
Unlike other (like all) publications, we don't simply take an expected number of sales for the Model S given by analysts for the quarter and then divide it by 3 to get a monthly number and hope it all works out...it just doesn't work like that, even for the larger OEMs.
We actually put in a little research/tracking effort into the estimated number of deliveries in the US and attempt to explain what is happening behind the scenes. (and so far, that has worked out pretty well)
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Last month we said to ignore the monthly number as all eyes were focused on production of the P85D at Tesla's Fremont assembly facility for December deliveries. And did it go smooth?
No it did not.
Those who entered production in the last week of November and first week of December found their cars (for the most part) stuck in quality control limbo waiting on faulty parts to be replace. And in most cases that meant the new "next gen" seats (a $3,500 option) had to be pulled out of initial cars and replaced with previously available/regular seats due to air bag deployment and safety issues. And while the automated process can install those seats incredibly fast...taking them out and swapping them by hand after the fact is not so easy.
Long story short, pretty much everyone expected deliveries early in December had to sit on their hands for awhile - we did get a report of a few that cancelled and/or re-ordered - perhaps also enticed by the newly minted heated steering wheel option that went live in December. The good news is the anxious owners all did get their cars during the third week of the month (with a promise to swap back in the next gen seats in 2015).
Even better news was that the production line itself kept trucking throughout the month and that a lot of cars were delivered starting in the third week. A LOT of cars. Even the CEO himself was at the Centinela Service Center in Los Angeles on the last day of the year checking on things and chatting with P85D customers, while VP of sales Jerome Guillen reportedly surfaced in Palo Alto.
Of note: It appears that Tesla immediately returned to filling Euro production after Christmas when there was no longer enough days to both build and deliver US spec cars before the year's end.
And while it is extremely difficult this month to put an exact number on US deliveries due to a lot of moving parts, we feel Tesla managed to do enough to set a new US record for EV sales in any month.
We estimate Tesla sold 3,500 Model S sedans in December (including regular and the sell-down of inventoried non-Ds)...the second best result for any automaker worldwide, trailing only the 4,976 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEVs that were sold in Netherlands in December of 2013.
We would not be surprised at all to see Elon Musk break his self-imposed 'non-disclosure monthly sales policy' as he did in September to tout December's results.
Mercedes-Benz B-Class ED: The B-Class ED broke through in a way many cars with a limited release can not in December. For the month, 326 were sold as inventories filled out on dealer lots.
Can the electric B-Class compete with natural rival BMW (with the i3)? It still seems highly unlikely, at least for now...but a lot more probably than just a couple months ago.
Previously in November, Mercedes broke into 3-digits for the first time with the B-Class electric as 193 were sold.
A new and slightly "facelifted" 2015 model hits Mercedes dealership very early this year (pics and story here) - first sales of the 2015 MY B-Class ED (and nat gas version) begin in Europe on November 3rd.
For the B-Class ED first 5 months on the market, 774 have been sold. It is hard to rate and/or gauge the demand of the car because that is pretty much all the cars Daimler has shipped out to the US so far.
Editor's Note: Daimler lists total B-Class ED sales for 2014 as 2 units higher than InsideEVs - this is cause to a spreadsheet error on Mercedes-Benz's part between August and September.
For the US, the 'old and busted' B-Class will be available only in limited states for 2014 and the first couple of months of 2015 (CA, CT, MD, OR, NJ, NY, RI and VT)). Later, it will head out nationwide to the unwashed masses."Job 1" of B-Class ED production was completed on April 11th (full story here).
The 2014 B-Class ED starts from $41,450 ($100 more than the BMW i3) and has an all-electric range "officially" of 87 miles. However, there is an optional range package ($600) that will push that figure up to 104 miles. The good news for 2015? The "full range" will be standard on all B-Class EDs and officially move the plug-in Mercedes into the 100-mile club.
BMW i8: Sales of the i8 continue to impress as 158 were sold in December, remember this isn't your mother's plug-in car, these $150,000 dollar machines.
Previously in November BMW sold 126 i8s, while the 204 plug-in sports cars sold in October is still the highest to date.
555 i8s have been sold over the sports cars first full four months on the market, after selling 9 in August via a limited engagement event.
The ultra-high end plug-in from BMW arrived on August 16th in the United States. (Check out a nifty video of its journey from production here)
It is still hard to say what the ultimate demand will be for the i8, but we can report that the BMW i8 has seen a sharp jump in US production volume starting in the late summer.
We think any results over that of what Porsche can achieve with the Panamera S E-Hybrid should be considered a success. So, the i8 is a success.
Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid: As feared, the introduction of the Cayenne e-Hybrid has meant some Porsche buyers have made the switch to theSUV.
For December just 31 of the plug-in Panamera were sold - a year low.
Sales of the luxury plug-in first hit a bit of a speed last month (November) as just 57 Panamera plug-ins were sold.
For the full year, 879 copies...not bad for a car whose average retail price is about $115,000
Outside of a big sales month in June (111), Porsche seems to have found a comfortable
The high water mark for sales on the Panamera was set in the first month of the year, with an amazing 141 sold. Currently there is about 200 S e-Hybrids in dealer inventory in the United States.
The Panamera S E-Hybrid has a combined 416 hp output (333 hp electric) and can get north of 60 mph in about 5 seconds, with a top speed of 167 mph. Pricing starts at $99,000. Also of interest, the S E-Hybrid is currently available at all Porsche dealers nationwide - a rare thing these days.
Porsche Cayenne S e-Hybrid: During the Cayenne plug-in's first full month on the market, 55 were sold.
Last month, the 22nd major production EV in the US sold a strong 45 copies.
Probably the most anticipate plug-in car you have not heard of is the 416 hp/435 lb.-ft. S e-Hybrid (full details on the electric Cayenne here).
Here is why it really should be hard for the electric SUV to not be a hit:
a) it's a Porsche
b) its a plug-in SUV, that can get to 60 mph in 5.4 seconds and drive all-electrically for up to 22 miles
c) and most importantly it starts at $76,400
d) it's available coast-to-coast.
Chevrolet SPARK EV: Sales perked up for the Spark EV in December as GM tells us that they sold 131 of them during the month. They also added that all of those went to retail customers (no fleet this month at all).
December was the second the best result since May, and GM sold 1,144 in total for the year against 539 in 2013.
A fleet-inspired May of this year set the new benchmark for sales on the Spark EV with 182 sales.
The little Chevy picked up an award this month that General Motors would probably like to forget, namely "Ugliest New Car of 2014", and while the Spark EV certainly isn't going to be winning any best in show awards anytime soon, we can think other not-so-cute choices that hit the market this year.
However, no one should read anything into any monthly sales number when it comes to the Spark EV ... at least if they are trying to get a handle on Spark EV demand, as GM basically sets their own monthly sales number by curtailing inventory. GM could sell a lot more if they wanted to. We figure that any 3-digit number probably satisfies GM's internal projections for the car
Kia SOUL EV:
Despite having no issues accepting the $7,500 federal credit (designed to encourage hitting EV sales targets in the US) against sales of the Soul EV, Kia has decided it's no one's business what those sales are (many media outfits, including ourselves have been rebuffed) - a testament to Kia's true dedication to plug-in vehicles.
But none of that matter because there is more than one way to split out plus-ins sales from petrol ones.
For December 110 Soul EVs were sold, previously in November 140 Kia Soul EVs were sold...which means that, at least for now, with only 3 months of data in the books, the low 100s seems to be the acceptance level for the all electric Kia.
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As we projected earlier this year, the all-electric Kia showed up ahead of its expected November release data and start selling in early October. That being said there isn't a heck of a lot of them to be found on dealer lots at the moment (~50 units)
In fact, InsideEVs' own Tony Williams got his hands on one...and immediate ran the battery down to nothing in an impromptu range test. Check out the report and drive video here.
Result? Over 100 miles of range! /pretty not too bad Kia
The cute-ute from Hyundai/Kia has a more than decent 93 miles of range (with more 103 miles of range in the city), and a price tag of $33,700 (full details, specs and picture can be found here).
Volkswagen e-Golf: Volkswagen served notice that they won't be relegated to the small volume compliance category of EV sales by posting 237 e-Golfs sold in the plug-in's second full month on the market.
Historically, cresting the 200 level of sales has been reserved for only the 7 major EV models and the smart ED.
How high could it go? Still fairly hard to say, but as inventories spread out and VW eventually sends it across the country, 500 per month doesn't seem hard to fathom today.
Previously, sales of the e-Golf were up 11,900% in November in the car's first full month on the market...of course, that is because just a single copy went out in October, and 119 were sold in November.
As for that 1 e-Golf sold in America in October, InsideEVs learned exclusively that it was sold at Volkswagen Santa Monica on Halloween.
For the US, the Volkswagen e-Golf only comes in the premium SEL trim, which brings with it a price point of $35,445 - meaning the car will very specifically compete with the top-of-the-line Nissan LEAF SL (from $ 35,020).
Full details on the e-Golf specs, pricing and photo galleries can be found here.
The e-Golf has been rated at 83 miles by the EPA and carries a 24.2 kWh LEAF-like battery, we expect a range of about 80 miles for the electric VW.
Previously, InsideEVs learned details on a launch leasing program that sees the e-Golf available from $299/month on a 36 month term with $2,000 down.
Mitsubishi i-MiEV: Woof. Just 12 fully electric cars were sold by Mitsu in December, which comes off the 18 EVs from November.
In October, continuing a never-ending story of 'failing to deliver', 17 i-MiEVs were sold in America for October. In September just 15 were sold.
Etc.,etc.,etc.
Mitsu continues to learn the lesson of "If you don't ship any inventory, its hard to sell cars."
For December national inventories contracted further still, with about 80 2014 MY cars available...and suspiciously zero 2015s.
The cold hard fact on the i-MiEV is that Mitsubishi really doesn't make any money on the car, and they do on the Outlander PHEV...which they still can't make enough of, so they aren't shipping i-MiEVs to the US, and they may never ship them before the model fades away shortly. No better example of this unwillingness to sell the car is in states such as Georgia, whose generous state-level incentive almost makes the car completely free on a lease.
We are pretty much ready to call it, the Mitsubishi i-MiEV is done for the United States. We feel that is is just place-holding the EV parking space at Mitsu dealers until the Outlander PHEV shows up.
Mitsubishi did announce in October however that they will have a plug-in crossover (the ASX) to market in 2017 and the full size Pajero plug-in a year later. These cars will joining the Outlander PHEV - which arrives in the US in about 11 months..
The new pricepoint of $22,995 also INCLUDES standard fast charging and a host of other standard features that used to be options. The MSRP price reduction equals $6,130 less than the outgoing 2012 model. Want to know more about the new cheapest EV in America? Click $22,995!
Honda Fit EV: Cleaning up what is left to sell, Honda sold 32 all electric Fits in December.
For the year total, 407 were sold, off 28.5% from 2014 when 569 were moved.
So, the story continues to be: Inventory, where is the inventory?
Well, there isn't any, and it isn't coming as Honda has DISCONTINUED production of the car in favor of future-tense fuel cell vehicles (the Honda FCV debuted this month in Japan) and ZEV credit buying to solve California compliance regulations.
Honda only hardly any Fit EVs left to sell - we are actually surprised there was even 32 left to move this month. As such, the Fit EV will leave the monthly scorecard report when the year ends.
So if you get one...count yourself "lucky".
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SMART ForTwo Electric Drive: One again the all-electric smart came out of nowhere to destroy expectations. For December 351 were sold! A new monthly record (again) for parent Daimler.
All we could say previously for November (and we did when speaking to the Daimler rep) was "holy cow", as smart sold 313 electric versions of their ForTwo.
We had felt that even in October smart had continued to defy the odds by selling 150 EDs, which was about a fifth of the entire brands sales for the month...a number that has risen to more then 1 in 3 (or 33% today).
The smart EV is now technically available nationally, although there isn't inventory yet spread out across the country to make physical sales everywhere.
The smart ED is the first plug-in for America to be offered with a "battery rental" option, which brings the cost of the Smart ED down to $19,990, but adds a $80 month battery rental payment, as well as includes a wider (and longer) battery warranty.
Check out all the specs, options and pricing here. The 2-seat Smart electric car gets 68 miles of range from a 17.6 kWh battery.
Ford Fusion Energi: The Fusion Energi had its best result since the summer with 789 plug-ins sold, but that is still far below what Ford had been achieving earlier in the year.
Previously, the Fusion Energi rebounded a little in November as 752 copies were sold.
For October, the depression of plug-in sales at Ford extended into its second of four months as just 686 Fusion Energis were sold. Just 640 were sold in September.
Those two months followed a summer that the Fusion Energi had reported well north of 1,000 units sold per month.
Part of the issue plaguing the electric Fusion is national inventories - as in they are low, very low. Heading into December (and continuing throughout the month), only about 1,400 were available to be purchased of Ford dealer lots.
Earlier this year, Ford set a new all-time best, and sold an astounding 1,939 copies of the electric Fusion in June...which was 44% better than May, the previous best month on record for the Ford.
Of note in June not related to sales: The Ford Fusion Energi and C-Max Energi, both had their EPA ratings slashed by the company, and compensation cheques are heading out to owners.
Both Energi vehicles now have a 88 MPGe rating (down from 100 MPGe), a 38 MPG extended range efficiency (down from 43 MPG) and a 19 mile all-electric range (down from 21 miles) - full story on that here.
The Fusion Energi basically offers the same package as the C-Max Energi, but in a larger sedan package. The third plug-in to be offered from Ford has just been rated by the EPA at a combined 88 MPGe and has an electric range of 19 miles.
Toyota Prius Plug-In:
It would be nice if Toyota stopped messing with the US EV sales results and got to stocking the Prius PHV already.
In December 492 were sold, which if you like to look at the "glass being half-full" was an improvement over Novembers 451.
October was an equally dismal 479 units...which on a technical level was better than the year-low of 353 sold in September.
Again, we do have to note - that recent results was/is not a reflection on the demand for the car as...well, there isn't that many to be had.
Thankfully, 2015s finally started sloooowly arriving at Toyota lots mid-month in October, and arresting the sales free-fall that was affecting not only the model, but the overall plug-in sales picture in the US.
National inventories held steady for Toyota during December, but still at an unacceptably low level around 1,000 units.
Anyone remember the record 2,692 Prius PHVs sold just five months ago? More of that please.
For they year, 13,264 plug-in Prii have been sold so far in 2014, 10% more than 2013, when 12,088 moved off lots.
Much like the Nissan LEAF was for almost all of 2013, the Prius PHV has been a demand vs allocation story over the past 6 months since Toyota reduced the price of the plug-in by $2,010 to $4,620.
The allure of the car, now from $29,990, has essentially meant Toyota can set the amount they want to sell as a function of how many they build.
Ford C-Max Energi:
Flat. That is pretty much the only way to describe the C-Max Energi sales. In December 659 were sold.
Like its stable mate, the Fusion Energi, sales continued to be off for the plug-in C-Max since the summer when it had averaged about 1,000 copies per month.
How flat are sales? The last 4 months have been - 659,644,644, and 677, all of which came after a strong August.
August's earlier result (1,050) had represented the strongest showing of the year, so there may have been some exhaustion at the dealership level heading into this month.
Of note in June not related to sales: The Ford Fusion Energi and C-Max Energi, both had their EPA ratings slashed by the company, and compensation cheques are heading out to owners.
Both Energi vehicles now have a 88 MPGe rating (down from 100 MPGe), a 38 MPG extended range efficiency (down from 43 MPG) and a 19 mile all-electric range (down from 21 miles) - full story on that here.
For 2013 overall, 7,154 plug-in C-Maxs were sold, good for being the 5th best selling plug-in for America.
In 2013, the high water mark for the C-Max Energi was set in October as 1,092 plug-ins sold. It would not surprise us to see the C-Max Energi live only as long as it takes to introduce a Focus Energi.
Ford Focus Electric: For only the second time in 2 years the Focus electric didn't sell exactly 100-and something EVs...unfortunately it went the wrong way for the first time.
Only 53 cars were sold, despite a $6,000 MSRP price cut (down to $29,995) just 2.5 months ago, and big discounts at the dealer level. We hate to say it, but the current generation of the plug-in Focus EV as it stands, is pretty much dead.
You have to go back to August of 2012 to find a worse result...and December is typically the easiest month to sell a plug-in.
Also as announced recently, the Focus got a slightly refreshed look for the 2nd half of 2014. And if you squint really hard, you might be able to spot the changes in the 2015 Focus Electric here.
And no, the battery intrusion into the trunk has not changed - that will have to wait for a full platform upgrade in about 3 years - provided the car continues to be produced alongside the rumored Focus Energi.
Also as announced recently, the Focus got a slightly refreshed look for the 2nd half of 2014. And if you squint really hard, you might be able to spot the changes in the 2015 Focus Electric here.
And no, the battery intrusion into the trunk has not changed - that will have to wait for a full platform upgrade in about 3 years - provided the car continues to be produced alongside the rumored Focus Energi.
Fiat 500e: When it comes to reporting plug-in sales, we have had another Tesla on our hands here (as in they don't report sales).
Chrysler/Fiat had been giving us a bit of the stonewall treatment when it comes to reporting 500e sales. But thankfully that 'black hole of knowledge' seems to have ended, thanks to data from Baum & Associates via HybridCars.com (big props).
For December 115 500es were moved.
Previously in November Fiat reached a new year/all-time low with just 100 units sold after selling 140 in October.
As promised earlier this year, the Fiat 500e sales footprint in the US ventured outside California, as the EV is now on sale in Oregon.
Still in play is a $199/36 month lease deal ($999 due on signing), but for model year 2015 there has been some changes to 500e, a new dash, some new cupholders, and a couple new exterior colors that, well...don't thrill us too much.
As for the car itself, the 500e's 24 kWh lithium battery has been rated by the EPA to produce 87 miles of all electric range, and MPGe efficiency in the city is pegged at 122, and 108 on the highway, for a combined 116 MPGe figure.
Toyota RAV4 EV: With the wind-down in full effect now, Toyota sold 37 RAV4 EVs in December.
Previously in November, 83 electric SUVs were sold, which comes after 97 RAV EVs were sold in October.
SELL, SELL, SELL
For the year 1,147 were sold, with the high coming in August with 228 sold.
The RAV4 EV is (and always has been) a CARB compliance play, with Toyota needed to produce and sell about 2,600 units.
To date through September, 2,472 have been sold in total.
Look for the RAV4 EV to join the Honda Fit EV on the scoreboard sidelines for 2015.
Speaking of which (CARB compliance), the vehicle displacing the RAV4 EV, the Toyota FCV made its official debut in the US in late June...if you are into that sort of thing, check out the story on Toyota's fuel cell vehicle here.
Honda Accord Plug-In: In December 63 Accord PHVs were sold - a year high for Honda!
By the way, did you know Honda had a plug-in hybrid to sell? Few seem to. In fact, it has been on sale now for 24 months - debuting in January of 2013.
Well they do, Honda sold 43 of them previously in November....and for just $17,675 dollars more than the base Accord sedan you too can enjoy up to 13 miles of electric driving...provided you don't accelerate too hard, or drive to fast.
Relatively speaking, when looking at the summers' results, the Accord plug-in has had some decent results by its (pretty low) standards this fall. For the year 449 have been sold, off from the 526 moved in 2013.
So, to say Accord PHEV sales are flat in the US would be an understatement.
Practically speaking, the Accord plug-in is the anti-Fit EV, as they just can't sell these things. And that have something to do with pricing, as the Accord PHEV doesn't come cheap; Honda has put a sticker of $$38,780 on the car, which was markedly higher than consumer expectations for the car.
Pricing update: Good news, Honda is bucking the trend of falling plug-in vehicle prices, and the 2014 Honda Accord PHV is now retails for $39,780 - up $1,000
We expect Honda to eventually realize the pricing is way off on the Accord PHV and start deep discounting the model - or perhaps just discontinue it entirely in America. The Accord plug-in has a 13 mile all-electric range, and has been given a MPGe valuation of 115 MPGe, the highest rating of any plug-in extended range vehicle.
Porsche 918: Ok, we hear you! People always ask us, "why don't you report on the 918 Spyder?"
Honestly, it didn't fit our traditional mantra of reporting only "mass produced EVs for America"...especially as we already know the total number of sales to come for America.
Only 918 of the super exotic plug-in will be build over several years, and they are already all sold out, with exactly 297 destined to come to the US.
In December 39 918 Spyders were sold.
Previously in November, 20 units were sold, coming off just 5 in October. For the year to date (well, at least since the US launch in June) 96 have been delivery.
Check out Top Gear's video review of the car that can go from 0 to 62 mph in 2.3 seconds...and plug-in, here.
BELOW: Chart of 2014 results so far, as well as 2013 year end results: