Published August 2, 2012
By Jeff Cobb
The Volt is now entering its third model year. Shown is the first pre-production 2011 model that rolled off the line March 31, 2010.
For July, the Chevrolet Volt again led the small-but-expanding North American market of all-electric cars and plug-in hybrids, with 1,849 sales representing an uptick of 89 units more than June, and the Volt’s second-best month since selling 2,289 in March.
Following the Chevy was Toyota’s Prius PHEV with 688 units sold. It stayed very consistent next to its 695 sold in June. Nissan’s ailing Leaf – with yet-to-be answered questions about heat-induced battery degradation – saw sales decline to 395 units from 535 in June.
After the Leaf comes the Misubishi i-MiEV at 33 units – the exact same number reported in June. Mitsubishi is now selling this car through certified i-MiEV dealers in all states except Alaska, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska and North Dakota, with no plans for U.S. territories at this time.
After Mitsubishi comes Honda Motor Co. which dipped its toes in with its first seven California-lease-only Fit EVs sold to retail customers.
We’re still waiting for July numbers for Ford’s Focus Electric, BMW Active E and Smart ForTwo EV and hope to have them soon – or by the time the monthly Dashboard's data is in and we compile stats there.
In June, Smart delivered 127 ForTwo EVs, Ford delivered 89 Focus EVs, and BMW delivered 79 Active Es.
Fisker and Tesla have chosen not to report sales on a regular monthly basis, but if we're able to get that info later we will post it.
More competition is on its way, including the $33,745 Ford C-Max Energi plug-in hybrid due this fall. It will have 20 miles all-electric range and a combined rating of 95 mpg.
