Plug-in electric car sales for Nov: Volt soars, Prius Prime arrives
Traditionally, the North American winter months have seen a slowdown in sales of plug-in electric cars—but the rule didn't seem to apply last month.
In part, that's likely due to the overall strong vehicle sales for November, leading analysts to suggest this could be another record year for U.S. sales, or at least close.
Last month, sales of the Nissan Leaf electric car actually increased over last year's comparable number, while those of the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid soared.
DON'T MISS: Plug-in electric car sales for Oct: steady before Bolt EV, Prius Prime arrival
While no Chevy Bolt EV 238-mile electric cars were delivered in November (we expect it to happen this month), Toyota delivered almost 800 of its new Prius Prime plug-in hybrid.
Chevrolet delivered 2,531 Volts in November, its best sales month in more than three years, bringing its 11-month sales total to 21,048.
Nissan, meanwhile, sold 1,457 Leafs last month (against 1,054 a year ago), indicating that the six-year-old electric car may have some life left in it—and perhaps discounts too.
That puts total Leaf sales for the year through November at 12,107, lower than last year's comparable total and considerably below the 2015 total of 30,200, still a record for any plug-in model.
Tesla Motors refuse to break down its quarterly delivery data by country, so we have no comparable data on Model S sedan and Model X crossover utility sales in the U.S.
The BMW i3 had its best month since August, with 629 sales bringing it to an 11-month total of 6,834. At least some of those are likely to be the 2017 i3, rated at 114 miles of electric range.
WATCH THIS: 2017 Toyota Prius Prime vs 2017 Chevrolet Volt: plug-in hybrid video test
The Volkswagen e-Golf sold 305 units last month, for a total through November of 3,464. A 124-mile 2017 update of that car will arrive sometime next spring.
On the plug-in hybrid front, the high-volume contenders are the Ford C-Max and Fusion Energis, for which data will be released tomorrow.
The 781 Toyota Prius Prime models delivered last month bring the plug-in Prius total to 833 for the year, the rest being leftover previous-generation 2015 Prius Plug-In Hybrid models.
In its twelfth month on the market, sales of the Audi A3 e-tron plug-in hybrid hatchback hit its best monthly number ever.
The 394 e-trons sold made up almost 20 percent of November's 2,063 total A3s, and brought the total since last December to 3,740 delivered.
Lower-volume vehicles luxury plug-in hybrid models from BMW, Cadillac, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Volvo.
CHECK OUT: Tesla delivered 24,500 electric cars in Q3, holds firm on 2016 goal
The sexy BMW i8 plug-in hybrid coupe, with its bird-wing doors, sold at a consistent pace: 173 units last month, for an 11-month total of 1,461.
Cadillac sold another 5 of its discontinued ELR range-extended electric sport coupe, bringing its 2016 total to 531 and lifetime sales to 2,871.
Battery-electric cars in the lower-volume category come from Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi, and Smart.
Sales of the Mercedes-Benz B-Class electric hatchback continue to wane, with 52 delivered last month for a year-to-date total of 578.
Mitsubishi delivered another 5 units of its i-MiEV electric minicar, bringing the year's total so far to a whopping 91.
Three compliance cars round out the list: the Chevrolet Spark EV, Fiat 500e, and Ford Focus Electric (which finally gets an upgrade to 115 miles of EPA-rated range for 2017).
While the little Spark EV has sold in triple digits for 16 months straight, edging into our "high-volume" category some months, it's apparently being wound down prior to the Bolt EV launch.
Just 39 were delivered in November, the lowest number since the first month it went on sale (June 2013). The year's total is now 3,018, though.
Data for the Ford Focus Electric will be released tomorrow.
Fiat refuses to provide sales breakdowns for the 500e, as do Hyundai and Kia for their three combined battery-electric and plug-in hybrid models.
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