It looks like the Chevy Volt is outselling Nissan Leaf, at least in the U.S. sales. For the fifth consecutive month, the first all-electric mass-produced Nissan falls behind the half-electric-half-gas produced by GM. Even last year saw better sales than these. Want figures? They only sold 536 Leafs in July.
While GM sold close to 1,800 Volts in June, it was nothing compared to March, when they hit the 2,289 record mark. During the last 12 months, 8,817 Americans saw their Volts delivered.
Nissan is partly blaming it on production, as so far the electric cars had only been produced in Japan and imported with their famous hybrid carriers from overseas. The upcoming Tennessee plant to open this year raises new hopes for the disconcerting sales figures.
I’m not nor GM’s or Nissan’s fan, but seeing the fact that cars that still have gas in them prevail brutally over pure electric ones makes me sad. At the same time, it’s a wonderful thing seeing that a car that has an electric motor and that runs more miles on pure electricity than the Prius is having a good time selling.
This is all a sign that the world is not yet prepared for pure electric cars. The technologies aren’t mature enough, or aren’t pushed forward, just because it would destabilize the entire petrol industry, which would have tremendous effects on the entire economy. By that I mean Good effects, in the long run, for both the industry and the environment.
[via autoblog]
