Sales of electric vehicles have been experiencing unprecedented growth, as much as 500% greater than last year, depending on which model you look at.
For example, Nissan is currently selling about 2,000 Nissan Leaf per month, and Tesla Motors is manufacturing balls-to-the-walls at 500 Tesla Model S per month [and can’t keep up with demand]. Other electric vehicles are selling in smaller numbers, but better than last year. The increasing adoption of electric vehicles in the Unites States has led to another high, breaking 120,000 electric vehicles on the road.
Interestingly, according to one estimate, this is higher than the total number gas stations in the US. AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report surveys “over 120,000” gas stations, but the copyright date is 2009, so I’m not sure how accurate that number is. EV World estimates that there are about 119,000 gas stations in the US, a number that is declining as more independent operations close.
The reason I threw in the “Sort Of…” in the title is because EV World counted the Chevy Volt, which isn’t a pure electric vehicle [EV], but an extended-range electric vehicle [EREV], which counts on a gasoline-powered generator to provide backup power in case the 38-mile range is used up before getting back to a recharging station. When pure electric vehicles will surpass the number of gas stations, for real this time, can’t be that far off, now that Chevy Volt sales have fallen behind Nissan Leaf sales.
Image © Photo credit: Mark J P / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND
