Aside from the rousing success of Tesla Motors, the number of manufacturers producing electric vehicles is growing every year.
Sales numbers reflect this, continue to rise, and not at a miniscule pace! Electric vehicle sales, including pure electric vehicles [Nissan Leaf, Tesla Model S], plug-in hybrid electric vehicles [Toyota Prius Plug-In, Volvo V60 PHEV], and extended-range electric vehicles [Chevy Volt, BMW i3], started out small, but in 2012 saw a nearly 500% increase.
Electric vehicle sales for 2013, by August, was already over 59,000 units, which is already better than total electric vehicle sales for all of 2012. Clearly, electric vehicles sales are not only increasing, but accelerating! According to UCS [Union of Concerned Scientists], part of this sales boom is due to the fact that more manufacturers are offering electrified versions of people favorite vehicles. For example, some drivers of the Toyota Prius may not have had much interest in switching brands to a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle made by another maker, but once Toyota Motor Company made the Prius in a plug-in version, these owners were won over without a fight! Similar trends have been noted in other automakers as well.
Additionally, this boom in electric vehicle sales has made possible unprecedented savings in fuel and carbon dioxide emissions, as shown in this great infographic we found over on Cleantechnica.com…
According to the chart, 40% of all vehicles in 2035 might fall into any of the three electric vehicle categories, saving almost 1.5 million barrels of oil per day. This is more than all of 2012 oil production in the Gulf of Mexico. Put another way, 1.5 million barrels of oil saved roughly translates to 279.8 megatons of carbon dioxide daily that’s not emitted into the atmosphere.
Image © Cleantechnica
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