Today, I read on the Clean Fleet Report website an interesting piece by Michael Coates about the Bestselling Electric Cars in the U.S. in 2015. Take a look and you’ll see the usual suspects.
The top seller was, surprise surprise, the Tesla Model S, with 25,700 sold at $63,700 apiece after tax credits.
The Nissan Leaf, the previous leader, placed second, with 17,269, at a much more affordable $22,360 after tax credits. My baby, the Fiat 500e, came in at 7th place, with 6,194 sold at $25,700, after tax credits. Read all about them in the article.
The point, though, is that even though sales are increasing, this represents a minuscule portion of the car market. 2015 was a huge year, with around 17.5 million vehicles new vehicles sold. The industry has, by pretty much any standard, recovered, although not all companies are succeeding as well as others.
As I drive Fidelio to work and back I see a smattering of Volts and Leafs, an occasional “twin” 500e, and a Tesla or two, but we are a tiny minority. Mostly, we’re swimming in a sea of gas-burning cars and trucks of all shapes and sizes.
If we want to have an impact on the CO2 problem, there have to be LOTS more electric vehicles on the road as soon as possible.
Please join us. Even driving a new Chevrolet Volt, which features a gas engine along with its electric motor, has an all-electric range of up to 53 miles, which can make an impact.
stevegoesgreen 
Steve
You wrote: “The top seller was, surprise surprise, the Tesla Model S, with 25,700 sold at $63,700 apiece after tax credits.”
I hate to tell you but the numbers are off. In Q4 2015 alone, Tesla shipped 17,000+ and they averaged 10,000+ in each of the three quarters. Further (and really disappointing) is the price is about $10-20K low. They start at $70000 and when minimally equipped go much higher in price.
To date since June of 2012 Tesla has shipped over 107,000 Model S cars. This coming week 2-10 they announce year end numbers so stay tuned!
Don’t know you source but you might want to correct this info.
Nice blog.
Yours truly,
Ron Freund
EAA Chairman
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Ron,
I am quoting from a particular article, so I cannot speak for the accuracy of the numbers. I do know the author, however, and he is a careful, intelligent man. I’d be glad to find out more about these numbers, however, if you have them. Thanks for reading and responding to my blog post. I’m sure we both agree that the goal isn’t so much who’s on first but how to get more people behind the wheel of any electric vehicle. Thanks.
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