GRA
Well-known member
That's my take - PHEVs are doing fine as a group. The Volt has two competitors with four figure sales, and the C-Max is in essence a Fusion with a different body style, and is the only other sub-$40k PHEV to break 500 sales/month. The LEAF remains alone as a nationwide BEV in its price range, the non-advertised FFE excluded. We'll have to wait for the e-Golf and Soul to arrive, or one of the compliance manufacturers to open up sales nationally for the LEAF to deal with the same situation as the Volt does.RegGuheert said:In 2012, the Volt outsold the LEAF handily (23,461 versus 9819). In 2013, Volt held a slim lead (23,094 versus 22,610). But this year, Volt is backsliding while LEAF is still gaining: (8615 versus 12736).
Is it simply that the Volt has real competitors in its space while LEAF does not (Tesla Model S excluded)?
I suspect the Prius does well owing to the combination of being the lowest-priced car to qualify for green stickers, lower price with incentives than the regular version in some states, and best Hwy mileage for long, high speed commutes, especially in California. These two studies which I'd previously referenced in the H2 topic provide a lot of useful info:RegGuheert said:PiP seems to be eating Volt's lunch now and the Ford Energi product sales are ramping up nicely. Is PiP winning because of the very high gas mileage and high electricity prices in CA? Prii have more utility than the Volt?
Tal, G., and Nicholas, M.A. (2013). Studying the PEV Market in California: Comparing
the PEV, PHEV and Hybrid Markets. Institute of Transportation Studies,
University of California, Davis, Research Report UCD-ITS-RR-13-22.
http://www.arb.ca.gov/html/ca_pevmarket" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... ucdits.pdf
Tal, G. and Nicholas, M.A. (2014). Evaluating the Impact of High Occupancy Vehicle
(HOV) Lane Access on Plug-In Vehicles (PEVs) Purchasing and Usage in
California. Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Davis.
file:///home/chronos/u-058e303ac19766bc2110f46ecaa9e45220133e1d/Downloads/2014-UCD-ITS-WP-14-01.pdf
I forget which, but one of these studies of Californian (mostly) LEAF, Volt and PiP owners shows a very good correlation between commute distance and which car people got, with the shortest distance commuters getting LEAFs, middle distance Volts and longest distance PiPs. [Edit]: It's the second one. Here's a quote from page 2:
"The percentage of those that applied for the HOV access decal include 95% of Plug-in Priuses,
89% of Volts and 79% of LEAFs. When asked about their primary motivation to buy the car 57%
of Plug-in Priuses, 34% of Volts and 38% of Leafs identified it as the HOV decal (a more recent
4Q 2013 analysis shows somewhat lower percentages - 34%, 20%, and 15% respectively [1]).
Figure 1 presents the regional distribution of HOV access as the main motivation for purchasing
by vehicle type and location. As expected the motivation in the Los Angeles region and the Bay
Area, areas with high benefit of using decals, is higher than other regions. We also notice that in
the Los Angeles region, an area with longer average trips, the impact on the Plug-In Prius is
higher than on other vehicle types. More than 80% of the PEVs are being used for commuting
which is highly correlated with applying for decals though only 58% commute with this car
daily. Leaf drivers and “other” car drivers which are mostly BEVs have a lower commute
frequency than PHEV drivers. Regions have minor impacts on commute frequency except from
San-Diego with a few more non-commuters. Commute trips have an important impact on total
miles, with more than 70% of households using their PEV for this purpose."
Looks, five seats, lowish price for the C-Max, no need/little value for L2 so no installation/permit costs or hassles.RegGuheert said:No offense, but I don't quite understand the appeal of the Ford products. Default plug-ins for Ford lovers? <snip rest>