March 2013 EV Sales

[Yggdrasill]

Sales for Norway:

Electric car sales:

Car brand/model:	March:	February:	January:	2013 YTD:	March 2012:	2012:
Nissan Leaf:	297	287	265	849	179	2298
Mitsubishi i-MiEV:	40	31	51	122	83	665
Peugeot iOn:	2	8	12	22	25	407
Citroen C-Zero:	2	4	8	14	28	513
Mia Electric:	0	3	0	3	0	11
Think:	0	1	1	2	5	18
Tesla Roadster:	1	0	0	1	4	32
Total:	342	334	337	1013	324	3949
Percent of total sales:	3.186%	2.950%	2.895%	3.006%	2.482%	2.862%

Plug-in hybrid sales:

Car brand/model:	March:	February:	January:	2013 YTD:	March 2012:	2012:
Opel Ampera:	2	4	12	18	4	158
Fisker Karma:	0	1	0	1	0	6
Total:	2	5	12	19	4	341
Percent of total sales:	0.019%	0.044%	0.103%	0.056%	0.031%	0.247%

Full figures for 2012

The Leaf is doing pretty good - this month it was the 4th most popular car, after the VW Golf, Mazda CX-5 and Toyota Auris. And the Roadster made a final (?) appearence on the statistics. Spring finally arrived a few days ago, so I would expect the sales figures for low-range electric cars to increase in the next few months, and the Model S is fast approaching. Should be very interesting.

 

[Zzzz...]

U.S. Plug-in Electric sales for March 2013

Mfr	Model	3-13 Sales	vs. 2-13	vs. 3-12	CY 2013	CY 13 vs 12	CY 12	US Plug-In Share
Nissan	Leaf	2,236	242.4%	286.2%	3,539	104.2%	1,733	29.30%
Tesla	Model S	1,950	30.0%	N/A	4,750	N/A	-	25.55%
Chevrolet	Volt	1,478	-9.1%	-35.4%	4,244	8.4%	3,915	19.37%
Toyota	Prius Plug In	786	13.4%	-11.8%	2,353	158.0%	912	10.30%
Ford	C-Max Energi	494	47.9%	N/A	1,166	N/A	-	6.47%
Ford	Fusion Energi	295	147.9%	N/A	414	N/A	-	3.87%
Ford	Focus EV	180	13.9%	N/A	419	20850.0%	2	2.36%
Toyota	RAV4 EV	133	155.8%	N/A	210	N/A	-	1.74%
Mitsubishi	i	31	-90.8%	-44.6%	625	359.6%	136	0.41%
Honda	Accord Plug In	26	52.9%	N/A	45	N/A	-	0.34%
Honda	Fit EV	23	53.3%	N/A	46	N/A	-	0.30%
BMW	ActiveE	-	N/A	-100.0%	-	-100.0%	553	0.00%
SmartforTwo	EV	-	-100.0%	N/A	2	0.0%	2	0.00%
	Total Plug-In	7,632	38.6%	84.3%	17,813	145.6%	7,253	100.00%

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[td]

Question to Norway guys, in US Leaf price was dropped substantially this month. Would there be a similar price drop for Norway?

 

[Right_Said_Fred]

@ Jggdrasill:

Can you explain to us why electric cars are so popular in Norway? I know the fiscal advantages are a big part of it. Can you tell us some more about that?

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Question to Norway guys, in US Leaf price was dropped substantially this month. Would there be a similar price drop for Norway?

Well, it was cut #2,500 in the UK in January and production of European leafs in Sunderland, UK has just begun (March 28th).

 

[Yggdrasill]

Question to Norway guys, in US Leaf price was dropped substantially this month. Would there be a similar price drop for Norway?

They are currently in the process of adjusting the pricing.

Until the middle of January, the price started at $44k, and then they dropped the price to $40k to get rid of the remaining Leafs built in Japan. The pricing for the UK-built Leaf should be announced this month, but the reduction in price won't be extreme. Starting price around $35k, maybe.

- - - Updated - - -

@ Jggdrasill:

Can you explain to us why electric cars are so popular in Norway? I know the fiscal advantages are a big part of it. Can you tell us some more about that?

There are multiple reasons:

1. Gasoline and diesel is heavily taxed here. First with fixed amounts per liter, and on top of that 25% VAT. The result is that a US gallon of gasoline costs around USD8.8.
2. Electricity is cheap. Average over the year is USD0.13/kWh. (This includes VAT and other taxes.)
3. ICE cars are even more heavily taxed. A Volkswagen Golf starts at USD41k. And that's a fairly small fuel efficient car. The taxes are based on weight, hp, CO2 and NOX, so something like a BMW M5 starts at USD304k.
4. EVs are exempt from all purchase taxes, VAT and all.
5. EVs can drive in the bus/taxi-lanes, and since Oslo is one of the more congested cities in Europe, that is a very good selling point. A newspaper here raced an EV against a gas car recently, in rush traffic, and the EV arrived 45 minutes earlier than the gas car. That was a typical commuter route. 1.5 hours per day, around 270 working days per year means 405 hours saved per year.
6. EVs pay a significantly reduced annual registration fee. USD73 instead of USD518.
7. EVs don't pay toll road fees or ferry fees. For a typical commuter, this can be USD2,000 per year.
8. The government has invested significant amounts in charging infrastructure and EV parking, all of which is free to the user.
9. EVs get free parking on any public parking space. In central Oslo, this can be worth USD2,500 per year for a typical commuter.
10. If you use an EV for work, the employer compensation tariff is 30% better.
11. If used as a company car, the valuation for tax purposes is halved.

 

[jeff_adams]

- - - Updated - - -

There are multiple reasons:

1. Gasoline and diesel is heavily taxed here. First with fixed amounts per liter, and on top of that 25% VAT. The result is that a US gallon of gasoline costs around USD8.8.
2. Electricity is cheap. Average over the year is USD0.13/kWh. (This includes VAT and other taxes.)
3. ICE cars are even more heavily taxed. A Volkswagen Golf starts at USD41k. And that's a fairly small fuel efficient car. The taxes are based on weight, hp, CO2 and NOX, so something like a BMW M5 starts at USD304k.
4. EVs are exempt from all purchase taxes, VAT and all.
5. EVs can drive in the bus/taxi-lanes, and since Oslo is one of the more congested cities in Europe, that is a very good selling point. A newspaper here raced an EV against a gas car recently, in rush traffic, and the EV arrived 45 minutes earlier than the gas car. That was a typical commuter route. 1.5 hours per day, around 270 working days per year means 405 hours saved per year.
6. EVs pay a significantly reduced annual registration fee. USD73 instead of USD518.
7. EVs don't pay toll road fees or ferry fees. For a typical commuter, this can be USD2,000 per year.
8. The government has invested significant amounts in charging infrastructure and EV parking, all of which is free to the user.
9. EVs get free parking on any public parking space. In central Oslo, this can be worth USD2,500 per year for a typical commuter.
10. If you use an EV for work, the employer compensation tariff is 30% better.
11. If used as a company car, the valuation for tax purposes is halved.

Dream market for Tesla. People with money are going to love saving all the commuter time driving in the bus lanes.

 

[Yggdrasill]

Dream market for Tesla. People with money are going to love saving all the commuter time driving in the bus lanes.

I actually think the other incentives are more important for Tesla. A commuter might be inclined to buy a smaller vehicle like the Leaf, which is significantly cheaper and easier to get around with in traffic.

The cheap electricity and no purchase taxes however make the Tesla Model S affordable for regular families. I calculated the TCO over 15 years for a well equipped 85 kWh Model S to be in the area of $200k, for a non-commuter. (Including service agreements, tires, insurance, financing, etc.) The cheapest VW Passat Estate was $150k. This means the Model S has a similar TCO to any half-way decent family car.

 

[Right_Said_Fred]

I actually think the other incentives are more important for Tesla. A commuter might be inclined to buy a smaller vehicle like the Leaf, which is significantly cheaper and easier to get around with in traffic.

The cheap electricity and no purchase taxes however make the Tesla Model S affordable for regular families. I calculated the TCO over 15 years for a well equipped 85 kWh Model S to be in the area of $200k, for a non-commuter. (Including service agreements, tires, insurance, financing, etc.) The cheapest VW Passat Estate was $150k. This means the Model S has a similar TCO to any half-way decent family car.

And I believe Norwegians are among the wealthiest Europeans, so I guess more people there can afford a Model S.

But I have to say, that's quite an impressive list of EV-advantages.

We also have an EV-stimulus in The Netherlands, which benefits especially company cars, although the list isn't nearly as long:

- No CO2-tax when you purchase a car. The CO2-tax can be pretty high though for gas guzzlers, for Porches sometimes tens of thousands of euros.
- No road tax until Jan 1, 2016 (which saves about 30-100 euros per month!)
- No taxation if the company you work for provides you with an EV (for other cars you have to add 14, 20 or 25% of the value of the car to your income and pay taxes over that amount, every year again).
- For companies there is an extra 36% tax deduction for EV's, and you are allowed to write off 75% of the total value of the car in the first year.

 

[Zzzz...]

China statistics.

2,874 pure-electric vehicles were sold in the first three months of 2013, up 57% from a year earlier

3,175 Plug-in EVs Were Sold in the First Quarter - ChinaAutoWeb

List of most popular models for year 2012:

Too bad they are not tracking Kandi (around ~4000 EV produced last year by Kandi). Same type of attitude Tesla experiences in US from big automakers/their assosiations.

 

[cwerdna]

Sorry to go kinda OT, but since a Norwegian's here, I wonder if a large # of used/off-lease Leafs from the US will end up there and if it's Nissan's plan to send them there.

I remember seeing someone on MNL wanting to import a used Leaf from the US.

If so, that could make some business sense for Nissan as the current Leaf leasing deals are pretty cheap in the US. Also, I'm sure there will be many folks just returning their Leafs at the end of their lease soon.

 

[Yggdrasill]

Sorry to go kinda OT, but since a Norwegian's here, I wonder if a large # of used/off-lease Leafs from the US will end up there and if it's Nissan's plan to send them there.

I remember seeing someone on MNL wanting to import a used Leaf from the US.

If so, that could make some business sense for Nissan as the current Leaf leasing deals are pretty cheap in the US. Also, I'm sure there will be many folks just returning their Leafs at the end of their lease soon.

I think it's unlikely that very many of them will end up in Norway, for several reasons:

- The used electric car market here isn't screaming out for more cars. Introducing large numbers of used Leafs would affect the resale value, which would annoy current owners, and affect profitability of exporting the cars.
- You'd need to modify the lights, reflective areas, etc to be within the EU rules.
- You'd need to retrofit the winter package. Leafs without it are quite hard to sell.
- People would probably be a bit skeptical to buy Leafs which have been used in the US, with the Arizona-issues. No one has lost a capacity bar in Norway, yet.

That said, I'm sure some of the US Leafs will find their way to Norway, but I think we're talking about less than 10/year.

 

[cwerdna]

^^^
Interesting. Thanks!

Yeah, I'm well aware of the Arizona battery degradation issues as I'm very active on MNL. I'm certain we're going to have another wave of that there as another set of Leafs hit their 2nd summer. They're already hitting insane temps there: http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/USAZ0166 (for future reference, high temp forecast for next few days in F: 100, 102, 101, 97, 94, 93, 96...)


If I were a potential buyer of a used Leaf, I'd want to know where it was operated, how old it is and how many capacity bars.

The '12 Leafs came w/the cold weather package standard, as a forced feature. IIRC, the '13 Leafs should be the same way.

 

[Soflason]

Dream market for Tesla.

Those incentives are dreamy indeed, wow.

Does any other country even come close to Norway's incentives for EV sales?

- - - Updated - - -

But I have to say, that's quite an impressive list of EV-advantages.

We also have an EV-stimulus in The Netherlands, which benefits especially company cars, although the list isn't nearly as long

Okay, Netherlands has some serious incentives too...

 

[ZBB]

They're already hitting insane temps there: http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/USAZ0166 (for future reference, high temp forecast for next few days in F: 100, 102, 101, 97, 94, 93, 96...)

I'm an AZ native and former Bay Area resident... Those temps are not insane... They are common in San Jose! We generally consider anything below 105 as hot, but bearable.

Insane temps are when the highs are over 110 and lows above 90... Late June to late August is when that is most likely to happen...

 

[cwerdna]

I'm an AZ native and former Bay Area resident... Those temps are not insane... They are common in San Jose!

I live in south SJ and it's nowhere near that hot right now. Sure, in the summer temps can get into the 90s and occasionally above 100, but it at almost always cools down at night significantly. It also just isn't as hot for such a prolonged period.

I posted some other example temps of a Phoenician Facebook friend (and also a Priuschatter) at My Nissan Leaf Forum View topic - Early Capacity Losses-Was(Lost a bar...down to 11).

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

I live in south SJ and it's nowhere near that hot right now. Sure, in the summer temps can get into the 90s and occasionally above 100, but it at almost always cools down at night significantly. It also just isn't as hot for such a prolonged period.

I posted some other example temps of a Phoenician Facebook friend (and also a Priuschatter) at My Nissan Leaf Forum View topic - Early Capacity Losses-Was(Lost a bar...down to 11).

As a Maine resident I've done a little comparison:
- The record high for the city I live in is below 100.
- In Phoenix 110 days per year have an average high greater than or equal to 100.
- The average July high in Phoenix is higher than the record high in Maine.
- The average August high in Phoenix higher than any recent high in Maine (at least since 1975).
- The average July low in Phoenix is higher than the average July high in my city.

Some places need a TMS to protect the battery, some places don't.

 

[ZBB]

As a Maine resident I've done a little comparison:
- The record high for the city I live in is below 100.
- In Phoenix 110 days per year have an average high greater than or equal to 100.
- The average July high in Phoenix is higher than the record high in Maine.
- The average August high in Phoenix higher than any recent high in Maine (at least since 1975).
- The average July low in Phoenix is higher than the average July high in my city.

But Oct-May is beautiful ;-)

 

[cwerdna]

BTW, for those outside the US who don't use our archaic units, Google makes for a great and easy unit converter.

Example: Google for 117 f in c.

It's pretty nuts for the temp to be 104 F (40 C) at 9:40 pm. At 9:40 pm on a hot day in SJ, IIRC, it'd be rare for it to remain above 80 F (26.67 C).

 

[ZBB]

BTW, for those outside the US who don't use our archaic units, Google makes for a great and easy unit converter.

Example: Google for 117 f in c.

It's pretty nuts for the temp to be 104 F (40 C) at 9:40 pm. At 9:40 pm on a hot day in SJ, IIRC, it'd be rare for it to remain above 80 F (26.67 C).

For our metric friends, 100 F is 37 C...

FWIW, the highest temp ever recorded in Phoenix was 122 F in June 1992. That's 50 C. Just fricking hot.

The Phoenix area normally gets a couple 115+ days each summer -- usually topping out at 117 or 118. But the highs a good chunk of the summer are 108-112.

But our house is in the foothills NE of Phoenix (I'm technically in Scottsdale, but almost in Carefree). Elevation is ~2500 ft vs ~1100 in downtown Phoenix. We're typically 6 degrees cooler during the day, and can be 14-15 degrees cooler at night. Makes a big difference.

Also, the humidity levels are very low here -- typically 10-12%. Even our humid season in July/Aug is ~40% humidity...

 

[mattjs33]

U.S. Plug-in Electric sales for March 2013

Mfr	Model	3-13 Sales	vs. 2-13	vs. 3-12	CY 2013	CY 13 vs 12	CY 12	US Plug-In Share
Nissan	Leaf	2,236	242.4%	286.2%	3,539	104.2%	1,733	29.30%
Tesla	Model S	1,950	30.0%	N/A	4,750	N/A	-	25.55%
Chevrolet	Volt	1,478	-9.1%	-35.4%	4,244	8.4%	3,915	19.37%
Toyota	Prius Plug In	786	13.4%	-11.8%	2,353	158.0%	912	10.30%
Ford	C-Max Energi	494	47.9%	N/A	1,166	N/A	-	6.47%
Ford	Fusion Energi	295	147.9%	N/A	414	N/A	-	3.87%
Ford	Focus EV	180	13.9%	N/A	419	20850.0%	2	2.36%
Toyota	RAV4 EV	133	155.8%	N/A	210	N/A	-	1.74%
Mitsubishi	i	31	-90.8%	-44.6%	625	359.6%	136	0.41%
Honda	Accord Plug In	26	52.9%	N/A	45	N/A	-	0.34%
Honda	Fit EV	23	53.3%	N/A	46	N/A	-	0.30%
BMW	ActiveE	-	N/A	-100.0%	-	-100.0%	553	0.00%
SmartforTwo	EV	-	-100.0%	N/A	2	0.0%	2	0.00%
	Total Plug-In	7,632	38.6%	84.3%	17,813	145.6%	7,253	100.00%

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[td]

Source?? We all know Tesla doesn't report, unless something has changed since I last visited.