The surge in battery-based vehicle sales is being driven, to a large degree, by demand for Prius-badged vehicles like the V - shown here with Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda.
With fuel prices taking an unexpected tumble since nearing an all-time peak in April, sales of pickups, SUVs and other lower-mileage models have begun bouncing back. But a new study suggests that demand for electric vehicles and hybrids is anything but dead.
“With gas prices declining, sales of hybrid and electric cars have remained surprisingly resilient,” a report by Kelly Blue Book noted. In fact, sales of dedicated hybrid and alternative-energy vehicles surged more than 164% in June, the auto data tracking service noted.
Nonetheless, the report cautions that with gas prices expected to continue their descent, hybrid and electric vehicle sales could slow.
However, today it appears as though the sales decline will be “relatively mild,” the report noted. In the past, sales of alternative-energy vehicles have fallen rapidly once fuel prices hit a peak and began to tumble again.
Sales of the Chevy Volt (l) have doubled but demand for the Nissan Leaf is down sharply.
Indeed, some hybrid and electric vehicle models, notably including the Honda CR-Z, Honda Insight and Nissan Leaf, all fell short of year-ago sales levels during June.
But sales are still up from a year ago, overall, and some models, such as the Chevrolet Volt plug-in, have maintained their upward pace. The Volt is now up more than 200% compared to year-ago sales. And the Lexust CT200h hybrid has gained nearly 500%.
The Volt, which offers longer driving range than a pure electric, has outsold the Nissan Leaf nearly 3-to-1 so far this year, even though it has a higher manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) and is not considered a “true” all-electric from a purist’s’ standpoint.
One model, in particular, has been driving the battery-based market.
“The Toyota Prius was the most significant driver of segment gains, with sales surging more than 300% from June of last year,” Alec Gutierrez, KBB senior market analyst of automotive insights, said. “The Prius has been in high demand since the introduction of the subcompact Prius c and wagon-esque Prius v. Sales numbers for the Prius also look especially strong due to the inventory shortages that plagued Toyota at this time last year,” he added.
Besides the addition of the new Prius models, the launch of other new hybrid models, such as the Fisker Karma, appear to have boosted overall demand for battery-based vehicles. The Volt also clearly was helped by the State of California’s decision to allow drivers of the plug-in to have access to the “diamond” commuter lanes on the state’s freeways.