Guess on August 2012 Sales

[BillThompsonMIEV]

Does anyone want to guess on the sales number for August 2012? My guess is 51.

 

[jjlink]

Does anyone want to guess on the sales number for August 2012? My guess is 51.

My wild guess is 42 :mrgreen:

 

[Don]

Whatever the number winds up being, we have a ways to go - They estimate the Chevy Volt sales for August will be about 2500 units, more than 1/3rd of those in California alone

I can well understand the appeal of the Volt for *some* drivers, but this sort of universal acceptance has me a bit puzzled, especially when I see the TV ads featuring drivers who supposedly haven't bought any gas for months and months and I think maybe they bought the wrong car - For the kind of driving we do 95% of the time, lugging around all that gas burning equipment just serves to make the car heavier and much less efficient, not to mention much less affordable

True, If I could have only one car, the Volt would probably be a serious contender, but since I already have a gas burner for those rare trips out of town, the i made way more sense for us. At the end of the year, when we add up all the miles we've driven (in whatever car we're using) it's going to be pretty easy to beat the Volts fuel economy numbers I think . . . . if the gas in my other car doesn't go bad before then

Don

 

[Vike]

I can well understand the appeal of the Volt for *some* drivers, but this sort of universal acceptance has me a bit puzzled, especially when I see the TV ads featuring drivers who supposedly haven't bought any gas for months and months and I think maybe they bought the wrong car - For the kind of driving we do 95% of the time, lugging around all that gas burning equipment just serves to make the car heavier and much less efficient, not to mention much less affordable

True, If I could have only one car, the Volt would probably be a serious contender....

Don, your puzzlement might be lessened with consideration of two factors:

1) There's something fishy going on with Volt leases. Either Ally knows something we don't, or GM's pulling some strings behind the scenes to buy themselves customers, because Volt lease deals are surreal, with residuals running at around 90% of the tax-credited price after 2 years. I thought really hard about this, but in the end neither being forced back into an uncertain market in 24 mos. nor buying out the lease on a 2-yr-old Volt for over $25k was very appealing to me. Even so, I recognize that was an idiosyncratic personal calculation - shopping again in 2 yrs isn't so bad if you have a lot of confidence we'll see rapid improvements in EV price/performance (especially price) in that time frame.

2) Access to HOV lanes in SoCal is very valuable. If you can cruise gasoline-free (for a while, at least) down the diamond lane in a quiet, comfortable car, for lease payments comparable to those on an Accord or Camry, that's a pretty strong lure.

I agree that the Volt's elaborate mechanicals can be viewed as a burden if you don't need them. But especially with these lease deals, the Volt's a pretty good value for singles and young couples who only need 1 car. Again, at these prices, it's like the fuel savings come for free.

 

[EVsRoll]

The post regarding the Volt hauling around an extra engine is well taken.

Notice that the Volt and the iMiev both have 16 kWh packs. Actually the Volt pack
uses just 9.6 kWh to move the car.

In any case, the psychology of drivers is interesting as recent studies show that most
drivers use the 9.6 kWh available from the Volt. The 16 kWh in the lighter iMiev should more
than do the trick. Then there is the lower price of the iMiev.

Go figure.

EVsRock!
http://www.evsroll.com

 

[jray3]

And the winner is.... anyone who is waiting 'till September to buy an i. August logged a grand total of 37 sales.....
http://insideevs.com/august-2012-plug-in-electric-vehicle-sales-report-card/

 

[archie_b]

How did EVs fare during August:

i 37 sold, 12% increase over July
Leaf 685 sold, 73% increase over July
Volt 2,831 sold, 53% increase over July

Mitsubishi launched its "Unpretentious" (their title, not mine) marketing campaign Labor Day weekend. Hope September brings better sales.