Sure, charging a Tesla is cheaper than filling the gas tank of a BMW. However, that savings can vary depending on where you live. Jim Gorzelany (via Forbes) reports, “Just as the price of gasoline varies from one part of the country to another, so too does the cost of running an electric vehicle.”
It’s 11:30 on a Thursday morning, and David Lucht is recharging – both himself, with a cold brew at Press Coffee Roasters, and his 2014 Tesla Model S, which is currently hooked up to one of the 16 charging stations in the parking lot at Scottsdale Quarter. “They’ve got the Superchargers here,” Lucht says, excitedly.
Our friends at top electric vehicle (EV) data collection and analysis firm EV Volumes have just published European plug-in vehicle sales results for the first half of 2018. The most notable stat is probably the one in the headline — 42% market growth year over year (YoY). Additionally, in total, the number of plug-in vehicles on the street in Europe passed 1 million.
I’ve been reporting monthly US electric car sales for years. My monthly report has often been one of the most popular stories of the month here on CleanTechnica. However, unless something changes, I’ve concluded it’s time to stop — or to take a break — from these US EV sales reports. There are 4 core reasons why.
The European passenger plug-in market slowed down a bit to enjoy the holiday season, registering some 27,000 registrations in July. That’s an increase of 30% compared to the same period last year. It pulled the year-to-date count to some 212,000 deliveries (+41% YoY), while the 2018 EV market share remained stable at 2.2%, which, incidentally, was the same market share registered in July.
The Chinese plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) market is in summer-chill mode, with some 75,000 units being registered in July, up only 64%. Yes, this is a slowdown from the three-digit growth rates of previous months. It is explained by the fact that “New Energy” subsidies were slashed to vehicles with full-charge driving range lower to 150 km in June, so most small city EVs stopped seeing sales, draining a significant percentage of over PEV sales.
Tesla has announced that it will be ending the lifetime free Supercharging benefit for buyers of new Model S, Model X, and Model 3 Performance vehicles using a qualified referral on September 17th, 2018.
The Netherlands had 1,362 plug-in car registrations in July, up 208% compared to the same month last year. Those 1,362 pulled the year-to-date count to 10,444 units (+139%). That meant that last month’s EV market share of all car sales reached 3.8%, and the 2018 EV market share figure held steady at 3.6%.
New aggregated data from the gurus over at A Better Route Planner show that Tesla Model 3 efficiency is the highest of any production car at highway speeds, with outstandingly low energy consumption. This outstanding efficiency, combined with great supercharging speeds, makes the Model 3 the best road tripping EV in production.
BMW has become the Boring Motoren Werke company. Instead of being the ultimate driving machine it’s going to deliver the maximum compromise machine.
