Rolling through another month of US electric car sales, I’m struck again by how much a few models dominate sales. Actually, I’m struck by how much Tesla’s two high-end (expensive) cars dominate US electric car sales. Before I go further, I should note that Tesla’s sales numbers are not official — … [continued]
Workers at Audi’s main assembly plant are asking management to expand plans for building electric cars. They worry that the world is changing and they may be left with nothing to build.
The European EV market had over 16,000 registrations last month, up 20% over February 2016, with YTD numbers up 38% year over year (YoY). The market is set to surpass 300,000 units (310,00) by year end. While the EV share is firmly north of the 1% mark, this growth is in no small part due to a refreshed BEV, that’s just gotten a 40 kWh battery.
Audi’s two largest factories, along with a number of other sites in the country, were searched by German prosecutors on Wednesday, according to reports. The prosecutors were of course looking for new evidence relating to the Volkswagen (VW Group) diesel emissions cheating scandal.
US electric car sales jumped approximately 68% in February 2017 vs February 2016. Fully electric car sales were up 74%, while plug-in hybrid sales were up 61%. For the first two months of the year, that puts all plug-in car sales up 64%, fully electric car sales up 57%, and plug-in hybrid sales up 72%.
While discussing the release next year of the company’s all-electric e-Tron SUV, a top Audi exec (Dietmar Voggenreiter, sales and marketing boss) commented that the model will represent “the first real premium manufacturer doing a premium electric SUV.” I guess that the Tesla Model X doesn’t count? Or is just that Tesla isn’t a “real premium manufacturer?”
The European EV market had some 19,000 registrations last month, up 31% year over year (YoY), with the Renault Zoe starting the year in the leadership position again.
Authorities in the European country of Luxembourg have launched new criminal proceedings relating to the ongoing Volkswagen diesel emissions scandal, following the initial findings of investigations based around the EA 189 engine made by Audi/Volkswagen.
US electric car sales continue to climb to new heights in 2017. Growing 59% year over year (YoY), approximately 12,000 electric cars were sold across the country in January, accounting for approximately 1% of US auto sales. The top five models accounted for approximately 40% of total US electric car sales, as most models are still compliance cars that are not designed or marketed to really pull in buyers — and aren’t even available in most states.
The President of Audi of America, Scott Keogh, made some interesting comments at a conference the day before the recent National Association of Automobile Dealers convention in New Orleans, as recounted by Wards Auto.
