September 2014 Monthly Sales Recap

Normally each month we tout that fact that no one month’s plug-in sales has ever failed to delivered an improved result over the prior year. Counting September, that record now stands at 45 consecutive months.

And while apparently we just did tout that again, the real story is the return of US deliveries of the Tesla Model S in a big way – and the continued dominance of the Nissan LEAF.

After production and deliveries shifted away from the US in July and August, and a Fremont production facility retooling perhaps didn’t go quite as smoothly as expected, Tesla delivered EVs at an unprecedented rate for the 2nd half of September. While Tesla doesn’t publically disclose monthly sales, we can confidently say they have never delivered as many cars as they have in the last 3 weeks of the month.

Last month in August an estimated 11,803 plug-ins were sold – the 3rd most all-time in United States, which was an impressive result with Tesla basically down for the count.

Although the numbers are still coming in today, September should have easily set the new benchmark for electric vehicle sales in the United States.  Only problem was that Toyota and GM didn’t get the memo, as sales of the Prius PHV and Chevrolet Volt were a couple thousand shy of historical norms.

Through August, 76,799 EVs had been sold in the US, which was a 28% improvement over the 60,012 sold at the same time in 2013.

Heading into September results the big questions were (with answers as they come in):

• Can Nissan set a 19th consecutive monthly sales record with the LEAF? And if so, can they beat the ‘pure EV sales record’ which they just set last month with 3,186 LEAFs sold? (Yes they can, and no they can’t)
• The Chevrolet Volt, while still slightly down year-over-year, has improved month-over-month sales for all of 2014…can the 2,511 from August be topped? The numbers are starting to get pretty high. (Nope) – lowest result since January)
  
• After only selling 300-odd copies in its first 3 months, the BMW i3 surprised us all by notching more than 1,000 in August (1,025); was that just a blip, or can the electric BMW stay in the four figures? (Indeed, the did…but just)
• The Toyota Prius PHV was the 2nd best selling plug-in for America through July, then Toyota stopped shipping inventory to the US which cause August sales to tumble. Will August hold the same fate?

Editor’s Note: This article is published as soon as the first company reports the morning of October 1st. The rest of the OEM data is then added in REAL TIME as it becomes available throughout the day. So if you don’t see your favorite EVs results yet…check back again soon, it is coming.

(last update: 8:25 pm – Wednesday, October 1st, 2014)

Chevrolet Volt: After improving month-to-month sales throughout 2014, the Volt took a step back in September, selling just 1,394 copies, which was off by about 45% from August when 2,511 Volts were sold. This was also Chevy’s worst showing since January of this year when 1,252 were sold.

For the year to date 14,540 cars have been sold – which is down 13.2%from 2013 when GM moved 14,994 Volts.

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Before 2014 model year production of the Volt ceased earlier this year, GM decided to once again have production of the extended range car go nuclear heading into the summer (2nd year in a row). Then model year 2015 production also kept up the same torrid pace, which lead us to wonder “what was up?” as more than 10,000 units were available at one point.

It turns out “what was up?” was that GM was planning to shutter the plant in late August for about 8 weeks as some of that $449 million dollar investment went into a Hamtramck facility upgrade in anticipation of the 2nd gen Volt as well as some other unnamed plug-in vehicles (*cough* CUV *cough*) as well as a new Cadillac offering.

Given the current pace of Volt sales, 2015 inventory (and therefore sales) look to be quite thin for the last month of the year…notorious for being the month that plug-in vehicles are most in demand.

Nissan LEAF: In September, Nissan logged its 19th month in a row of record sales, moving 2,881 LEAFs in America.

September’s result was a strong 35.7% improvement over the 1,953 units sold in the same month in 2013.

Previously in August, a record 3,186 LEAFs were sold, which was also up 31.7% from a year ago. (full story)

So far this year, Nissan has sold 21,822 LEAFs, which is a big 36% improvement over 2013, when 15,896 were sold.

“Nissan LEAF owners have turned into some of our best marketers, and they jump at any opportunity to share their enthusiasm with friends and family,” said Toby Perry, director, Nissan EV Marketing of this month’s result.

Despite the recent torrid pace of sales of late, the new production levels of the 2015 MY has had no trouble maintaining inventory at Nissan dealerships around the country, which granted is still about 50% too low (in our opinion) at around 4,000 copies.

Cadillac ELR: After a strong summer (relatively speaking) sales season for the ELR, the electric Caddy returned more to the norm – selling 111 copies in September.

Last month in August, like its sister car the Chevrolet Volt, the Cadillac ELR set a new year high for sales. But unlike the Volt, the 196 ELRs also represented a new all-time best at the time for the premium extended range plug-in!

To be fair, as much as $30,000 off the MSRP was reportedly being offered to bring down ELR inventory, so one has to consider what GM has had to do to move triple digits of the car.

Heading into October just over 1,200 ELRs remained to be sold, as production of the Caddy stopped several months ago, and will not restartin November with the Chevy Volt.

Look for the deals to continue as GM looks to sell off the 2014s they still have. Cadillac did confirm that the ELR will continue, but will skip model year 2015 and will receive some “engineering enhancements” for MY 2016. (full story on that here)

The refreshed Cadillac ELR will debut at the 2014 LA Auto Show in November

BMW i3: Gah…so close to matching last month’s pretty impressive result! For September 1,022 more i3s were sold in America.

Previously in August, after what could only be considered 3 floundering months of initial sales, BMW turn up the promotion in August and sold1,025 copies of the i3!

On a technical level, August did actually mark the 3rd month in a row sales have have increased, previous results all numbers in the 300s. Last month (July) 363 i3s were sold.

Previously in June, BMW sold a slightly less than expected 358 units, which was still up 7% from May.

Perhaps helping out sales recently is the increasing availability of the i3 at the dealership level, which crested the 2,500 level at one point in September.

In July, BMW also launched a new low cost DC fast charger that uses the new CCS (COmbo) standard. BMW says it will charge the i3 80% in about 30 minutes (max power 24 kW) and costs just $6,458 to dealers and approved BMW partners.

Tesla Model S: Tesla does not give out exact monthly sales… so we never know for sure what the monthly numbers total up to until their quarterly updates, but we do our best to keep our finger on the pulse of what is happening.

Unlike other (like all) publications, we don’t simply take an expected number of sales for the Model S given by analysts for the quarter and then divide it by 3 to get a monthly number and hope it all works out…it just doesn’t work like that, even for the larger OEMs.

We actually put in a little research/tracking effort into the estimated number of deliveries in the US and attempt to explain what is happening behind the scenes. (and so far, that has worked out pretty good)

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September was definitely the month of the big comeback after Tesla has foretold that US deliveries would virtually non-existent in July through late August to both deliver the Model S overseas (think China, Japan, UK, etc) and to retool their only production facility in California.

That shut down in their Fremont assembly facility was planned for about two weeks to both prepare for the upcoming Model X, but more specifically to expand Model S production by 25%.

It turned out that the factory work didn’t go all that smoothly, as planned US deliveries of the 85 kWh Model S for late August just didn’t happen, which lead to a lower than expected result in August. The plant did eventually get pumping – and in a big way – but the earliest set of “new wave” deliveries for the US didn’t happen until late into the second week of September.

However, the intense pressure to meet CEO Elon Musk’s prediction of 7,800 deliveries and 9,000 cars produced has now put US deliveries into overdrive.

“After considering our planned production and the need to have more vehicles in transit (including the new RHD models), we expect to be able to deliver about 7,800 Model S vehicles in Q3. Without the planned factory retooling shutdown, Q3 delivery expectations would have been approximately 9,500 vehicles.” – Tesla CEO Elon Musk in July

Can Tesla deliver/build enough EVs in September to make the quarter? We think it will be close.

For September, we estimate Tesla delivered 2,500 Model S sedans – which would be a new ‘best effort’ month for the company.

Mercedes-Benz B-Class ED: Different month- same story. No cars – no sales, as 65 B-Class Electric Drives were sold in September.

Last month in August, which was the B-Class ED’s first full month on the market, it continued to be a limited inventory story (see below), as just 51 EVs were sold from a very short supply.

That came after 41 copies were sold in July.

We don’t expect to see any depth of sales for the electric Mercedes until at least December as Daimler isn’t shipping any inventory of consequence, as unfortunately the automaker decided to electrify a model halfway through its shelf life (more than 350,000 petrol cars have already been sold worldwide).

An unintended side effect of that decision to electrify a ‘long-in-the-tooth’ car is that there is now already a refreshed and “facelifted” 2015 model incoming (pics and story here) for the B-Class Mercedes – first sales of the B-Class ED (and nat gas version) begin in Europe on November 3rd.

For the US, the B-Class will be available only in limited states for 2014 (CA, CT, MD, OR, NJ, NY, RI and VT) — and then nationwide to the unwashed masses in early 2015. “Job 1″ of B-Class ED production was completed on April 11th (full storyhere).

The B-Class ED starts from $41,450 ($100 more than the BMW i3) and has an all-electric range “officially” of 87 miles.

However, for an extra $600, one can purchase the extended range package which allows the driver to access more of the B-Class ED’s 36 kWh battery, and allows for an expanded driving range of 104 miles. A fact that we think might sway more than a few people away from BMW’s $700 cheaper, 81 mile i3…at least whenever they start shipping inventory.

BMW i8: As expected, sales of the BMW plug-in supercar shot higher in September as 58 copies were sold in the car’s first full month on the market.

For the i8′s debut month in the US for August, BMW sold 9copies.

The ultra-high end plug-in from BMW arrived on August 16th in the United States. (Check out a nifty video of its journey from production here)

Interestingly, BMW gave away the keys to 7 cars at the launch,then auction one off for charity for $825,000 at the Concours d’Elegance. So who got number 9? Some member of the unwashed masses? Probably that darn Jay leno again…he was at the launch too.

It is still hard to say what the ultimate demand will be for the i8, but we can report that the BMW i8 has seen a sharp jump in US production volume over the summer. As our own George Betak reports, “The car has reached a run rate of about 100 units per month. If this pace holds, a lot of us should start seeing this futuristic sports car on the road very soon.”

We think any results over that of what Porsche can achieve with the Panamera S E-Hybrid should be considered a success.

Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid: NO DATA TO REPORT YET

For August 68 Panamera S E-Hybrids were sold – which considering the average pricepoint of the Porsche with a plug is about $115,000, that is not too shabby…think of it like 300 Mitsubishi i-MiEVs.

Outside of a big sales month in June (111), Porsche seems to have found a comfortable sales level of around 60 copies sold per month in the US, while selling about 200 per month worldwide.

Ironically, the S e-Hybrid has almost seen its last days after only being out a year, as the new Porsche Cayenne S e-Hybrid (photos, specs here)looks to replace the plug-in Panamera starting in November.

And as the new electric Porsche SUV starts at just $76,400, we are eager to add that offering to the sales scorecard soon…there just isn’t enough “non-cars” in the EV space.

The high water mark for sales on the Panamera was set in the first month of the year, with an amazing 141 sold. Currently there is about 200 S e-Hybrids in dealer inventory in the United States.

The Panamera S E-Hybrid has a combined 416 hp output (333 hp electric) and can get north of 60 mph in about 5 seconds, with a top speed of 167 mph. Pricing starts at $99,000. Also of interest, the S E-Hybrid is currently available at all Porsche dealers nationwide – a rare thing these days.

Chevrolet SPARK EV: The little electric Chevy retreated to its lowest sales level of the year with just 51 sold during September.

Previously in August, a bit of a strange thing happened for the Spark EV as all the sales were retail for a change (no fleet – which often moves the needle a little erratically). In total 80 of GM’s little EV were sold.

A fleet-inspired May of this year however set the new benchmark for sales on the Spark EV with 182 sales.

Earlier this spring, we learned that although the Chevy Spark EV had been cancelled for Europe, but it will be reborn in 2nd gen trim as a Opel Something-Or-Other in about 2 years.

Since then, the rumor du jour has been that the next generation of Chevrolet Sonic will actually be that car…and have a 200 mile range (full story here)

General Motors closed 2013 with 539 Spark EVs sold over all. For 2014, that number has already been well passed this past August, with 844 sold.

However, no one should read anything into any monthly sales number when it comes to the Spark EV … at least if they are trying to get a handle on Spark EV demand, as GM basically sets their own monthly sales number by curtailing inventory. GMcould sell a lot more if they wanted to. We figure that any 3-digit number probably satisfies GM’s internal projections for the car

Volkswagen e-Golf: The first all-electric car from VW to the United states arrives in November at selected dealerships.

When the Volkswagen e-Golf does arrive in the US, it will come only in the premium SEL trim, which brings with it a price point of $35,445 – meaning the car will very specifically compete with the top-of-the-line Nissan LEAF SL (from $ 35,020).

Full details on the e-Golf specs, pricing and photo galleries can be found here.

Range has not yet been published officially but the EPA, but with a 24.2 kWh LEAF-like battery, we expect a range of about 80 miles for the electric VW.

Also this month, InsideEVs exclusively learned details on a launch leasing program that sees the e-Golf available from $299/month on a 36 month term with $2,000 down.

Fiat 500e: NO DATA TO REPORT YET

When it comes to reporting plug-in sales, we have had another Tesla on our hands here (as in they don’t report sales).

Chrysler/Fiat had been giving us a bit of the stonewall treatment when it comes to reporting 500e sales. But thankfully that ‘black hole of knowledge’ seems to have ended, thanks to data from Baum & Associates via HybridCars.com (big props).

Previously in August, 166 electric Fiat 500s wee sold, which comes on the heels of 119 in July and the same 166 for June.

As promised earlier this year, the Fiat 500e sales footprint in the US ventured outside California, as the EV is now on sale in Oregon.

Still in play is a $199/36 month lease deal ($999 due on signing),but for model year 2015 there has been some changes to 500e, a new dash, some new cupholders, and a couple new exterior colors that, well…don’t thrill us too much.

As for the car itself, the 500e’s 24 kWh lithium battery has been rated by the EPA to produce 87 miles of all electric range, and MPGe efficiency in the city is pegged at 122, and 108 on the highway, for a combined 116 MPGe figure.

Mitsubishi i-MiEV: Another uninspiring month of sales was logged by Mitsu in September with its 62 mile EV, as just 15 were sold.

Previously in August, 20 more i-MiEVs were sold.

Mitsu continues to learn the lesson of “If you don’s ship any inventory, its hard to sell cars.” Considering there is only about 60 copies of the new 2015 model exiting August, the result was decent; taken any other way…well, it sucked.

For September inventories expanded by about 33%, unfortunately 33% of nothing is still nothing.

The good news for this summer is that ACTUAL NEW 2014 i-MiEVs have finally arrived at dealerships in the US after a 1 year hiatus! So if youREALLY want one…you can indeed find them.

Going forward, the return of the 2014 i-MiEV from $22,995 means there is going to be a lot of i-MiEV sales to report..at some point…when they feel like selling them.

The new pricepoint of $22,995 also INCLUDES standard fast charging and a host of other standard features that used to be options. The MSRP price reduction equals $6,130 less than the outgoing 2012 model. Want to know more about the new cheapest EV in America? Click here!

Our forecast for i-MiEV sales for 2014? Next to nothing until the Fall, then all they can build and ship (which might be a problem according to Mitsu’s Chief) thereafter.

Honda Fit EV: As remaining Fit EVs to be sold dwindle, so does the sales. For September just 27 copies were moved.

Previously in August, 55 Fit EVs were sold. A new yearly high!!! Ok, it is a little hard to get excited about electric fit sales…but we tried our best.

Previously in July, 42 electric Hondas were sold, which was down 27% from 2013 when 63 were moved. For the year (thru August) 345 have now been sold.

So, the story continues to be: Inventory, where is the inventory?

Well, there isn’t any, and it isn’t coming as Honda is building about 40-odd units a month until the fall…when they will DISCONTINUE production of the car – that story here. Honda has an estimated 90 Fit EVs left to sell out of inventory heading into September.

So why is the Fit EV America’s most in demand car to be cancelled? Well, Honda has found the holy grail when it comes to selling a limited number of compliance vehicles. Lease them out cheap ($259/month including partial insurance with nothing down)…and give customer unlimited mileage on those leases. (all the details here)

So if you get one…count yourself “lucky”.

SMART ForTwo Electric Drive:  “There can be only one” …champion of the “B” Division of EVs.

And that champion is the smart ED.

For September, the littlest EV sold an amazing 182 copies, leading the“small and compliance” segment of the US industry for the umpteenth time.

The summer of the smart ED continued last month in August as 208 more EVs were sold in August.  Previously to that in July, the company set a personal sales record in with 298 sold.

The summer of the smart ED continue last month in August as 208 more EVs were sold in August.

Previously in July, the company set another sales record in with 298 sold – which at the time was the 5th consecutive monthly record for the ED.Just like summer itself, it had to end eventually right?.

The smart EV is now technically available nationally, although there isn’t inventory yet spread out across the country to make physical sales everywhere.

The smart ED is the first plug-in for America to be offered with a “battery rental” option, which brings the cost of the Smart ED down to $19,990, but adds a $80 month battery rental payment, as well as includes a wider (and longer) battery warranty.

Check out all the specs, options and pricing here. The 2-seat Smart electric car gets 68 miles of range from a 17.6 kWh battery.

 

 

 

 

Ford Fusion Energi: NO DATA TO REPORT YET. And as Ford doesn’t place nice with the other OEMs when it comes to EV sales reporting…we won’t know the results until tomorrow (Thurs., Oct 2md)

Ford is having a pretty consistent summer with the plug-in Fusion with1,222 sold in August…off by 4 units from July’s number.

Earlier this year, Ford set a new all-time best, and sold an astounding1,939 copies of the electric Fusion in June…which was 44% better than May, the previous best month on record for the Ford.

Of note in June not related to sales: The Ford Fusion Energi and C-Max Energi, both had their EPA ratings slashed by the company, and compensation cheques are heading out to owners.

Both Energi vehicles now have a 88 MPGe rating (down from 100 MPGe), a 38 MPG extended range efficiency (down from 43 MPG) and a 19 mile all-electric range (down from 21 miles) – full story on that here.

For 2013, the Fusion Energi was the surprise hit of the Ford family, finishing the year with just over 6,000 sold – not bad considering it was only introduced in February. The upward trend has continued throughout 2014.

The Fusion Energi basically offers the same package as the C-Max Energi, but in a larger sedan package. The third plug-in to be offered from Ford has just been rated by the EPA at a combined 88 MPGe and has an electric range of 19 miles.

Toyota Prius Plug-In: “THUNK!”  – was the sound of Prius PHV sales in September as just 353 were sold, off 71% from a year ago.  Easily Toyota’s worst result ever (not counting its limited release debut month in February of 2012).

This result comes after an August that logged just 818 electric Prii sold, also off significantly (52%) from a year ago.

We do have to note – that result was/is not a reflection on the demandfor the car as…well, there isn’t any. Toyota has less than 100 model year 2015s at dealerships to end out the month.

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For September, inventory continued to be extremely tight, but not quite as stressed as August; when about 300 units were in stock nationally at month’s end. In other words, someone at HQ made a big allocation error and is probably getting ready to fall on their sword at any moment.

Previously, sales of the Prius PHV were strong in July as 1,371 were sold, a 61% improvement over 2013. In June 1,571 plug-in Prius were sold.

Year-to-date through August, 11,842 plug-in Prii have been sold so far in 2014, 49% more than last year, when 7,974 moved off lots. The Toyota Prius PHV fell out of 2nd place this month on the EV sales charts, past by the Chevrolet Volt.

Much like the Nissan LEAF was for almost all of 2013, the Prius PHV has been a demand vs allocation story over the past 5 months since Toyota reduced the price of the plug-in by $2,010 to $4,620.

The allure of the car, now from $29,990, has essentially meant Toyota can set the amount they want to sell as a function of how many they build.

Ford C-Max Energi: NO DATA TO REPORT YET. And as Ford doesn’t place nice with the other OEMs when it comes to EV sales reporting…we won’t know the results until tomorrow (Thurs., Oct 2md)

Last month we proudly said, “Welcome back to 4 digits C-Max energy!”

For the first time in 2014 the plug-in ford passed the one thousand markby selling 1,050 cars in August.

August’s result was actually the third strong month in a row for the C-Max Energi. Previously in July, 831 C-Max Energis were sold, with 988 moved in June.

Of note in June not related to sales: The Ford Fusion Energi and C-Max Energi, both had their EPA ratings slashed by the company, and compensation cheques are heading out to owners.

Both Energi vehicles now have a 88 MPGe rating (down from 100 MPGe), a 38 MPG extended range efficiency (down from 43 MPG) and a 19 mile all-electric range (down from 21 miles) – full story on that here.

For 2013 overall, 7,154 plug-in C-Maxs were sold, good for being the 5th best selling plug-in for America.

In 2013, the high water mark for the C-Max Energi was set in October as 1,092 plug-ins sold. It would not surprise us to see the C-Max Energi live only as long as it takes to introduce a Focus Energi.

Ford Focus Electric: NO DATA TO REPORT YET. And as Ford doesn’t place nice with the other OEMs when it comes to EV sales reporting…we won’t know the results until tomorrow (Thurs., Oct 2md)

For the first time…ever last month in August, with 264 units sold, Ford crossed into the 200s for Focus Electric sales. This after being ‘oh, so close’ in July and June with 198 and 197 sales respectively.

How predictable had ford’s sales been before this month?

They were the undisputed Oak Tree of plug-in sales as the last 19 months (and 22 of last 23) have all notched 100-and-something sales.

Once again…that was 19 MONTHS IN A ROW in the hundreds – how is that even possible? And how did they break out? Can they do it again, or will we have to wait another year and a half?

Also as announced recently, the Focus got a slightly refreshed look for the 2nd half of 2014. And if you squint really hard, you might be able to spot the changes in the 2015 Focus Electric here.

And no, the battery intrusion into the trunk has not changed – that will have to wait for a full platform upgrade in about 3 years – provided the car continues to be produced alongside the rumored Focus Energi.

Toyota RAV4 EV: SELL, SELL, SELL

With the finish line in sight, Toyota seems to be putting the sales accelerator (almost said gas pedal) to the floor.  In September 125 more electric SUVs were sold.

Last month, Toyota set a new yearly high as the model goes into the sunset with 228 sold.

The highest selling level for any one month for the RAV4 EV was August of 2013 when 231 sold.

Overall, Toyota has experienced a resurgence of sorts over the past 12 months, and they are now decently on their way to selling the required number of EVs to satisfy CARB compliance (~2,600). Once there, the RAV4 EV is no more. To date through August, 2,255 have been sold in total. Using our l33t calculator skillz (and about 70 units that would head to retail), we figure there is about 275 left for Toyota to sell.

Speaking of which (CARB compliance), the vehicle displacing the RAV4 EV, the Toyota FCV made its official debut in the US in late June…if you are into that sort of thing, check out the story on Toyota’s fuel cell vehicle here.

Honda Accord Plug-In: In September 42 Accord PHVs were sold.

Honda sold 46 more of the plug-in car that no one knows about in August.

Relatively speaking, when looking at the summers results, the Accord plug-in has had some decent results by its (pretty low) standards, as 46were sold in August and 41 in July.

August’s 46 sales also ties the high water mark for 2014 (May also notched 46 Accords sold). The all-time “record” for sales in any one month was October of 2013 at 71 units.

So, to say Accord PHEV sales are flat in the US would be an understatement. For the year-to-date 221 have been sold, which is off13% from last year’s 254 result.

Practically speaking, the Accord plug-in is the anti-Fit EV, as they just can’t sell these things. And that have something to do with pricing, as the Accord PHEV doesn’t come cheap; Honda has put a sticker of $38,780 on the car, which was markedly higher than consumer expectations for the car.

We expect Honda to revisit incentives on the car in the near future – or maybe just stop offering it entirely. The Accord plug-in has a 13 mile all-electric range, and has been given a MPGe valuation of 115 MPGe, the highest rating of any plug-in extended range vehicle.

UP NEXT

2014 will see the introduction of quite a few new plug-in models, many of them being the premium variety.

Here is a list of what is on the horizon, and when it is expected:

• Kia Soul EV: The cute-ute from Hyundai/Kia has a more than decent 93 miles of range (with more 103 miles of range in the city), and a price tag of $33,700. While the car was expected to launch in the US in November, we’ll eat our hat if it doesn’t start showing up on dealer lots in October. (full details, specs and picture can be found here)
• Tesla Model X: December 2014 – Tesla has said they will make first delivery in 2014, but real production doesn’t get started until April 2015 – so if your last name is Musk or Jurvetson, you might get one in 2014
• Porsche Cayenne S e-Hybrid – Priced rather reasonably from $76,400 and with an all-electric range of 22 miles (full details, specs and pics here), the Cayenne S e-Hybrid will be the first real plug-in SUV to go on sale nationally in the United States on November 1st.

Source: https://insideevs.com/monthly-plug-in-sales-scorecard/