The automotive war for hippie dollars continued through September.
The Nissan Leaf sold 1031 units last month, remaining far ahead of the GM branded almost-electric vehicle.
Chevy sold 723 Volts in September, the highest single month’s sales since its December 2010 launch. What’s odd is no mention of this ‘achievement’ in the accompanying press notes. Or not, if you consider that GM’s Volt is selling at only a little half the rate of the Leaf.
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The bad news for GM is that while it has announced its vehicle will be for sale in Canada from September, Nissan is only now rolling its EV out in some very large US markets:
Orders for the 2012 Nissan LEAF begin today [9/29/11] in Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey and New York. Deliveries of the LEAF, enriched for the 2012 model year with additional standard equipment including quick charging and cold-weather features, will take place in these key markets by December.
That’s a reminder to GM that Nissan has been eating its lunch with the Leaf while the Volt has been for sale across the entire US. For added salt in the wound, Nissan also made the Leaf available in Canada a full month before GM.
Congratulations to Nissan for owning GM yet again, but the prediction about selling 500,000 EV’s a year by 2013 still looks wildly optimistic.
When Venture capitalists invest money, they use their own money and they have the experience to do it right…When Obama, the Venture Socialists invest money, he’s playing with taxpayer dollars and he has no experience doing, well, anything…
The only way they’ll shift 500,000 units a year by 2013 is by giving away die-cast models. No re-charging, zero maintenance cost, zero sales tax.
Signed: Another Grumpy Old man
How many of those cars were sold to US Govt/State departments? Why do these cars need cold weather features, when snow will soon be a thing of the past? Has anyone told the hippies that quick charging beats the hell out of a battery, thereby shortening it’s expected life?