Global sales are important in the context of new automotive technologies because each vehicle sold, regardless of the market, provides the automakers with data and experience necessary for adapting their vehicle technologies to a wide range of real-world conditions. In the first 11 months of 2013, the Nissan Leaf had by far the highest sales of all plug-In vehicles, topping 40,000. The Chevrolet Volt had the second highest sales overall and led among plug-in hybrid vehicles with sales of about 25,000. As a proportion of sales, the Nissan Leaf and Toyota Prius Plug-in hybrid had the most even distribution of sales inside and outside of the United States. Four of the plug-in vehicles shown are not sold in the U.S., and two are sold only in the U.S.

Estimated Global Sales of Plug-In Vehicles After Eleven Months of 2013

Image

Supporting Information

Estimated Global and U.S. Sales After Eleven Months of 2013
Plug-In Electric Vehicle ModelU.S.Rest of WorldTotal
Nissan Leaf20,08122,28542,366
Chevrolet Volt20,7024,08324,785
Tesla Model S17,7001,68319,383
Toyota Prius Plug-In11,1697,19718,366
Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV011,21611,216
Renault ZOE08,1488,148
Ford C-Max Energi6,47006,470
Renault Kangoo ZE05,4195,419
Ford Fusion Energi5,36905,369
Volvo V60 Plug-In05,0665,066
Sources: Global Sales: InsideEVs "Global Sales of Top 10 Plug-Ins Already Above 20,000 Units a Month," accessed January 15, 2014.
U.S. Sales: U.S. Department of Energy, Visualizing Electric Vehicle Sales, accessed January 29, 2014.

Return to 2014 Facts of the Week