Fact #947: October 17, 2016 Over Half a Million Plug-in Vehicles Have Been Sold in the United States as of September 2016

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Plug-in vehicle sales reached a milestone in September 2016 as cumulative sales topped 500,000 units. The introduction of the first mass market plug-in vehicles occurred in December of 2010 with the introduction of the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf. By the end of 2012 there were 11 different plug-in models available, and by September of 2016 there were 27 different models. Electric vehicle sales have been accelerating in 2016. For the past three years, sales of plug-in vehicles have averaged a little over 10,000 units per month. However, monthly sales records have been set five times since December 2015, and reached an all-time high of 16,069 units in September of 2016.

Cumulative Plug-in Vehicle Sales, December 2010 – September 2016

cumulative plug-in vehicle sales from December 2010 to September 2016

Note: Plug-in vehicles include all-electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles, and plug-in range-extended vehicles.

Fact #947 Dataset

Supporting Information

Cumulative PEV Sales by Month, December 2010 – September 2016

Month-YearMonthly SalesCumulative Sales
December 2010345345
January 2011424769
February 20113641,133
March 20119062,039
April 20111,0663,105
May 20111,6314,736
June 20112,2697,005
July 20111,0578,062
August 20111,6659,727
September 20111,75411,481
October 20111,97413,455
November 20111,91215,367
December 20112,74118,108
January 20121,42719,535
February 20121,66221,197
March 20124,16125,358
April 20123,59528,953
May 20123,37832,331
June 20123,31835,649
July 20123,01638,665
August 20124,74443,409
September 20125,80949,218
October 20127,23256,450
November 20127,15863,608
December 20127,66971,277
January 20134,72676,003
February 20135,45581,458
March 20137,63289,090
April 20137,13896,228
May 20137,754103,982
June 20138,742112,724
July 20137,442120,166
August 201311,363131,529
September 20138,127139,656
October 201310,100149,756
November 20138,833158,589
December 20139,790168,379
January 20145,905174,284
February 20147,045181,329
March 20149,172190,501
April 20148,905199,406
May 201412,453211,859
June 201411,493223,352
July 201411,433234,785
August 201412,403247,188
September 20149,340256,528
October 20149,662266,190
November 20149,785275,975
December 201411,286287,261
January 20156,090293,351
February 20157,024300,375
March 20158,735309,110
April 20158,999318,109
May 201511,473329,582
June 201510,384339,966
July 20158,979348,945
August 20159,010357,955
September 20159,742367,697
October 20159,821377,518
November 201510,378387,896
December 201513,388401,284
January 20166,713407,997
February 20168,333416,330
March 201612,434428,764
April 201612,108440,872
May 201612,145453,017
June 201613,791466,808
July 201614,287481,095
August 201614,973496,068
September 201616,069512,137

Source: Argonne National Laboratory "Light Duty Electric Drive Vehicles Monthly Sales Updates" website, September 2016.

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