EV And Hybrid Sales Wither As Reality Sets In For First Time Owners

It's a buyer's market for drivers interested in new or used electrics and hybrids.

Sales of new electric cars and hybrids, according to automotive research and shopping site Edmunds.com, are at their lowest level since 2011 — the first full year of sales for the groundbreaking Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid and Nissan's all-electric Leaf. So carmakers are paring prices in an effort to get them moving.

Furthermore, motorists who leased those first-generation cars, and have decided not to buy them, are turning them in. They're on dealer lots with still relatively low mileage, and at prices considerably cheaper than the new ones.

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mre30 - 4/21/2015 12:43:16 PM

+2 Boost

Reality indeed! The invisible hand of the marketplace has proven that EV's (electric vehicles) are still too much of a hassle for the vast majority of drivers (unless [ahem Tesla owners] the buyer is wealthy enough for it to be a third or fourth novelty vehicle) and hybrids are just not worth the extra money for meager fuel savings.

There is, however, a fantastic business case for Hybrid taxi's, livery cars, uber cars, and even delivery vans - applications where the driver frequently sits in traffic going 5-10 MPH. I don't know why Toyota, Ford, and Nissan haven't jumped onto the "hybrid small delivery van" market segment - that seems like a slam dunk.

MDarringer - 4/21/2015 8:03:35 PM

0 Boost

Buying a hybrid or an EV is stupid because the technology is advancing. Lease instead.