Only For The Wealthy? High End EV Sales Surge In June While Hybrid And Entry Level EV Models Dive

The EV/PHEV/Hybrid market is being messed up in part by how authorities classify a car, and how manufacturers try to influence public perception to get sales, rather than doing what's best for the customer.

For example, the BMW i3 is a pure electric with an unflattering maximum range of about 120 miles (dependent upon various conditions). However, you can get the range-extended i3 with bigger batteries and a tiny gasoline engine that acts purely as a generator, and get an adequate maximum range of about 200 miles.

BMW deliberately put in a tiny gas tank so the i3 still qualifies as a pure EV, and not as a hybrid, even though it would be more useful to consumers to have a larger fuel tank that could deliver the first 120 miles on pure electric power, and if necessary, an additional 250 miles by gasoline assist for a total range of a respectable 370 miles, for those occasional long trips. In this (not available) configuration, you could run the car as a pure EV most of the time, and still use it for road trips. A 12 gallon fuel tank would let you drive it like a normal car for 360 miles, even with the propulsion batteries totally dead. Now that's useful... and brilliant... and unavailable :-(

I believe the future has some great EVs in store for us, possibly even with drive and feel and sound that closely replicates our beloved internal combustion engines of today, all while offering very respectable range and quick recharges. It's just not here today.

Steve, once again it comes back to the regulations that governments pass which dictates behavior. Places like California have dictated by law that electrics as they define them have to fulfill a certain percentage of a manufacturers sales. regardless of what the market really wants. Ergo we get vehicles like the extended range BMW i3. It's a compromise as an electric with a bit of customer anxiety relief with the little gas motor.

One has to separate the people who can afford the money to make a "green" statement - and separate them from the people who have to justify their purchase of a "hybrid" over time. Just as in buying a Rolls or Bentley - a person with the money can buy without caring the mileage or justification of cost. And you probably have another car for a long haul vacation where range is more important.

However - for an everyday person - most of whom cannot even afford a new car to begin with - the added cost of the Hybrid technology TODAY - cannot really be justified based on the low cost of Gasoline. Since the money DOES make a difference here - the purchase of a non-EV vehicle makes economic sense. AND - until there is a QUICK and EASY way to either recharge or swap out battery packs - there are still a number of people who simply have no use for an EV. IF you do not have access to an outdoor charging station where you live (In an apartment complex without garages for instance - where you park on the street), an EV becomes a non-purchase. ANd for people who regularly put in long hours and lots of mileage daily - an EV simply cannot replace a gas fillup. I would suggest that even a 1/2 hour charging time would be unacceptable to a group of people who don't have the time. These things will be solved in time - but probably not in my lifetime.

@TheSteve: the quote below is taken directly from BMW's web page for the i3. If your numbers come from a future product, maybe a little footnote would help.

"Finally an EV that performs like a BMW. Because it is one.
The BMW i3 is available in two versions depending on your mobility needs. The purely electric BMW i3 gets up to 81 miles per charge3 while the BMW i3 with Range Extender gets up to 150 miles in total range."

HenryN: I was ALSO getting my range numbers from BMW's web site. Here specifically:
http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newvehicles/i/i3/2016/showroom/range_charging.html

Scroll down a bit to the section called "How far can I drive in the BMW i3?" I can't explain why these numbers from BMW differ from the numbers you provide.

HenryN: And also on this page...
http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newvehicles/i/i3/2016/showroom/drive_technology.html#rangeextender

...we see the following quote from BMW: "Extends driving pleasure: the optional Range Extender is located next to the electric motor in the rear of the BMW i3 and can increase the range of the BMW i3 (94 Ah) in COMFORT Mode from up to 180 km to a total of 330 km."

[FYI: 180 km = 111.6 miles, 330 km = 204.6 miles.]

@TheSteve: I don't mean to nitpick on the numbers. I just happened to be shopping for a compact/midsize EV in May and did my due diligence on the cars available. The i3s available were equipped with the 60Ah battery, not the 94Ah you quoted which is supposed to be in the 2017 models. However, this is still no definitive info from BMW as when or if this will happen.

Guys, in the real world since I currently have a 2015 I3 REX in cappris white & 20" wheels i tend to drive in Eco Mode most of the time and on a full charge I seem to get about 90 mile of Pure electric and then another 60 mpg of gas range.

EV sales rocketed up in June because June is the month that Tesla officially started discounting - with their loss leader Model S60.

Its also the month Tesla tried the tactic of taking people off of the Model 3 "deposit/interest free loan" list and offering them a cheap, 4-year old design Model S instead.

Nothing like cash on the hood to juice sales - is it too premature to call it Elon Musk's going out of business sale?

Only good thing about loss-leader Tesla's is that they do not have the Darwinian "Auto-Pilot" package that kills its owners by driving them head-on, into large flat objects.

@mre30:

The revived S60 was announced early June 2016. If it did make a difference in the delivered number as you said, it would be quite remarkable since build time for Tesla is usually 6 weeks or more. So there are 2 possibilities:

1. Tesla did make huge improvement in their production build rate - highly unlikely
2. You made an invalid statement about the S60's

You see, when it comes to bashing Tesla you need to be careful with what you say, otherwise it will make a fool out of you.

First we get an article that states that the majority of the population cannot afford to buy a new car, and now one that says only the wealthy are buying EV's. Well dah, at $30k plus net cost for a "low cost" EV that is above what a huge portion of the folks can handle. There are plenty of INC vehicles, new and used that fit their wallet and transportation needs and will last for years.

Consumers are showing that they are worried about the longevity, and replacement costs, of early EV or plug-in batteries.

You can pick up a used Leaf for under $15,000 or lease an ev at some pretty good rates.

Love the look of the refreshed Model S. Tesla also needs to make the falcon doors and option. I don't want all that attention.