Tag: hybrid sales

This Week’s Top 10: Hybrid and EV sales down from September, Bolt production starts up

by Jon LeSage, editor and publisher, Green Auto Market

Here’s my take on the 10 most significant and interesting occurrences during the past week…….

  1. 2016 Chevrolet VoltHybrid and EV sales: Hybrid and plug-in sales followed the overall market, which has been down over the past three months. Hybrid sales in October were down 15.3% from September and 13.1% from October 2015. Plug-in hybrid and battery electric car sales were down 29.36% from September, but were up 13.47% over October 2015. The Chevy Volt and Ford Fusion Energi led plug-in hybrid sales. Tesla saw a sizable drop in sales that may been affected by Tesla slowing down production to enable new autonomous technology hardware. Sales in November and December are expected to go back up as Tesla works hard at hitting quarterly sales goals.
  2. Building the Bolt: General Motors has started production of the all-electric Chevrolet Bolt at its assembly plant in Orion Township, near Detroit. The first of the electric cars capable of going 238 miles on a charge will show up for sales before the end of the year, the automaker said. Badged as the Opel Ampera-e in Europe, the new model is due to be launched in European markets next year.
  3. Toyota long-range EVs: Toyota Motor Corp. may be joining the race for long-range electric cars, according to the Nikkei.  The automaker is exploring mass-producing battery electric cars that would hit the market by 2020, the Japanese news report said. In late October, Toyota said it has worked with Panasonic Corp., which also produces lithium ion batteries with Tesla, to improve the precision in battery cell assembly and extend range. This new battery technology will roll out soon in the soon-to-be-launched Prius Prime plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. That plug-in hybrid will go 37.3 miles on battery alone before the gasoline engine takes over; the new battery technology may go into all-electric, extended range cars, too.
  4. Uber and Maven: Uber announced it will be partnering with General Motors’ new carsharing service, Maven. Uber drivers will be able to rent GM vehicles on a weekly basis. GM and Uber will be in a 90-day pilot where drivers will be able to rent GM vehicles for $179 plus taxes and fees per week. That was a bit surprising given that Uber’s main competitor, Lyft, now has a partnership with GM. A similar program, called Express Drive, had been started up for Lyft drivers and operates in about 10 U.S. cities. Alliances between automakers and mobility services continue to expand this year, including Toyota and Uber; Toyota and Getaround; and Volkswagen and Gett.
  5. LA Auto Show: The Los Angeles Auto Show is launching a pre-car show segment for media and industry professionals called AutoMobility LA. Taking place Nov. 14-17, and to the general public Nov. 18-28 at the LA Convention Center, the latest technology devices will be displayed that embrace all forms of transportation and complement new and traditional vehicles. Located in the South Hall Atrium, “GO” features the latest smart mobility devices that can include electric scooters, bikes, or mobility apps. Also keep in mind that the annual Green Car of the Year award winner will be named on Thursday, Nov. 17 at the Technology Pavilion at LA Auto Show.
  6. Free Tesla charging ending for new owners: Tesla owners had been able to fast charge for free for the past four years, using Tesla’s Supercharger Network. Drivers had access to free charging at a worldwide network of 4,600 chargers. That will come to an end soon as the company adopts a “change to the economics of Supercharging.” Cars ordered vehicles before January 1 and delivered before April 1, 2017, still will have free access to Superchargers. Customers who order after Jan. 1 will receive 400 kilowatt-hours – about 1,000 miles – of free charging credits annually, then will pay a fee “less than the price of filling up a comparable gas car,” the company said. Upcoming Model 3 owners won’t have access to free charging, CEO Elon Musk said during a shareholders meeting in May.
  7. VW scandal continues: Volkswagen AG’s chairman Hans Dieter Pötsch has been added to the list of executives under investigation over fraudulent emissions reporting. The chair and former chief financial officer is suspected by German prosecutors of violating securities laws, especially failing to notify shareholders quickly enough about the financial risks of the scandal. German prosecutors have been at work on plea agreements with other executives; and former CEO Martin Winterkorn and board member Herbert Diess have been under investigation for failing to disclose information.
  8. Gas and diesel engines waning: Internal combustion engines (ICEs) may be heading toward the end of their shelf lives, according to a Lux Research study. Governments may one day make them illegal and ICEs may be priced out of the market, according to the study. Netherlands has considered banning ICEs by 2025, with a similar debate starting in Norway. India would like to see 100% of new car sales go to something other than ICEs by 2030. Germany’s legislature is also considering a total ban by 2030. The study says that ICEs may actually decline earlier than government mandates push for. EVs are getting cheaper by the year, thanks to improving batteries and mass production. ICEs are getting more expensive, due to tougher fuel efficiency regulations that require more complex and pricier engineering like 10-speed rather than five-speed transmissions, double- and triple-turbocharging, and other new and costly technologies.
  9. Wrightspeed extended range trash trucks: Wrightspeed rolled out what is says was the first commercial application of a range-extended electric refuse truck last week. Through its partner company, The Ratto Group, in Sonoma County, Calif., Wrigtspeed’s turbine-electric powertrain will be placed in at least 15 vehicles deployed into the trash hauling company’s fleet over the next year. With fuel economy up to about 7 mpg in combined electricity-liquid fuel operation, the powertrain can slash annual fuel consumption by 70 percent or more compared with the average diesel garbage truck, Wrightspeed said.
  10. Lutz on autonomous vehicles: Bob Lutz, former vice chair at General Motors and champion of the Chevy Volt, thinks that fully autonomous vehicles are 15 to 25 years away. Lutz expressed his views during the annual awards dinner of the Michigan Venture Capital Association. His vision for the future is different than Google’s and several automakers. Cars will be replaced by “modules” that will look like telephone booths laid down, and electronically linked in a seamless train on the freeway moving at 200 to 250 mph. They’ll be powered by inductive electrical rails in the freeway, Lutz said.

This Week’s Top 10: Electric vehicle sales were strong in February, Hyundai Ioniq green options shown at Geneva Motor Show

by Jon LeSage, editor and publisher, Green Auto Market

Here’s my take on the 10 most significant and interesting occurrences during the past week…….

  1. Tesla Model XEV and hybrid sales: Plug-in electric vehicle sales were up substantially month-over-month and year-over-year – 17% over January and 6.7% over February 2014. The Tesla Model S, Chevrolet Volt, and Ford Fusion Energi saw sizable gains over last year, while the Nissan Leaf was down 22.4%.The Nissan Leaf has been declining in its position as the clear market leader, coming in fourth place for the first time, narrowly behind the Ford Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid. Tesla is continuing to take the lead in overall electric vehicle sales, with the Model S far ahead of the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf – and the recently launched Model X seeing a 25% increase in sales over January 2016. Hybrids continue to be hurt by low gasoline prices, declining to 1.8% of overall market share when it was in the 2.5% range for a long time. Sales were down nearly 10% since last year.
  2. Three green versions of Ioniq: The 2017 Hyundai Ioniq might have been the most interesting green car news story from last week’s Geneva Motor Show. The hatchback was displayed in all three forms in which it’ll be sold: hybrid, battery electric, and plug-in hybrid. It will be the first vehicle offering by a major automaker offered in all three battery-powered options; while there’s been talk of it and concept cars, Hyundai appears to be serious about bringing all three versions soon.
  3. Self-driving cars right for elderly riders: Aging Americans will be well served by self-driving cars, according to Google – as 43 million American in the U.S. are 65 or older and another 10,000 people reach that mark every day. Nearly 80% live in suburbs and rural areas and will need more transportation support for doctor appointments, groceries, and seeing family and friends. Florence Swanson, 94, recently became the oldest person ever to ride in one of the Google self-driving cars; she was given that opportunity after her painting of a guitar player won a Google contest. Google self-driving car project CEO John Krafcik featured Swanson during a January presentation in Detroit. Krafcik, formerly head of Hyundai’s U.S. division and president of TrueCar, is one of about 40 automotive professionals who now work for the Google autonomous vehicle project. That makes for more than 20% of the 170 workers in that business unit. Those with auto industry experience have skills ranging from exterior design to manufacturing, and come from a wide range of companies including Tesla, Ford, and General Motors.
  4. Propane in truck fleets: Nestlé Waters North America is adding more than 150 medium-duty beverage delivery trucks fueled by propane autogas to its fleet. Baking industry leader Bimbo Bakeries USA has acquired 84 new propane-powered Ford F-59 trucks, to operate in three of the company’s major markets. Each Nestlé delivery truck is equipped with a California Air Resources Board- and Environmental Protection Agency-compliant ROUSH CleanTech propane autogas fuel system with a 45-usable gallon fuel tank. BBU’s truck’s were equipped with ROUSH CleanTech fuel technology; and each of these new propane autogas fueled delivery truck will cut carbon dioxide emissions by about 192,000 pounds compared to gasoline.
  5. Natural gas vehicles: The reduced cost of gasoline and diesel caused natural gas vehicle production and sales to drop last year, Matthew Godlewski, president of NGVAmerica, said to an audience at the Work Truck Show. Heavy-duty vehicles sales were flat, but the light-duty and medium-duty vehicle segments saw a drop in sales numbers. Steady growth in the natural gas fueling infrastructure and new natural gas engines are bright spots for NGVs, Godlewski said.
  6. AARP-E praises energy storage: The federal government’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy reported making big gains toward creating a next generation of batteries for energy storage last week during its annual conference. ARPA-E director Ellen Williams said the agency has funded several high-risk battery projects that utilize newer technology than Tesla’s Powerwall batteries. Other good news for the energy storage market came from GTM Research/Energy Storage Association’s U.S. Energy Storage Monitor 2015 Year in Review. The U.S. energy storage market just had both its best quarter and best year of all time. The U.S. deployed 112 megawatts of energy storage capacity in the fourth quarter of 2015, bringing the annual total to 221 megawatts.
  7. DOE and EPA fleet programs: The U.S. Department of Energy increased funding for its SuperTruck II program designed to increase fuel efficiency of Class 7and 8 trucks; it will also provide funding for several projects that would develop alternative powertrains for medium-duty vehicles. During Green Truck Summit, DOE’s Reuben Sarkar announced that the SuperTruck II initiative would receive $80 million in funding, up from the initial proposal of $60 million. In other federal agency news, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is offering $26 million in grant funding to fleets to reduce diesel emissions from the existing fleet of diesel engines. The deadline to apply for the funding is April 26.
  8. BMW jumping into self-driving car race: Days before BMW’s 100th birthday, Klaus Froehlich, the automaker’s board member for research and development, announced corporate plans for a completely overhauled company, where half the r&d staff will be computer programmers working on self-driving cars projects. During the Geneva Motor Show, Froehlich said that BMW sees its competitors as including firms like ridesharing company Uber and third-party sales site Truecar, which he described as “new intermediaries.”
  9. Extended range: The 200-mile range per electric vehicle charge isn’t quite right, according to Daimler AG head Dieter Zetsche – 310 miles per charge range is “probably a reasonable number to pursue,” Zetsche said last week at the Geneva auto show. Another needed step: battery costs must fall for EVs to reach prices that will prompt consumers to swap gasoline-powered vehicles for electrics.
  10. The state of VW: Last month, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer set a March 24 deadline for Volkswagen to state whether it has found a fix for 600,000 diesel cars that is acceptable to U.S. regulators. No deal, according to VW brand chief Herbert Diess; it will take months rather than weeks to reach an agreement with U.S. regulators on an emissions fix, a newspaper reported on Saturday. In other news, a detailed report was submitted to a German court on Feb. 29 by law firm Goehmann stating that VW delayed releasing information on the diesel situation to allow for talks aimed at reaching a settlement with U.S. regulators; and that the talks could have been jeopardized if the matter was already public. The law firm is arguing for VW that the delay was a legitimate move aimed at striking a deal with regulators.

This Week’s Top 10: How August sales performed, Tesla Model X deliveries starting Sept. 29

by Jon LeSage, editor and publisher, Green Auto Market

Here’s my take on the 10 most significant and interesting occurrences during the past week…….

  1. Green car salesAugust sales up from July, down from last year: Electric vehicles were up slightly in August over the previous month, and hybrids saw a 5.5% gain. Compared to the previous year, all segments were significantly down – hybrids by nearly 22%, battery electric by 23.4% and plug-in hybrids by 36%. Diesel passenger cars were down 7.4% from July and 9.4% from August 2014. Experts say that the launch of new versions within the next four-to-six weeks of the Chevy Volt and Toyota Prius Plug-in, along with the 2016 Nissan Leaf with longer per charge driving range, was the main reason August sales were down so far from the previous year; gasoline prices staying down also explains why hybrid and diesel vehicles were down from last year.
  2. Tesla delivering Model X starting Sept. 29: The Tesla Model X – first announced in early 2012 – will start being delivered to customers who reserved the luxury electric SUV starting on Sept. 29. Customers have been willing to pay a lot for it. The special edition Signature series rolls out first with a price tag somewhere between $132,000 and $144,000 (before federal, state, and local incentives). Lower priced standard models will be coming out in the near future. Customers have access to an online configurator where they get to choose from a list of options including the exterior color and whether or not they want to pay more for the super-fast Ludicrous mode. The Model X Signature edition will have a 90 kilowatt-hour battery and an estimated range of 240 miles per charge. The Model X is built with “falcon wing” rear doors and access to free charging at Tesla’s Supercharger network. The Signature series comes with Autopilot features including self-parking.
  3. Westport and Fuel Systems Solutions merging: Westport Fuel Systems is the new name of a merger between Westport Innovations and Fuel Systems Solutions, Inc., two leading makers of alternative fuel vehicle engine and fuel system technologies. Westport is known for its work in heavy-duty and high horsepower natural gas vehicles. Fuel Systems Solutions comes from the light- and medium-duty vehicle space which includes its Impco Technologies division; Impco systems are used by fleets for conversion of internal combustion engines over to propane autogas and natural gas. Westport Fuel Systems had an equity value of $351 million based on recent closing share prices for the publicly traded companies; combined annual revenues for 2015 is expected to be $380 million to $405 million.
  4. California may raise bar on petroleum reduction: The bill, the Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act of 2015, seeks in part to cut petroleum use by motor vehicles in half by 2030 from 1990 levels. That would be up from the current 20% reduction target by 2030 that are in alignment with the federal fuel economy regulations. The new bill is part of Gov. Jerry Brown’s broad plan to ward off climate change by curbing greenhouse gas emissions in the state. It would not require zero emission vehicle sales volumes, but it directs the California Air Resources Board to issue a plan by 2027 to achieve the 2030 targets. The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a Washington trade group, opposes the pending California bill as it stands. The trade group says enactment of the bill would disrupt the alignment of state and federal standards.
  5. EV carsharing in Indianapolis: Residents of the Indianapolis area will have access to an electric carsharing service called BlueIndy. Fifty of the eventual 500 electric vehicles (EVs) were put into service last week; the program is based on providing convenient, cleaner transportation with the swipe of a membership card. This will be operated by Bolloré Group of France, which already operates carsharing services in several other cities, including the world’s largest EV sharing service: Autolib’, in Paris. Indianapolis is the first U.S. electric carsharing service provided by Bolloré Group. The Bluecars used in the program run on Lithium Metal Polymer (LMP) batteries developed by Bolloré, and have a range of 120 miles between charges. So far, 125 parking spaces in the Indianapolis area are equipped with charge points.   Eventually there will be 1,000 parking spaces in 200 BlueIndy stations outfitted with charging infrastructure and easy-to-use customer kiosks.
  6. More details on MB and BMW EVs: Mercedes-Benz is working on an electric vehicle that will go 311 miles on a charge and will be coming out “soon,” according to development chief Tomas Weber. The electric drive concept would fit into Mercedes’s flexible architecture, allowing it to be employed in more than one car; it will compete directly with the Tesla Model S, Weber said. BMW will be launching two new plug-in hybrids at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show. The BMW 330e is a plug-in hybrid model of the 3 Series. The second new plug-in hybrid–which is not expected to come to North America–is the 225xe; it’s a variant of the 2 Series Active Tourer that is only sold in Europe at this time. BMW is also said to be in the planning stage with an i5 electric car based on the 5 series.
  7. New green bus deployments: Bus operators are bringing in more alternative fuels. Many Detroit Public Schools students will ride to and from schools in 35 propane autogas-powered school buses. That will make it the third largest fleet of propane autogas school buses in the state of Michigan. The Blue Bird Vision Propane buses will lower costs while improving the environment by reducing Detroit’s carbon footprint. Chinese vehicle manufacturer BYD Motors, through its U.S. division, has been awarded what it calls America’s largest electric bus order. Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) has made an agreement allowing up to 800 heavy-duty buses from all different propulsion types, including 12 different categories. BYD Motors is the only electric bus maker globally that manufactures seven different all-electric buses, BYD says; the company was awarded wins in 10 of the 12 available vehicle categories and has the ability to deliver any of their buses within six months.
  8. More propane offerings from ICOM: After winning U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approvals for its JTG liquid-injection bi-fuel and dedicated propane autogas systems, ICOM North America will be extending its fleet offerings. ICOM won several EPA approvals for the Ford 3.7-liter V6 engine lineup on vehicles used in the police, government and livery markets. The company says it expects to shortly announce additional EPA certifications for key fleet platforms and technologies.
  9. Car Charging Group enters energy storage: Car Charging Group has finalized an agreement with Technology with Spirit (“TWS”), a global energy storage and rechargeable battery solutions company. Through this relationship, Car Charging can now offer TWS’ energy storage and rechargeable battery project solutions to its current charging site hosts as well as to future property partners in conjunction with or independent of EV charging services. Car Charging Group can now offer its property management clients a comprehensive solution to reduce energy costs.
  10. Honda fueling NGVs: Honda may have left the natural gas vehicle market with its decision to stop producing CNG Civics, the automaker is not giving up on the alternative fuel. Honda recently opened up a CNG fueling station at its Marysville, Ohio, campus. It’s one of the largest vehicle manufacturing plants in North America, receiving hundreds of deliveries per day. Honda had Trillium CNG install the first CNG refueling station at an of Honda’s North American facilities. According to a Navigant Research report, the total number of CNG refueling stations in North America is projected to grow to a little more than 1,800 over the next 10 years from 1,560 today. That number easily could be much larger.

This Week’s Top 10: Hybrid and EV sales not following seasonal patterns, BP oil spill finally sees completion

by Jon LeSage, editor and publisher, Green Auto Market 

Here’s my take on the 10 most significant and interesting occurrences during the past week…….

  1. EV salesHybrid and EV sales: Both hybrid and electric vehicle (EV) sales are off the path of typical seasonal patterns – down from May but also down from the previous year. Hybrid sales were down 17.6% from June 2014 and EV sales were down 9.6% from that time period. That’s taking place while the overall new vehicle sales market is down from May (a normal seasonal pattern) but up nearly 4% from the previous year. Gasoline prices have come up, but not enough to spur more interest in these vehicles, along with small and fuel-efficient cars. Some models are seeing high growth rates despite the market conditions. The Tesla Model S more than doubled in sales from June 2014, while the BMW i3 saw more than 50% in sales volume increase during that time. The Hyundai Sonata hybrid is seeing very strong sales numbers. Other models have seen large drops since last year, including the Chevrolet Volt, Ford Fusion Energi, and Toyota Prius Plug-in. With new versions coming out in the 2016 model year, the Volt and Prius Plug-in are expected to stay down through this year. As for the overall average fuel economy of new vehicles sold in the U.S. in June, it came to 25.4 mpg – down 0.1 mpg from May. This decline likely reflects the increased sales of light trucks and SUVs in June, according to the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute.
  2. BP oil spill: More than five years after its massive Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, BP Plc has finally settled its agreement on federal and state claims – for a record $18.7 billion. Three anonymous people close to the matter said that BP’s campaign to fight these claims in court following the collapse of negotiations in 2013 finally ended with the settlement. Sources said that both falling oil prices and a federal judge’s recent rulings putting a potential $13.7 billion penalty on Clean Water Act violations helped motivate BP to change its tactics. BP has time to pay it off – once the agreement becomes finalized, payments could be spaced out over an 18-year span.
  3. CARB approves funding: The California Air Resources Board approved a $373 million funding plan for advanced technologies in fiscal year 2015-16, from zero-emission heavy-duty trucks and buses to rebates for low- and zero-emission passenger vehicles. That total is up by $150 million over last year’s budget. $350 million of the total comes from the funds in the state’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund dedicated to low-carbon transportation investments. An additional $23 million comes from the Air Quality Improvement Program under AB 8. $200 million will be dedicated to light-duty vehicles, including the Clean Vehicle Rebate Project, which offers incentives for the purchase of zero-emission vehicles.  $167.5 million will be dedicated to heavy-duty vehicle and freight-equipment projects, including vouchers to help support the purchase of hybrid and zero-emission trucks and buses. The remaining $5.5 million is held for administrative overhead and a reserve.
  4. Connecticut EV rebates: The state of Connecticut has paid out or committed to pay more than $131,250 in state rebates to consumers who’ve purchased or leased electric vehicles (EVs) since May 19. The $1 million program was created by Gov. Dannel Malloy’s administration. Rebates are offered at three levels, from $750 to $3,000 depending on the type of vehicle. Under the Connecticut Hydrogen and Electric Vehicle Purchase rebate, consumers can receive cash rebates of up to $3,000 for purchasing or leasing eligible battery electric, fuel cell, and plug-in hybrid vehicles; there are 67 eligible vehicles included in the program.
  5. Tesla Q2 earnings: Tesla Motors’ second quarter earnings increased 52%, which gives the company momentum prior to the launch of its Model X crossover model in September. Tesla sold 11,507 Model S electric sedans for the quarter that ended June 30, which set a company sales record. Dan Galves, an equity analyst with Credit Suisse, had correctly forecasted the higher-than-expected sales. He raised his price target on Tesla stock from $290 to $325.
  6. CALSTART has welcomed two new board members: Donna DeMartino, General Manager/CEO at San Joaquin Regional Transit District (RTD), and Dr. Jeffrey Reed, Director Business Strategy and Technology Advancement for Southern California Gas Company. DeMartino helped champion the first deployment of zero emission transit buses in the San Joaquin Valley.  DeMartino was appointed RTD’s General Manager/CEO in 2001 and currently serves as the Chair of the California Transit Association’s Executive Committee. Reed leads development of business strategies and initiatives aimed at supporting the development and deployment of sustainable energy solutions and leads the natural gas RD&D, energy efficiency technology, and venture investment programs. He has also led numerous company initiatives related to renewable and low-carbon energy technologies and policy.
  7. United Airlines investing in sustainable fuels: United Airlines has made a $30 million equity investment in US-based alternative fuels developer Fulcrum BioEnergy, which turns municipal solid waste into low-cost sustainable aviation biofuel. United also has a long-term supply agreement with Fulcrum with the opportunity to purchase at least 90 million gallons of the fuel for a minimum of 10 years at a cost competitive with conventional jet fuel. In addition to the equity investment, United and Fulcrum have entered into an agreement that contemplates the joint development of up to five projects with the potential to produce up to 180 million gallons of fuel per year.
  8. BMW going for it with plug-in hybrids: BMW is expected to roll out four more plug-in hybrids that follow its recently launched BMW i8. Plug-in hybrid versions of the BMW X5, 2 Series Active Tourer, 3 Series, and 7 Series are on the list. This falls in line with meeting stringent emissions targets in Europe and the US, and committing to the company sustainability targets. Performance will also continue: BMW’s plug-in hybrid drive line offers xDrive all-wheel drive, which is automatically activated when the system recognizes certain road conditions. The combined output is 220-horsepower with 284 pound-feet of torque, allowing the car to accelerate from 0-62 mph in about 6.5 seconds.
  9. Toyota Mirai gets EPA ratings: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has rated the 2016 Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel cell vehicle at 67 mpg gas gallon equivalent (GGE) and 312 miles range. “Mirai is the only zero emission electric vehicle on the market that tops the 300 mile range milestone,” according to Toyota. The 2014 Honda FCX Clarity is rated 59 mpg GGE combined, 58 city, 60 highway. The 2016 Hyundai Tucson is rated 50 mpg GGE combined, 49 city, 51 highway.
  10. Uber wants driverless Teslas: Uber not only wants to bring ridesharing to cities around the world to reduce traffic and smog – now the company also wants to bring in driverless Teslas. Steve Jurvetson, an early Tesla investor and board member, heard Uber CEO Travis Kalanick make comments on it at the recent Top 10 Tech Trends dinner hosted by the Churchill Club in San Jose, Calif. If Tesla can build a fully-autonomous car by 2020, Kalanick says his company would buy every one Tesla builds. That probably won’t go over too well with Uber drivers who transport customers around in their own cars, and which Uber is very dependent upon to generate revenue.

This Week’s Top 10: Hybrid and EV sales up monthly but down from last year, Incentives may change in California away from upper income consumers

by Jon LeSage, editor and publisher, Green Auto Market 

Here’s my take on the 10 most significant and interesting occurrences during the past week…….

  1. Prius vs LeafBoth hybrid and plug-in electric vehicle sales are up over February 2015 but down from March 2014. Plug-ins are down less than one percent from a year ago, but hybrids continue to see a significant drop from last year’s sales – down more than 23% from March 2014. The Tesla Model S took back the top electric vehicle sales spot, which it had gained in January, from the Nissan Leaf. Tesla Motors released a quarterly statement and said it delivered 10,300 cars in the first quarter of this year – a 55% increase over the first quarter of 2014. Overall, the Nissan Leaf is the best-selling EV in the US – with a total of 76,407 versus 75,321 sold for the Chevrolet Volt since these cars were launched in late 2010. The Leaf has been far ahead of the Volt in monthly sales figures for more than a year, and a number of EVs have been surpassing the Volt recently. That could be the case until the 2016 Volt is rolled out later this year. BMW is investing in TV advertising for its i Series, and the BMW i3 has been seeing relatively strong sales numbers for several months.
  2. Californians make up about 40% of buyers of electric vehicles, but there’s growing concern too much state money is being spent on incentives and that they tip toward upper income consumers too far. Republican state Senator Ted Gaines has proposed eliminating rebates on cars that cost more than $40,000, but incentives would be boosted to $3,500. With the $7,500 federal tax credit, the cost of the vehicle could be reduced more than a quarter of it sticker price. The legislation comes at a time when the state has been criticized for giving most of the rebates to consumers who earn twice the national average; almost a fifth of the funds go buyers of the Tesla Model S with its starting price of about $71,000. Tesla has received about $34 million of the $203 million the state has doled out since the incentive program started in 2010. Almost twice as much as Tesla received in incentive funds has gone to Nissan Leaf owners for the electric car starting at about $29,000. Other states are making changes to their EV incentives; Georgia has passed a highway-funding bill that killed its $5,000 income-tax credit for purchase of an electric vehicles. Illinois suspended its own rebates to close a gaping budgetary hole, and Texas may do the same. Georgia also added a $200 registration fee for battery-electric vehicles.
  3. Announcement on my website and email change:  For those of you who have me on distribution lists for my previous email and website, please update it. What was previously www.jonlesage.com has been changed to www.jonlesageconsulting.com. My previous email tied to that first consulting practice website, jlesage@jonlesage.com, is no longer active. My email address has been changed to jon@jonlesageconsulting.com. Please inform your colleagues about it, as well.
  4. UPS will be installing 15 compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling stations to support its planned purchase of 1,400 new natural gas vehicles over the next year. Twelve of the fueling sites will be in new natural gas vehicle deployment areas, and three will replace existing stations with higher-capacity equipment. The CNG vehicle purchase represent a nearly 30% increase of UPS’s alternative fuel and advanced technology fleet of 5,088 vehicles in its global fleet.
  5. BMW has won the World Green Car for the second year in a row. The 2015 award was presented at the New York International Auto Show to the BMW i8 plug-in hybrid sports car. The i8 was also one of the finalists in the category World Luxury Car of the year, and follows the i3 as the World Green Car category winner for this year.
  6. Auto supplier Delphi Corp. just completed a 3,400-mile road trip in a driverless Audi Q5 test model. The car, with its human driver ready to intervene and take over, drove from San Francisco to New York to test its radar, cameras, and laser sensors. The Audi Q5 stuck to posted speed limits, even when all the other vehicles on the roads were violating them. Other drivers subjected the car and its human occupants to “a few hateful gestures,” said Delphi’s chief technology officer Jeff Owens.
  7. While the BMW i Series was launched as part of BMW’s commitment to urban mobility, the US market for the i3 electric vehicle has been more of a mixed market than New York City. Two suburban markets in California are doing well marketing and selling the car – Crevier BMW in Santa Ana and Stevens Creek BMW in Santa Clara; parts of Texas and southern Florida are markets seeing hot demand, says Ludwig Willisch, CEO of BMW of North America. BMW is approaching “a sustainable rate” of selling 12,000 of the i3s annually, with its starting price of $43,350, including shipping.
  8. Of all places, Texas is seeing some real gains in clean fuels; by January 2017, Georgetown, Texas, located about 25 miles north of Austin, will get all of its electricity from wind and solar power. The city has a 20-year agreement with EDF Renewable Energy for wind power from a new plant in Amarillo; and has a deal with SunEdison, which will build plants in west Texas that will provide Georgetown with 150 megawatts of solar power. Texas is still the largest producer of oil in the US, the state is also seeing an abundance of wind and solar power.
  9. Wanxiang says it will begin showing off its version of the Fisker Karma sometime later this month, possibly at the Shanghai Motor Show. In what may be called the Elux Karma, Fisker’s owner Wanxiang is said to be thinking of upping the price tag to around $135,000 for the plug-in hybrid sports cars.
  10. BASF, a massive chemical company based in Germany, is fighting with Umicore, a Belgian major supplier of battery materials, in US Federal Court in Delaware. The case filed on February 20 has BASF accusing Umimore of selling nickel-cobalt manganese (NMC) cathode materials even though BASF has an exclusive license to it. The case also affects 3M Corp. and Argonne National Laboratory, which are major player in the lithium battery field.