Category Archives: Sales

Electric Vehicles: Headed In The Right Direction . . .

July 27, 2018Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, SalesTrevor Larkum

The United Kingdom’s newly published Road to Zero report recommends that all new homes should be equipped with chargers for electric vehicles as part of plans to move toward zero emissions and in line with its objective to eliminate diesel and gasoline vehicles by 2040. The plan includes public charging being incorporated into streetlights, gas stations and freeway rest areas, but no incentives for scrapping diesel vehicles; in fact, the bulk of the money to pay for the plan comes from taxes on diesels.

The outlook for the electric vehicle is changing rapidly, despite the oil lobby’s best attempts to spread misinformation. In countries such as Japan, the number of recharging points has long exceeded the number of gas stations, although obviously, many of them are in people’s homes. Electric buses are increasingly seen as a logical option for public transport by more and more cities around the world, which is hitting the oil companies hard.

The automotive industry will undergo unprecedented change: after weathering Dieselgate, Volkswagen has announced the launch of a car-sharing service for electric vehicles next year as part of a plan to win back the trust of users and regulators, supported by an alliance with a Chinese battery manufacturer that will also supply BMW, which says the deal was a way to accelerate its transition toward the mass manufacture of electric vehicles, which until recently it said would not be possible until 2020.

All of this suggests we’re heading in the right direction, but far too slowly. The U.K.’s announcement of a ban on diesel and gasoline vehicles from 2040 was little more than a gesture aimed at keeping the country in line with the rest of the EU, while avoiding the ire of the automotive industry and the users. In practice, within two years, when electric vehicles will outprice their diesel and gasoline competitors, market forces will take over and the internal combustion engine will be seen for what it is: outdated, expensive, overcomplicated and bad for the environment.

Electric vehicle sales promise shock for Big Oil

July 22, 2018Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, Oil, Peak Oil, SalesTrevor Larkum

If motor manufacturers are right about the prospects for electric vehicle sales, an oil price crash won’t be far behind.

LONDON, 5 July, 2018 – Oil and gas companies have underestimated probable electric vehicle sales and the effect they will have on their own businesses and profits, a new report says.

If the car manufacturers’ projections of future sales of electric cars are correct, then demand for oil will have peaked by 2027 or even earlier, sending the price of oil in a downward spiral as supply exceeds demand, says Carbon Tracker (CT), an independent financial think-tank carrying out in-depth analysis on the impact of the energy transition on capital markets.

It says fossil fuel companies have taken into account some engine fuel efficiencies and the effect they would have on oil demand, but not the expected increase in electric vehicles themselves. There is a big mismatch between forecasts of EV market penetration from vehicle manufacturers and from oil majors, says Laurence Watson, a CT data scientist.

“The oil industry is underestimating the disruptive potential of electric vehicles, which could reduce oil demand by millions of barrels a day. Increases in fuel efficiency will also eat into oil demand and the industry’s profits. The oil majors’ myopic position presents a serious investor risk,” he told the Climate News Network.

Women will drive transition to electric cars, study finds

July 21, 2018Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, SalesTrevor Larkum

Men generally want speed, acceleration, style. Women want there to be a planet when their children grow up. That’s pretty much the findings of a University of Sussex study into who will buy electric vehicles and why, writes BRENDAN MONTAGUE

A rapid and comprehensive transition to electric mobility will require a combination of technological, regulatory, institutional, economic, cultural and behavioural changes that together transform the sociotechnical systems that provide energy or mobility services.

More focused marketing of electric cars to women could be more effective in creating the required revolution away from more polluting vehicles than universal government intervention, a new study has said.

Highly educated women are an untapped but potentially lucrative market for electric vehicle sales because they have greater environmental and fuel efficiency awareness than men, says a new study by researchers at the University of Sussex and Aarhus University in Denmark.

The research also recommends the newly retired be targeted for electric vehicle promotion, even though they as a group have less interest in more environmentally friendly vehicles. Pensioners have high car ownership, drive short distances, have high budgets for car purchases and are less interested in design – all characteristics that could make them ideal electric vehicle owners.

Global Plug-In Electric Car Sales Booming – Market Expands 75%

July 18, 2018Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, SalesTrevor Larkum

Globally, plug-in electric car sales in May exceeded 159,000, which is second best result ever. A new all-time record is now expected in June.
The 159,346 deliveries reported for May translates into an outstanding growth rate of 75% year-over-year. 63% of sales came from BEVs, compared to 37% for PHEVs.

After the first five months of 2018. sales almost hit 600,000 (estimated 597,757, up 71%) at an average 1.5% market share.

The BAIC EC-Series, thanks to 12,624 sales in May, managed to move back into first place in the YTD rank with nearly 40,000 deliveries.

With such a strong contender in China, the second-generation Nissan LEAF (7,069) was left behind at #2.

What’s put the spark in Norway’s electric car revolution?

July 15, 2018Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, SalesTrevor Larkum

The Nordic country leads the world due to environmental concerns, but also big subsidies

There is a low hum that Norwegians have grown used to as they walk down their streets. The sound of Teslas, Nissan Leafs, BMW i3s, VW e-Golfs and Kia Souls gliding past each other.

While electric cars are increasingly noticeable in most capital cities, the sheer number in Oslo and throughout the rest of the country can surprise visitors. Norway has been described as a world leader and last year more than half of new car sales were electric or hybrid.

Electric Car Line-up (Image: Go Ultra Low)

The Norwegian parliament has set 2025 as the goal for all new cars to have zero emissions, compared with the UK’s 2040. However, such enthusiastic embracing of electric vehicles by ordinary Norwegians is not all down to ecological benefits but something more simple – money.

While motorists are typically subject to punitive levels of taxation, those who buy a purely electric vehicle are rewarded with a string of incentives worth thousands of pounds. Buyers escape heavy import or purchase taxes and are also exempt from 25% VAT. They also avoid road tax, road tolls, pay half price on ferries, get free municipal parking in cities and can usually use bus lanes.

Which is why the country is the third-largest market for electric vehicles in the world, after the US and China. And with a population of just 5.35 million. So what can the UK learn from the Norwegians?

5 Reasons EVs Will Displace ICEs

July 8, 2018Electric Cars, Leaf, Model 3, News, Reviews and Comment, Nissan, Opinion, Sales, TeslaTrevor Larkum

My grandfather was quite intrigued with those horseless carriages. Here he is, with a big grin on his face, testing out a Model T back in 1913.

A few years earlier, Henry Ford had debuted his Detroit assembly line and began cranking out Model Ts – the world’s first mass-produced automobile. The rest is history.

Then, a hundred years later in 2010, Nissan (OTCPK:NSANY) became the first company to mass-produce EVs (cars powered only by electricity), the Nissan Leaf. Motortrend at the time noted that the Leaf “could be the most significant vehicle of the century.”

Did the 2010 Leaf and does today’s Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Model 3 indeed herald a transportation revolution into EVs, much as Henry Ford’s Model T did into “horseless carriages” a century earlier?

Well, EV sales have soared from practically nothing in 2010 to an estimated 1.6 million in 2018 and are up 68% over 2017.

The surge in EV sales (growing 50-100% each year now) is primarily due to better and more affordable batteries and today virtually every major automaker plans on introducing electric cars, if they haven’t already, both hybrids and EVs.

Electric vehicles roar up Britain’s sales rankings

June 21, 2018Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, SalesTrevor Larkum

EV sales are rising in the UK as political changes in Europe help fuel the transition away from fossil-fuel engines

Sales of hybrid and electric vehicles in the UK hit a record high in May as buyers turned their back on diesel cars.

Data for May released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) this week showed that 11,240 units were sold last month, a 38% increase on 2017, while the market share for EVs and hybrids also increased to 5.8% on the previous year’s figure of 4.4%. So far, in the first five months total sales are at 57,000, representing a rise of 19.5%.

Political shifts in Western Europe in recent weeks are also expected to support momentum towards faster adoption of electric vehicles.

The populist Five Star Movement that has become the majority partner in a new Italian coalition government has been strongly supportive of a reduction in the use of vehicles powered by diesel and petrol engines. The new socialist-led government in Spain’s radical demands for more ambitious EU renewable energy transition targets suggest it will also likely push Brussels for faster adoption of EV transition targets.

Under the Paris Agreement and air quality rules, Europe needs to achieve total emissions cuts of 40% by 2030.

Globally, the sales picture is similarly bullish, with new electric car registrations rising more than 50% in 2017, the International Energy Agency said in its flagship EV report at the end of May.

China, the world’s biggest market for electric vehicles, saw sales grow by about half – although the market share remained small at 2.2%.

“Looking ahead, the strongest current policy signals emanate from electric car mandates in China and California, as well as the European Union’s recent proposal on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions standards for 2030,” wrote the IEA.

Beijing wants 7 million electric vehicles by 2025, while California wants 5 million by 2030. The EU is yet to produce a mandate, but has targeted a 30% fall in emissions from the EU fleet of new cars from 2021 to 2030.

The IEA sees EV adoption gathering speed in the years ahead towards those targets, as government initiatives start to bite. “Supportive policies and cost reductions are likely to lead to significant growth in the market uptake of (electric vehicles) in the outlook period to 2030,” the report said.

A new Nissan Leaf sold every 10 minutes as total Leaf sales reach 100,000 across Europe

June 14, 2018Electric Cars, Leaf, News, Reviews and Comment, Nissan, SalesTrevor Larkum

Nissan is celebrating the 100,000th delivery of the LEAF car this month in Europe, in a move hailed as a victory for electric mobility. Globally, over 320,000 Nissan LEAF have been sold, making it the most sold EV in the world.

Susana de Mena, of Madrid, milestone buyer of the 100,000th LEAF said, “I’ve spent two years trying to find an electric car. I knew it would be a Nissan!

“When I saw there was a brand-new model of the LEAF, there were no doubts in my mind it would be the perfect fit. My husband and I agreed that the quality, price and specification made it second-to-none.

“We are very conscious that we must respect and protect the environment, so we knew we’d want to go 100% electric. On top of this, an electric car lets us get to the very centre of Madrid when ordinary vehicles can sometimes be restricted due to pollution issues.”

Combining sales of the new Nissan LEAF and previous LEAF models, the 100,000 customers across Europe have helped propel the Nissan LEAF to the position of best-selling EV in the world.

With now more than 37,000 new LEAF ordered in Europe, one new Nissan LEAF is sold every 10 minutes in Europe to customers looking to switch to innovative and zero-emission technology.

New petrol and diesel cars will be banned from 2040 – but is that too long to wait?

June 12, 2018Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, SalesTrevor Larkum

New petrol and diesel vehicles will be banned from 2040 but bringing it forward ten years could help the car industry, it is claimed

Ministers have been urged to bring a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars into force ten years early, to cut air pollution deaths and help the car industry.

The UK is currently set to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2040.

But Washington and Sunderland West MP Sharon Hodgson has told transport ministers that the change should come into effect in 2030, partly to drum up business for car manufacturers.

Her constituency includes the Nissan car plant, where 7,000 people are employed. Nissan is one of a number of carmakers to have announced job cuts, following a fall in demand for diesel vehicles and uncertainty about the impact of Brexit on the automotive sector.

New Vehicles in Norway Are Now 50% Electric, Favored over Gasoline Cars

June 11, 2018Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, SalesTrevor Larkum

The market share of electric cars, which was only a fraction of that of gasoline cars a few years ago, has reached 50 percent in Norway. Over the past 12 months, an identical number of electric vehicles as gasoline cars have been manufactured in Norway, demonstrating the country’s exponential adoption of electric cars.

Electric Cars Favored Over Gasoline Cars

In Norway, a liter of gasoline costs around $2, a rate that is substantially higher than in other places such as South Korea and Japan that are also known to have expensive gasoline. In contrast to high gasoline costs and taxes on conventional vehicles, the Norwegian government does not impose tax on the sale of electric vehicles, allowing consumers to obtain electric cars at around 50 percent of the cost required to purchase gasoline-powered vehicles.

According to a report by the Norwegian government entitled “Sales of Petroleum Products,” the demand for petroleum products have fallen for the first time in history, primarily due to the rapid adoption of electric vehicles and the drop in demand for gasoline and fuel.

“Motor gasoline sales declined by 2.9%, dutiable diesel fell by 2.7%, and duty-free diesel declined by 2.6%. This decline follows sales that were flat in 2014, and then grew by 1% in 2015 and 3.2% in 2016. Overall petroleum product sales declined by 2.2%, although some categories of consumption, such as heavy fuel oil, jet kerosene, and other petroleum products all showed higher consumption,” the government’s report read.

The embrace of electric vehicles in Norway can be attributed to newly implemented policies of the Norwegian government, and its intent to ensure all vehicles sold in the country are electric from 2025 onwards.