Chevrolet Volt sales may have fallen off by 41% in the U.S. in January, but the model enjoyed its fourth-straight year-over-year percentage improvement in Canada during the month.
According to Green Car Reports, Chevy sold 71 Volts in January in Canada, compared to 11 in 2012, 44 in 2013 and 66 last year. It’s a good sign for Chevrolet, as the aging current-gen model’s popularity appears to be spiking just as the next-generation 2016 Volt is set to be introduced, potentially setting it up for early success.
The Volt’s success in January allowed it to surpass its closest plug-in competitor, the Nissan Volt, in Canadian monthly sales for the first time in four months. By comparison, Nissan moved 36 Leafs, nearly half the amount of Volts Chevrolet sold.
Comments
Don’t think moving 71 units of any car, save for the ZR1, ZL1 or Z/28, counts as a banner month.
What this shows is that, once again, hype over electric cars falls to the reality that oil is cheap, and we can now shoot for 50 mpg with a safe, gas-only car.
Gas may be cheap now but if it becomes too expensive and scarce to find, what can you do with a 50 MPH car that cannot move an inch?
Even if oil drops to $20 a barrel, we still need to change to electric cars. OPEC is holding us hostage.
They are currently trying to take out the competition, (the frackers) with low prices, and derail electric cars if they can. Then they will be able to jack prices back up. We cannot let them get away with it.
Let’s put a $30 a barrel tarriff on saudi oil.
Cars can be powered by solar, and there is an endless supply of it.
that’s a very shortsighted viewpoint. Oil prices are already on the rise. The fact that they can drop that fast shows that they are unstable (and they can rise that fast, or faster). Electricity has much more stability in its pricing. Most EV drivers I know save at least $100 per month in gas (many save 200-300) including the extra they pay in electricity. EVs have lower maintenance costs (nearly zero) and once fuel prices bump back up will go back to being about 90% LESS expensive than gasoline to fuel.
regarding the Canadian sales numbers, I agree that those are some low sales. The point of the article was that the Volt is outselling the Leaf and others. The low overall sales are surprising to me. I live in Washington state where Im positive that our state’s monthly EV sales are higher than all of Canadas (from the numbers presented above), and I suspect even the city of Seattle might be selling more EVs per month than Canada. I’m not sure why the Canadian adoption rate is so far behind, but once people drive an EV, they don’t go back to gas. Adoption follows a growth curve. The more EVs are bought, the more people will want them.
It is a superior mode of travel in so many ways. I fuel up at home. I don’t go to gas stations. I don’t have oil changes. with regereative braking I may never need brake pads within the lifetime of the vehicle. maximum torque at zero RPM.
Also, not sure if you meant anything when you said a “50 mpg safe car” in terms of EVs being safe. In case you were, note that EVs rank amongst the highest in crash safety. The Tesla Model S is the safest car in the world.
Nissan Volt, eh?
Oil can jump at anytime and we already have seen 40 cent jumps here in the last week.
Low oil prices are short term.
As for Canada these are good sales as the Canadian market sells less cars than some states here.
I have a very simple, first hand explanation why the Volt is selling slowly in Canada. And, it has nothing to to do with the plug in vs gas vs hybrid debate. Or the car itself.
This weekend I went to the local Chevy dealer that had one in stock. 2015, fully loaded, priced at $44K+. I sat down to discuss lease/finance options. No incentives whatsoever. Lease rate of 7.99%! A 48 month lease worked out to nearly $900/month with $2K down. Do the math. There is virtually no residual value. Even with the generous government incentive of $8500 deducted the lease still came out to near $700 per month, taxes in.
It looks to me like GM is not even trying to sell or market the Volt in Canada. I’ve read about attractive lease offers in the US. Apparently none here!
I think my experience goes a long way in explaining why it’s a hard sell. At those numbers, it makes zero economic sense. The gas savings will never allow you to recover the acquisition cost.
Wow. I paid about $24k for my 2015 Volt, after taxes. I’m in AZ, USA.