Chevy Volt's Not So Electrifying Sales

Once again Chevy Volt's sales are disappointing.   Two months ago, there was a lot of left-wing joy in that fact that the Chevy Volt broke the 2,000 mark by setting a sales record of 2,289 cars.   Many in the industry saw this as a new trend that would help General Motors "exceed" its claim that they would sell between 15,000 and 20,000 Volts this year; with sales easily surpassing the high end of that range.  Sadly, sales slipped again last month and the Volt only managed to sell 1.654 vehicles.   What really hurt the Volt was the fact that the competing Toyota Prius Plug-In did so well; beating the Volt sales by 192 cars.

The problem with the Volt and other electric cars is the fact that the electric vehicle (EV) market is a niche market with only a small, limited amount of buyers.  For this reason, more models from more manufacturers only mean that this limited number of buyers will be spreading their buying over an increasing amount choices; and each model's sales will suffer in the process. Being the most expensive of all the electrics, this further limits the Volt's market to an even more limited, wealthier class of buyers.   As a result, the Volt's sales will be further marginalized.  Right now the buyers of EV's are finding the Prius the better buy with a known history of Hybrid/battery technology.  The average price of a Prius EV is only $26,000 as compared to the Chevy alternative at $40,000.   And, whether you buy a Volt or a Prius Plug-In, you still get the same $7500 tax rebate.  For all the above reasons, I think the Volt was a mistake and is ultimately doomed to die; and, not necessarily a slow death.