According to today’s Los Angeles Times, General Motors has determined the cause of recent fires in its gas-electric Chevrolet Volt vehicles and is working a fix to the problem.
Read it here.
Also of note in the article is the statement that sales have been slow for the Volt as well as for the Nissan Leaf, the all-electric vehicle with up to 100 mile range.
The car (Volt), as well as other electric vehicles, have not been brisk seller. GM has sold about 8,000 Volts, which can travel about 40 miles just on battery power before a gas engine kicks in and functions as a generator to extend the range an additional 300 miles. Nissan, by comparison, has sold just about 10,000 of its Leaf electric vehicle.
Perhaps that slow start in electric vehicle sales is the basis for sentiment among the world’s automotive executives that was relayed in a survey by KMPG:
Global Auto Execs Don’t See Spark in Electric Vehicle Sales for More Than Decade
DETROIT, Jan. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Despite continued heavy investment by auto makers in electric propulsion technologies, global automotive executives don’t expect e-car sales to exceed 15 percent of annual global auto sales before 2025, according to the 13th annual global automotive survey conducted by KPMG LLP, the U.S. audit, tax, and advisory firm.
In polling 200 C-level executives in the global automotive industry for the 2012 automotive survey, KPMG found that nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of executives don’t expect electrified vehicles (meaning all e-vehicles, from full hybrids to FCEVs) to exceed 15 percent of global annual auto sales before 2025. Executives in the U.S. and Western Europe expect even less adoption, projecting e-vehicles will only account for 6-10 percent of global annual auto sales.
“Electric vehicles are still in their infancy, and while we’ve seen some recent model introductions, consumer demand has so far been modest,” said Gary Silberg, National Automotive Industry leader for KPMG LLP. “While we can expect no more than modest demand in the foreseeable future, we can also expect OEMs to intensify investment, fully appreciating what is at stake in a very competitive industry.”
We’d like to see the future prove these stats wrong. With the proper funding for technology and infrastructure, there’s no reason why electrified vehicles can’t become the roadway norm in the next 4-5 years.
Go green!
greenfamilycar 