Where's Wally - Looking For EV's in Spain

Fast-Charging Station in Marbella with an I-Miev in the background

Some weeks ago i had the chance to spend some days in the Spanish province of Andalucia and i took the opportunity to look for EV's there, here's what i saw:

Renault Twizy - Unlike what i thought, they're really not that easy to find in the sunny south of Spain, i only saw one, full of hotel decals and storming through traffic like it was running for its life.

Renault Zoe - I didn't saw them on the streets, but they are present in Renault POS, with a corner in showrooms dedicated to them. I also saw a Fluence ZE in the POS parking lot ready for a test-drive (I think it would be better if they also lined up a Zoe, don't you think?)

Citröen C-Zero in Seville

Mitsubishi I-Miev family(1) - I saw a fair number of them (Three, to be more exact), one belonging to the province government, other to a car-sharing company and the third to a Citröen sales franchise. One thing that struck me was that these cars still grab attention from people, curious on how they look and how they work.

Nissan Leaf - I saw a white one in a shopping center parking lot with the driver in it. No company decals, not a company car, just an anonymous guy in a t-shirt that bought an electric car with his own money. "Pioneer" - Was the word that came to mind.

Japan July 2013

Two Generations side-by-side, the newbie Outlander PHEV and the veteran I-Miev

Waiting for Better Days Edition

This title refers to two different, but connected situations, the first is the horrible summer that Mitsubishi is experiencing, due to the battery problems occurred last Spring. With just 175 units sold this month, Mitsu lost another 4% share to 48% and sees a bullish Nissan right behind (47%), looking to recover the Best Selling Brand title, after winning it in 2011.

The second event refers to the below average sales that the japanese EV market is registering, this month the tally ended in 1.309 units, the best monthly result since March, but well bellow the 4.500 units registered in February, resulting in another drop of the EV share to 0,75%, now 0,02% down on 2012 hallmark (0,77%).

To the rescue of both situations comes the Outlander PHEV, which resumed production in the end of August, after months of zero production, this will help greatly on the recovery of Mitsubishi and the japanese EV market as a whole, and with an expected production of some 2.000 units/month, it's just in time to put pressure on the Nissan Leaf for the Best Selling Model Title...

Pl	Japan	July	YTD	%	Pl '12
1	Nissan Leaf	1.034	6.724	47	2
2	Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV		4.307	30	N/A
3	Mitsubishi I-Miev	68	1.114	8	3
4	Mitsubishi Minicab Miev	93	1.009	7	4
5	Toyota Prius Plug-In e)	100	700	5	1
6	Mitsub. Minicab Miev Truck	14	538	4	N/A
	TOTAL	1.309	14.389	100

e) Estimate

Source: insideevs.com, Manufacturers

Memory Lane - 2011

A future-classic 

2011 was Year One for the Modern Age of Electric Cars, with sales shooting upwards and the Top 5 ranking now resembling what we now know, following the introduction of the Nissan Leaf and the Volt family.

Best-selling Plug-In Cars of 2011

1 - Nissan Leaf - 21.565 units;

2 - Chevrolet Volt (a) - 8.187 units;
(a) - Includes Opel and Vauxhall Ampera

3 - Mitsubishi I-Miev (b) - 8.161 units;
(b) - Includes Peugeot iOn and Citröen C-Zero

4 - Smart Fortwo ED - 1.103 units;

5 - JAC J3 EV - 1.000 units.

The JAC J3 EV is the only stranger here but it sells well in China.

The Nissan Leaf joined the market with a bang thanks to great sales in the US (#1 with 9.674 units) and Japan (#1 with 10.310 units), followed by the Volt, thanks to its home market (#2 in the US with 7.671 units).

Behind these two rookies was the I-Miev family, scoring 8.161 units (Its best sales year ever), most of them in Europe and thanks to their french cousins from Peugeot and Citröen.

Far from the podium was the #4 Smart Fortwo ED, already in its second generation, just like the chinese JAC J3 EV, selling some 1.000 units.

World Top 10 July 2013

In July the PiP stopped the sales slide 

Models - Prius in third 

Having more trouble than expected in the European introduction of the Model S, Tesla's new baby was relegated to fourth place in July by the Prius Plug-In, that saw its sales past the 1.200 units for the first time since March and recover some of the lost ground to the american-made car.

The remaining ranking is fairly stable, although the C-Max Energi has already the #8 position of the troubled I-Miev in its sights and is now looking to pass by it in August.

Tenth place goes this month for the Ford Fusion Energi, with 2.032 units YTD, but with the #12 Chery QQ3 EV just 32 units behind (2.000) and most importantly,  the #11 Renault Twizy just 5 units behind(!), this promises to be one heated race until the end.

Finally, BEV's add yet another point to their share, now in 64% versus 36% for PHEV's, since the beginning of the year pure electric cars recovered 14% share, thanks to new models (Zoe, Model S) and sales rebound of existing ones (Leaf, Fortwo ED).

Comparing today's positions with last years ranking, there are some changes, the Leaf jumps from third to the top spot, the Model S climbs 4 positions to #3, the Zoe comes out of nowhere (#28) to #5 and the Outlander Plug-In appears in #6 in its first year on sale.

On the flip side, the Mitsu I-Miev drops from #5 to #8 and the Twizy from #4 to #10.

Pl	WORLD	July	YTD	%	'12Pl
1	Nissan Leaf	3.702	23.823	25	3
2	Chevrolet Volt (1)	2.010	13.767	15	1
3	Tesla Model S	759	10.916	12	7
4	Toyota Prius Plug-In	1.224	9.431	10	2
5	Renault Zoe	692	5.462	6	28
6	Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-In	0	4.307	5	N/A
7	Renault Kangoo ZE	328	3.296	4	6
8	Mitsubishi I-Miev (2)	123	3.112	3	5
9	Ford C-Max Energi	443	3.003	3	9
10	Ford Fusion Energi	412	2.032	2	N/A
	TOTAL	11.666	94.208

Manufacturers - Toyota closes in to Tesla

In the Manufacturers ranking, Nissan is stable at the top and it's now followed by Chevrolet at 15% share and Renault with 12%.

Still working on its Euro-landing, Tesla was #6 in July, losing another point, to 12% share and now sees Toyota recovering behind it.

Behind the seven major players, figures become a bit sketchy as one doesn't know for sure how the chinese brands are behaving, but taking in account confirmed numbers, Chery holds on firmly to #8. 

Comparing the ranking with 2012, we can see Nissan back at #1 (It held the best selling crown in 2011), Tesla jumping from #9 to #4 thanks to the Model S success, Smart up from #15 to #9, while Toyota dropped from #2 to fifth place.

Pl	WORLD	July	YTD	%	'12Pl
1	Nissan	3.702	23.823	25	3
2	Chevrolet	2.107	13.891	15	1
3	Renault	1.100	11.457	12	4
4	Tesla	759	10.927	12	9
5	Toyota	1.328	9.982	11	2
6	Mitsubishi	123	8.860	9	5
7	Ford	1.005	6.131	6	7
8	Chery (e)	200	2.000	2	6
9	Smart	211	1.674	2	15
10	BYD	162	1.645	2	8

(1) - Includes Holden Volt, Opel and Vauxhall Ampera;
(2) - Includes Citröen C-Zero and Peugeot iOn.
(e) - Estimate


Questions for August

Will the C-Max Energi pass the Mitsu I-Miev? 

Who will get this time the tenth place in the models ranking?

Will Renault confirm the #3?

Will Toyota surpass Tesla?

Can Smart hold on to #9?

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Markets Roundup July 2013

Nissan Leaf is charging up

Nissan Leaf Superstar II

July was a good month for the Nissan Leaf, that benefited from decreasing sales from its main competitors (Volt and Zoe) to collect/recover seven(!) new trophies (USA, Germany, Canada, Denmark, Spain, Iceland and Poland) to the ones it had last month (Japan, Norway, UK, Italy, Ireland and Estonia), making it 13 countries where the Nissan Leaf was #1 in July, justifying its "World Best Selling Electric Car" banner. 

By the way, looking by continents, we can see the Leaf dominating the Asian market and fighting for #1 both in Europe and in the Americas, making it a true global car. 


Plug-In Hybrids feel better in the cold

An interesting fact i've come to realize is that PHEV's are more successful in cold climates, if we take in measure countries where Plug-in hybrids have highest share (Netherlands 76%; Finland 74%; Sweden 69%; Canada 59%; Iceland 54%), we realize that ice and snow are a winter common sight in all of them, so it could be a case that consumers prefer to be secured by an ICE engine to offset the range decrease in the coldest days.

Trends in the G7 

In the US market the aforementioned Nissan Leaf jumped to #1 both on the monthly and YTD chart, but the Chevy Volt just behind by 60 units in the YTD ranking, so a lot can still happen here.

Looking at EV shares, the only country in the downward trend is Japan, still suffering from Mitsubishi's problems, its EV share it's now at 0,74%, down 0,03% from the 0,77% share it had in 2012. 

Germany registered the best sales month (633 units) since last September and with the german brands launching in the coming months their first entries in this segment, one can only expect that sales will go up.

BMW has high hopes for it's small i3

Other Markets

Mentioning countries making their first steps into electric mobility, Poland(1) registered 5 Nissan Leaf's this month, making a total of 6 this year and Iceland(2) registered 4 Leaf's, summing up to 9 this year.

(1) - Poland '13 EV Ranking: Leaf 6 units; Ampera 2; Fortwo ED 1.

(2) - Iceland '13 EV Ranking: Leaf and Prius Plug-In 9 units; Volt and C-Zero 3; Ampera 2.


Questions for August

Who will be the US #1?

Who will be the best selling compliance car?

Who will be #1 in Canada?

Will the Zoe recover?

Will Germany have a new leader?

In which european country will the Tesla Model S perform better?

Europe July 2013

The fight between these two promises to be long

Zoe vs Leaf European Edition

Another chapter in the fight between the Zoe and the Leaf, this time with the Leaf winning 715 vs 700 in July, but still far from its french cousin in the YTD chart. The following positions remain the same, although the #5 Twizy is closing in on the #4 Prius Plug-In.

Further down the ranking, the Chevy Volt climbs one position to #12, changing positions with Bolloré Blue Car, which has being losing steam this year.

Comparing positions between now and the end of last year, there are lots of changes, the Zoe shoots up from nowhere (#21) to the leadership, the Twizy drops from the top spot to #5, the Smart Fortwo ED climbs 6 positions to #6, the Volvo V60 climbs from #22 to #8, and three french models drop significantly: the C-Zero goes from #6 to #10, the Fluence from #10 to #15 and the Peugeot iOn from #7 to...#14, winning the title of largest drop in the Euro ranking.

A special comment for the Opel Ampera stumble from #2 to #7, losing on the way the PHEV best seller title for the Prius Plug-In, GM announced this month a 5.000$ price cut on the US Chevy Volt, we can only expect that in the next weeks or months the european arm of The General does the same, because if it doesn't, the sales slide in their main markets, like Holland or Germany, will become irreversible as newer, better plug-ins reach their shores.

Pl	Europe	July	YTD	%	'12Pl
1	Renault Zoe e)	700	5.470	23	21
2	Nissan Leaf	735	5.042	21	4
3	Renault Kangoo ZE e)	400	3.365	14	3
4	Toyota Prius Plug-In	168	2.143	9	5
5	Renault Twizy e)	300	1.934	8	1
6	Smart Fortwo ED	128	1.420	6	12
7	Opel Ampera	94	1.216	5	2
8	Volvo V60 Plug-In	59	585	2	22
9	Mitsubishi I-Miev	28	517	2	8
10	Citröen C-Zero	1	383	2	6
11	Goupil G3	74	349	1	14
12	Chevrolet Volt	80	320	1	11
13	Bolloré Blue Car	10	268	1	9
14 15	Peugeot iOn Renault Fluence ZE e)	40 20	229 174	1 1	7 10
	TOTAL	2.895	23.720

e) Estimate

Austria July 2013

There's already one  "I Robot" VW XL1 registered in Austria

Zoeland Edition

Although down 23% regarding June, this month the Austrian EV market scored 99 units sold, the second best result of the year, with the Renault Zoe, once again, leading the charge with 73 units sold, pushing the EV share up to 0,18%.

Apart from the brilliant result of the french hatch, there's really not much to say, just that the two seater Twizy consolidated its #2 spot.

Pl	Austria	July	YTD	%	'12Pl
1	Renault Zoe	73	195	53	N/A
2	Renault Twizy e)	10	68	19	1
3	Nissan Leaf	3	31	8	6
4	Opel Ampera	3	24	7	4
5	Smart Fortwo ED	6	20	5	9
6	Citröen C-Zero	1	7	2	2
7	Mitsubishi I-Miev	1	6	2	5
8	Peugeot iOn		5	1	7
9	Renault Fluence ZE	1	4	1	4
10	Renault Kangoo ZE		2	1	3
11	Tesla Roadster	1	2	0	12
12	Fisker Karma		1	0	9
13	Volkswagen XL1		1	0	12
14	Chevrolet Volt		1	0	14
	TOTAL	99	367	100

e) Estimate

Source: automotive.co.at

Spain July 2013

The Renault Zoe arrived this Spring and it's already fighting for #1

Mitsu I-Miev Stumbles Edition

Terrible month for the Mitsubishi I-Miev, not only it didn't scored any sales, it also saw a three positions drop in the ranking, with both the Nissan Leaf (37 units, personal best score of '13) and the Renault Twizy now some 20 units ahead, fighting for the gold medal, and the Renault Zoe in third.

Still, with the top four positions separated by just 20 units, the spanish EV ranking promises to be one of the most intriguing to follow this year, we already had three '13 YTD leaders (Twizy, Jan-Feb; I-Miev, Mar-Jun; Leaf, July) and the Renault Zoe had two monthly #1's (May and June) in just 4 months on sale, making itself also a strong candidate for the top spot.

Although marginal in Spain (6% share in 2012, 7% in '13), the PHEV ranking demonstrates a trend that's been seen across the rest of Europe: While the Prius Plug-In rises (6% share this year vs 3% last year) and consolidates it's best selling plug-in hybrid title, the #2 Opel Ampera sinks (5 units sold this year, when at the same time last year it had sold 25...).

Pl	Spain	July	YTD	%	'12Pl
1	Nissan Leaf	37	135	24	3
2	Renault Twizy e)	20	132	24	1
3	Renault Zoe	17	114	21	N/A
4	Mitsubishi I-Miev		114	21	9
5	Toyota Prius Plug-In	6	33	6	6
6	Smart Fortwo ED		13	2	13
7	Opel Ampera		5	1	8
8	Renault Fluence ZE		3	1	4
9	Citröen C-Zero		2	0	6
10 10	Chevrolet Volt Renault Kangoo ZE		1 1	0 0	11 2
	TOTAL	80	553	100

e) Estimate

Source: Autoblog.es

Italy July 2013

The Renault Zoe crossed the Alps in April to become a major player there

Zoe sinks Edition

After 80 units sold in May and 45 in June, the Renault Zoe sales in Italy dropped to just 18 in July, helping the total EV sales to drop 46% regarding last month, totaling 100 units in July, albeit still enough to keep the EV share at 0,09%, 0,04% behind the 2012 score (0,13%).

The Nissan Leaf profited from the lowering form of the Zoe to consolidate its #2 in the YTD chart.

Looking at the brands ranking, Renault still rules with 58% share, but it has lost 19% share regarding '12, to major benefit of the second placed Nissan, up from 6% to 23%, and third placed Smart, up from 2% to 14%, by the way, Smart already sold 3 times more electric cars this year than it did in all 2012.

Thanks for Andrea and Luca (Greenstart) for the Ampera/Volt numbers update. 

Pl	Italy	July	YTD	%	'12Pl
1	Renault Twizy e)	30	242	33	1
2	Nissan Leaf	28	169	23	3
3	Renault Zoe	18	153	21	N/A
4	Smart Fortwo ED	17	102	14	8
5	Renault Fluence ZE	4	26	4	7
6	Opel Ampera		14	2	6
7	Peugeot iOn	3	11	2	5
8	Chevrolet Volt		7	1	N/A
9	Tesla Roadster		2	0	10
10 10	Citröen C-Zero Mia Electric		1 1	0 0	3 N/A
	TOTAL	100	728	100

e) Estimate

Source: greenstart.it.

Switzerland July 2013

The first swiss Model S arrived in June

Zoe vs Leaf Swiss Edition

With 121 units sold, it was another good month for plug-ins in Switzerland, with the EV share rising 0,02% to 0,33%, although still far from the 0,41% share obtained in 2012.

This good result is due to the particular competition between the Renault Zoe and the Nissan Leaf, respectively #1 and #2 in July, and at this pace, it won't take long for both to surpass the Twizy in the YTD ranking.

Looking at the BEV/PHEV distribution, this is another market where Plug-In Hybrids are losing ground to pure electric cars, in 2012 PHEV's represented 29% of the market, but now they just represent 15%, with the best selling PHEV, the Opel Ampera, now only fifth when last year it ended in #2.

Pl	Switzerland	July	YTD	%	'12Pl
1	Renault Twizy e)	20	149	25	1
2	Renault Zoe	47	133	22	11
3	Nissan Leaf	29	113	19	6
4	Mitsubishi I-Miev	7	77	13	5
5	Opel Ampera	8	44	7	2
6	Chevrolet Volt	7	35	6	6
7	Citröen C-Zero		20	3	4
8	Fisker Karma	1	11	2	8
9	Peugeot iOn		7	1	9
10	Renault Fluence ZE		6	1	7
11	Tesla Model S	2	3	0	N/A
12	Tesla Roadster		3	0	10
13	Think City		3	0	12
	TOTAL	121	604	100

e) Estimate

Source: auto-suisse.ch