UK June 2014 (Draft)

The Leaf still Rules Britannia. For how long? 

Leaf Leadership is Under Threat Edition

I finally got access to second quarter numbers from the UK and despite the abysmal difference between the Leaf and everybody else, this last quarter saw the arrival of the Outlander PHEV, which has sold 542 units in just three months, placing it Second in the Quarter, and #3 YTD. 

As if that wasn't enough, in July the Mitsu SUV was the best selling plug-in in the UK, with 399 units, making this the first time since 2011 that a car other than the Leaf wins the monthly Best Seller title.  

Finally, the Tesla Model S is still absent from this Top 5 ranking, although not for long, as it is expected to rise to #4 by the end of the next quarter in September.

Pl	Model	Sales
1	Nissan Leaf	1.729
2	BMW i3	841
3	Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV	542
4	Renault Zoe	180
5	Volvo V60 Plug-In	90

Source: nextgreencar.com

UK March 2014 (Draft)

The Leaf still Rules Britannia. For how long? 

BMW i3 Has a Warm Welcome Edition

This is a draft edition of how the first quarter of the year behaved in the UK, with the only real news being the BMW i3 selling like hot cakes and shooting to #2, although still far from the leader Nissan Leaf.

The second quarter ranking should be more interesting, with the arrival of the Outlander PHEV and Tesla Model S surely changing the current status quo.

ps: One of these two dethroned the Leaf from the sales leadership in July...

Pl	Model	Sales
1	Nissan Leaf	938
2	BMW i3	421
3	Renault Zoe	90
4	Toyota Prius Plug-In	60
5	Volvo V60 Plug-In	45

Source: nextgreencar.com

UK All Time Top 5 (Up to December '13)

The Nissan Leaf is miles away from the competition, being the Best Selling Car ever since it arrived, the Plug-In Prius is surprisingly ahead of the Vauxhall Ampera and the last two places are for Renault, with the Kangoo ZE still being the most common EV from the french manufacturer.

Pl	Model	Sales (1)
1	Nissan Leaf	3.146
2	Toyota Prius Plug-In	976
3	Vauxhall Ampera	719
4	Renault Kangoo ZE	448
5	Renault Twizy	417

(1) - Updated until December 31st, 2013

Best-Selling models by year:
2010 - Smart Fortwo ED (63)
2011 - Nissan Leaf (635)
2012 - Nissan Leaf (699)
2013 - Nissan Leaf (1.812)

UK December 2013 (Draft Edition)

Nissan Leaf feeling at home in the UK

Leaf #1 Edition

After many solicitations asking for this post, i've decided to publish a draft with the current data.
3.739 plug-ins were sold in the United Kingdom, a 26% over last year with the #1 Nissan Leaf carrying the bulk of the sales, with 1.812 units sold, almost three times more(!) than it did last year, you can say that the "Sunderland" factor did its magic here.

The rest of the podium is the same as last year, with #2 for the Prius Plug-In, followed by the Vauxhall Ampera, that keeps its third spot but it's threatened by the Renault Zoe, in #4, and the Volvo V60 Plug-In, in#5 .

Many newcomers at the second half of the ranking, with the BMW i3 being the one to watch for in 2014, probably going for the podium in the in end of '14.

Speaking of the future, Volvo, with the V60 Plug-In, and Mitsubishi, with the Outlander PHEV, are strong candidates at the podium,  just like the aforementioned BMW i3, pressuring both Renault and Toyota, while Nissan will keep on growing without caring on what goes behind it.

All this must push sales to some 5.000 units/year.

Pl	UK	2013	%	2012	%	Pl
1	Nissan Leaf	1.812	48	699	29	1
2	Toyota Prius Plug-In e)	524	14	470	16	2
3	Vauxhall Ampera e)	295	8	455	16	3
4 5	Renault Zoe Volvo V60 Plug-In e)	252 230	7 6	1 N/A	0 N/A	13 N/A
6	Renault Kangoo ZE	192	5	279	8	6
7	Renault Twizy	125	3	292	10	4
8	Citröen C-Zero e)	75	2	110	4	8
9	Peugeot iOn e)	56	1	251	9	5
10	Chevrolet Volt e)	53	1	67	2	10
11	BYD e50	50	1	N/A	N/A	N/A
12 13 14	BMW i3 e) Nissan e-NV200 Renault Fluence ZE	36 28 7	1 1 0	N/A N/A 67	N/A N/A 2	N/A N/A 10
15	Smart Fortwo ED e)	3	0	13	0	12
16	Mitsubishi I-Miev e)	1	0	107	4	9
	TOTAL	3.739	100	2.971

e) - Estimate

Source: http://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/; Manufacturers

UK June 2013

These chinese BYD e6 are testing the waters in the UK

Leaf Wins at Home Edition

With a few months delay, i can now give the stats for the UK EV market of the Second Quarter of this Year, or in other words, until June.

From January '13 until June there were 1.727 plug-ins sold in the United Kingdom, with a EV share of 0,15%, more or less the same as last year (0,145%).

The Nissan Leaf has been the big winner of the year, keeping the number one spot and increasing the market share from 29% to 47%. The local assembly is a plus for the japanese hatch, with the price drop also helping to win customers, having sold already more units (811) than in all 2012 (699).

In second the Prius Plug-In is keeping the pace with 295 sales and 17% share (Up 1%), while the Vauxhall Ampera is still in third but loses 7% share regarding last year and is now threatened by the Renault Zoe, in #4.

In Fifth appears the Renault Kangoo ZE, with rock solid sales rhythm, climbing one position regarding last year, while the Renault Twizy drops two positions and see its sales dwindle greatly.

In #7 we see a novelty, with the BYD e6 appearing for the first time with 50 units, thanks to a fleet deal and at the bottom of the ranking we see the Mitsu I-Miev scoring just one unit sold, to put things in perspective, in '12 it had sold 107 units and in 2011 it had 125 sales...

Brands wise, there isn't any position changes it the top spots, with Nissan head and shoulders above everyone with 47%, followed by Renault with 19% and Toyota with 17%.

Despite having the #2 and #3 positions, PHEV's are a minority within the minority in the UK, with just 1 in 3 plug-ins belonging to that category. Of course, the fact that the Leaf having half of the market to itself might have something to do with it...

Pl	UK	YTD '13	%	2012	%	Pl
1	Nissan Leaf	811	47	699	29	1
2	Toyota Prius Plug-In	295	17	470	16	2
3	Vauxhall Ampera	150	9	455	16	3
4	Renault Zoe	132	8	1	0	13
5	Renault Kangoo ZE	102	6	234	8	6
6	Renault Twizy	82	5	292	10	4
7	BYD e6	50	3	N/A	N/A	N/A
8	Citröen C-Zero	45	3	110	4	8
9	Peugeot iOn	26	2	251	9	5
10	Chevrolet Volt	23	1	67	2	10
11	Renault Fluence ZE	7	0	67	2	10
12	Smart Fortwo ED	3	0	13	0	12
13	Mitsubishi I-Miev	1	0	107	4	9
	TOTAL	1.727	100	2.926

Source: http://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/

UK March 2013

Sensible alloys for the 2013 Renault Kangoo ZE   

The UK market was one of the markets where EV makers had high hopes, in 2012 there were sold 2.971 electric vehicles and with a 0,15% share, it was a decent performance, making it the #8 largest market for this kind of vehicles.

Things aren't so rosy this year, in the end of March there were just 656 EV sales, with the respective share dropping to 0,11%, a fact only made worse by the 6% rise in the UK global market.

Models wise, the first three keep their status quo, with the Nissan Leaf solid in #1, followed by the Prius Plug-In in #2 and the Vauxhall Ampera #3.

Outside the podium, the Kangoo ZE is up two spots to #4, just like the Citroën C-Zero (#6) and the Chevrolet Volt (#8).

Finally, the Renault Zoe is still in a shy #9, it's to expect that the french supermini should climb several positions in the next months as the production gets in full steam. 

Pl.       Models                         Q1 '13            '12 Pl
1     Nissan Leaf                          289                   1  
2     Toyota Prius Plug-In e)         118                   2
3     Vauxhall Ampera                    83                   3
4     Renault Kangoo ZE e)            70                   6
5     Renault Twizy                         38                   4
6     Citröen C-Zero                      20                   8
7     Peugeot iOn                           14                   5
8     Chevrolet Volt                        12                 10
9     Renault Zoe                            10                 13
10   Mitsubishi I-Miev                      1                  9
11   Renault Fluence ZE                   1                 11

e) Estimate

Source: BSCB, Manufacturers

UK Full Year 2012

2013 Nissan Leaf. Finally some nice alloys!

A bit late in the party, here's the full year sales of the UK electric market, which tripled sales regarding 2011. While that year the Nissan Leaf easily took the best seller crown, in 2012 the distance was shorter and the last months of the year both the Prius Plug-In and the Vauxhall Ampera were head to head against the Leaf, earning them respectively  the #2 and #3 spots.

Even if it didn't made such an impact as it did in other markets, maybe the british weather had something to do with it, the Renault Twizy reached a still respectable #4.

Further down the ranking, notice the growth of the Kangoo ZE from 33 units sold in '11 to 234, just enough to keep it in 6th place and the first unit sold on the Renault Zoe, a car that the french brand has high hopes to achieve the top spot in the brands ranking this year, currently it is second at 20% share, behind Nissan with 24%.

Pl	UK	2012	%	2011	%	Pl
1	Nissan Leaf	699	24	635	58	1
2	Toyota Prius Plug-In	470	16	N/A
3	Vauxhall Ampera	455	16	4	0	7
4	Renault Twizy	292	10	N/A
5	Peugeot iOn	251	9	124	11	3
6	Renault Kangoo ZE	234	8	33	3	6
7	BMW Active E	160	5	N/A
8	Citröen C-Zero	110	4	46	4	5
9	Mitsubishi I-Miev	107	4	125	11	2
10	Chevrolet Volt	67	2	N/A
11	Renault Fluence ZE	67	2	N/A
12	Smart Fortwo ED	13	0	120	11	4
13	Renault Zoe	1	0	N/A
	TOTAL	2.926	100	1.087	100

Source: SMMT; BSCB

Other Markets November 2012

This post highlights some curious facts about other EV markets:

- This year it has been sold more EV's (106.000) than in all previous years together (80.000);

- The markets with smaller or negative growth rates are Denmark (+29%), Japan (+4%) and Portugal (-54%). The portuguese negative growth is justified by the end of the 5.000€ government incentive given to EV's;

- Despite government interest and incentives in this kind of cars, EV's represent just 0,018% of the auto market in China, only in Australia there's a lower market share (0,008%) for electric cars;

- The UK market is fragmented, with the top three makers separated by only 23 units (Renault - 563 units, Nissan - 547, Vauxhall - 540);

- Chevrolet Volt has a whopping 73% share of all electric cars in Canada, with 1.168 units;

- Israel, Hong Kong and Estonia EV market are represented by only one model, respectably the Renault Fluence ZE (Included in the Better Place deal), Nissan Leaf and the Mitsubishi I-Miev (Bought by the Estonian government);

- The Volt family has the top spot in three countries (USA, Netherlands, Canada);

-  Renault's Twizy quadricycle is #1 in six countries (Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Portugal), just like the LCV Kangoo ZE in its home market (France) and the Fluence ZE in Denmark and Ireland;

- The Nissan Leaf is number one in three markets (Norway, Australia, Finland);

- The BYD E6 insures a number one spot in its home market (China);

- Finally, the Prius Plug-In wins at home (Japan) and in Sweden;

- Splitting sales by regional areas, GM dominates the Americas with almost half of the market, just like Toyota does in Asia and Europe is Renault's turf, with a 42% market share, thanks mostly to the Twizy, the best selling vehicle there, where one in four electric vehicles is a Twizy.