Sales of Plug-in Hybrids Eclipse Pure EVs in November

The Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid has once again topped the plug-in vehicle segment. It led the pack back in April, so November 2012 marks the second time the Prius Plug-In was the number one seller. Meanwhile, the Ford C-Max Energi, in its first full month on the market, leapt into fourth place in sales in the plug-in vehicle category.

For November, Prius Plug-In sales check at a healthy 1,766 units, bringing the plug-in Prius' year-to-date US sales total to 11,389. Sales of the plug-in version of the Prius accounted for a healthy 10.7 percent of sales of the Prius family, which includes the Prius liftback, Prius V wagon, and Prius C compact (all conventional hybrids).

It's still too early to establish a long-term trend for the Ford C-Max Energi, but it's so far proving to be a strong player in the plug-in segment. With 1,259 units sold in November—and still not available nationwide—it appears that Ford will have a strong presence in the plug-in market, especially considering that it will soon begin selling the plug-in version of the Ford Fusion.

When you add up sales of the Prius Plug-in Hybrid, Chevy Volt, and the Ford C-Max Energi—and you consider that the Nissan LEAF is the only pure EV model with similar sales volumes—the dominance of grid-enable cars that also use gasoline becomes clear. The early trend indicates that American consumers are more receptive to plug-in hybrids, with their ability to use gasoline to offer driving range equal to or greater than gas cars, rather than pure electric cars that commonly have a range of about 80 to 100 miles.

Sales numbers for the other battery electric cars on the market were low in November. Last month, Ford sold 179 units of the Focus Electric; Mitsubishi moved 42 units of the i subcompact EV; Toyota sold 32 RAV4 EVs; and Honda, which is only leasing its EV, delivered 26 units of the all-electric version of the Fit.