JD Power: Battery, hybrid-electric cars are overhyped

April 27, 2011 9:38 AM
Matthew Lynley
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Plug-in electric and hybrid electric vehicles are over-hyped and won’t meet many car companies’ 2020 sales targets, according to global marketing information firm JD Power & Associates.

Battery-powered and hybrid-electric cars will only capture around  7.3 percent of all car sales by 2020, according to the firm. That means that electric car sales will only account for 5.2 million sales out of 70.9 million cars sold that year. Concerns about electric car looks, design, power and range were the largest holdout points for customers considering electric cars over internal-combustion vehicles, JD Power reports.

Most electric cars have limited range when compared to hybrid-electric cars — which use both an internal combustion engine and battery technology to improve mileage — and cars powered by internal combustion engines. Nissan’s leaf, for example, can only travel around 100 miles before it has to recharge. The supercharged Tesla Roadster can travel more than 200 miles, but it has a mammoth price tag that most typical consumers wouldn’t be able to afford — around $110,000 before environmentally-friendly credits.

Electric cars are typically more expensive than cars powered by internal combustion engines. The Leaf, considered one of the cheaper options for a plug-in electric car, costs around $33,000. The Chevy Volt, a plug-in hybrid-electric car, is another incredibly popular hybrid option but costs around $40,000. The price tags haven’t stopped the current niche market of electric car buyers — which are typically more educated and have higher incomes, according to the study by JD Power & Associates.

The U.S. government set an ambitious goal of having more than 1 million electric cars on the road by 2015, which it said is on track to meet. Nissan also said it is on track to sell and deliver 20,000 Leaf vehicles by September this year, even through it has faced a number of production delays such as a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and electrical faults that prevent the car from starting.

But there is a chance that electric car sales could exceed that target globally if demand in China is more aggressive than originally expected. Sales of plug-in electric and hybrid-electric cars might have totaled nearly 1 million last year, or 2.2 percent of all vehicles sold, according to JD Power & Associates.

[Photo: Ed Callow]

  • captainkwark

    I'd like to hear more about the battery arrays these new cars have and all the wonderful environmentally friendly things they are made out of.

  • zoomer75

    Dear sir,Your assessment of what is going to happen in 2020 is beyond the pale. I agree with the Captain. You have to do better then this. Why not predict sales for 2120? Not to refute the figures of JD Powers but if they were so informed about the future, they would obviously not be mired in worrying about the future of electric cars. We don't even know what kind of economy we will be living in in 2020. We have no idea what the job market will look like. I can assure you they really have no idea either. To pretend that they do and to give such an assessment credence lowers your street cred!For one, I know of people who travel less than 2-miles a day to work.If the price went down on electric vehicles, or if the government and industry came up with an inviting way to make those vehicles more affordable, they would probably examine their options. I'd sooner see you write an article looking into a future where owning an electric car was not only an attractive option but a no-brainer. Now that would be a piece of Journalism. In fact, that could be a book.

  • desperategenie

    write about the positive aspects of electric vehicles! we need solutions not more problems! the article you referenced is from Oct. 2010…haven't there been developments or updated statistics since?

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_3BMB3HQGMQJKJQPL4U6JNMIOLU Sue Doughnim

    Matthew?? Are you a High School sophomore? Is this your idea of journalism? All you did was summarize a report! You might have mentioned the federal and state tax rebates that are bringing the prices down substantially – in California I will get a total of 12,500 back on my Leaf, plus a free rapid charger. My charger will be metered separately from my other electricity use, and will cost a flat 9 cents per kWh – that's $2.25 to go 100 miles. And I never have to go to the gas station. My house will be my gas station.The reality is there is massive demand for the Leaf in its launch areas because guess what? Most people rarely drive anywhere near 100 miles a day. Practically every major car company is ramping up production of their plug-in vehicles. The weight of the batteries and the charging times are both steadily decreasing and I am sure we will see some major reductions in both areas now that time and money are being spent on development.

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