Tesla became the largest seller of electric vehicles (EV’s) in the United States in 2015. Tesla beat out other auto manufacturers such as Nissan, Chevrolet, BMW, Toyota and Ford to gain the crown. Tesla was also the biggest seller of EV’s in the world in 2015 with sales of over 50,000 units.
CEO of TESLA, Elon Musk is the global face of the growing electric car company. We created the following chart showing how many electric cars were sold by manufacturer and model in the U.S. in 2015, as well as how many EVs were sold compared to gasoline vehicles.
Ford hybrid sales have exploded over the past year as the Blue Oval added several electrified models to its lineup
Next-up from Ford is the Ford Focus Energi Hybrid, which is rumored to start at only $27,000. The first 25 miles of every trip will be gasoline-free miles as the car will run on the battery pack for those miles, subsequently, the on-board 4-cylinder gas engine will fire up to; a) charge the battery and b) to provide motive power until the battery is fully recharged and the battery can take over as the motive force. If you average 33 (total) miles per day like most drivers, think of all the gas money you’ll save!
Leading Ford’s hybrid charge was the Ford Fusion Energi and C-Max Energi, two plug-in hybrids that could soon be joined by a third model, the Focus Energi, which will offer a longer electric driving range and a lower price.
The Ford Focus Energi is rumored to debut when Ford unveils a refreshed look for the popular hatchback. It will likely share the same 2.0 liter, Atkinson cycle engine as the C-Max Energi and Fusion Energi, but could go up to 25 miles on electricity alone, vs. the 21 miles in the C-Max and Fusion. This could be from improved battery chemistry, motors, or just being a smaller lighter car. This will be yet another variation on the Focus line, which already includes the 247 horsepower Focus ST and the Focus Electric with a 76-mile EPA rating.
More important though is the rumored price tag of $27,000, which would make it one of the most affordable plug-in hybrids on the market. The Ford C-Max Energi starts at $32,920 and the Fusion Energi starts at $34,700, but both can utilize $3,750 of the $7,500 Federal Tax Credit, bringing the price down to $29,170 and $30,950 respectively.
If you gave the Focus Energi a starting price of $27,000, the effective price would be under $24,000, which leads me to believe the $27,000 price is probably after the tax credit is applied. But maybe Ford will surprise us all with an even more affordable plug-in hybrid, and they did just slash $4,000 from the price of the Focus Electric. A mid-$20,000 plug-in hybrid would be lovely, wouldn’t it?
Christopher DeMorro is a writer and gearhead who loves all things automotive, from hybrids to HEMIs. When he isn’t wrenching or writing, he’s running, because he’s one of those crazy people who gets enjoyment from running insane distances.
Originally published on Gas 2 by Jo Borrás Images and video courtesy of BMW
One of the great things about going to auto shows is the bags of swag you get to take home. Most of the time, the “swag” is a throw-away USB drive, but sometimes it’s a bit better.
In the case of the BMW display at the 2014 Detroit Auto Show, we got a great little hardcover book covering all the new releases and cleverly incorporating a USB drive bookmark loaded with high-quality pictures of their new releases- including our favorite new supercar, the sold-out BMW i8 hybrid.
You can take a look at the 2014 BMW i8 hybrid super car in all its glory in the BMW provided photo-gallery. I’ve also included an i8 video. Enjoy!
BMW i8_9. Image by BMWBMW i8_1. Image by BMWBMW i8_3. Image by BMWBMW i8_4. Image by BMWBMW i8_5. Image by BMWBMW i8_2. Image by BMWBMW i8_6. Image by BMWBMW i8_7. Image by BMWBMW i8_8. Image by BMW
Jo Borrás I’ve been involved in motorsports and tuning since 1997 and write for a number of blogs in the Important Media network. You can find me on Twitter, Skype (jo.borras) or Google+.
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