Electric-car fans often act like kids when they see an EV.
Kids used to shout "punch buggy" and whack their siblings (or whoever was close by) whenever they spied the distinctive Volkswagen Beetle.
It's the same these days with EVs. People are interested, but there is a dearth of them on the roads. National sales numbers confirm this:
? Chevrolet Volt: 275 sold in 2011; 539 in the first six months of 2012
? Nissan Leaf: 170 sold in 2011; 137 in the first six months of 2012
? Mitsubishi i-MiEV: 23 sold in 2011 (The i-MiEV went on sale in December); 115 in the first six months of 2012
As you can see, there aren't many of them around, and since the figures are national, there's no way to tell where the cars are concentrated. Most manufacturers will admit the numbers aren't what they had hoped for.
But others say EV sales are actually respectable if you compare them to how the Toyota Prius hybrid performed when it entered the market a decade ago.
Hybrids, like EVs today, were unknown 10 years ago. The only buyers then were "early adopters" - those attracted to new technology. Today, almost all manufacturers offer a hybrid and the car is mainstream.
In the U.S., Toyota sold 20,119 Priuses in 2002. Last year, it delivered 136,463 units, and in the first six months of this year, it sold 126,654.
Nissan, which sold 10,000 Leafs in the U.S. last year (its first year), is confident it will sell 20,000 units in the 2012 fiscal year (which ends March 2013). With only 3,148 sold in the U.S. to the end of June, that goal may be a tad optimistic.
I haven't heard of an equivalent to "punch buggy" yet, although I wouldn't be shocked (pun intended) if somebody shouts "zap!" when they see me in my EV.
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