Originally published on Gas2.
I’m fairly turned off to infographics these days, as many are simply a lot of colors and squiggly lines with little substance. However, some really good ones come across my desk from time to time. Thanks to a good friend, Amber Archangel, I’ve got a great one to share. The infographic was created for Car Leasing Made Simple, and is full of very interesting stats and charts about the top electric car countries and the top electric cars. Here’s the infographic, with more commentary below it:
So, some really interesting stuff popped out to me…
1) As we all knew, but it’s still amazing to see, Norway is rocking it. And while the percentage of new cars sold there in 2014 was ~14% (as shown in the infographic), that percentage has now climbed to 23%!
2) I’ve been noting in articles that the Netherlands is probably #2 in that regard, but it was great to see my suspicions confirmed. Very complicated Dutch EV incentives, including an EV-friendly public charging station policy, are helping those along, but it seems that a smart and concerned citizenry as well as cool startups like Fastned are also important to its leadership.
3) I wasn’t very surprised to see Iceland, Estonia, Sweden, or Japan on the top of the list, but I imagine they look strange there to people who don’t follow the market closely.
4) It was cool to see China’s 2014 surge in EV sales and the leading cars there (and even great little silhouettes of each of those models).
5) Compared to the US, though, the red giant sure has a long way to go, and when you consider the number of new cars being sold in China, the story is even more damning. That said, the Chinese government has certainly put a lot of big incentives on the table. It seems it’s up to the consumers to wake up and realize that EVs are a better option.
6) It’s still a long ways to go before another model catches the Nissan LEAF in global sales. It’ll be interesting to see where things land between the #2 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and #3 Tesla Model S, though. The Outlander PHEV is crushing it in Europe right now, but it isn’t on the US market, and the Tesla Model S is selling quite well there and in Europe, while also being present in China and Australia.
7) Look at the price of those high-end electric beasts… wow. If you want to read about some of them, see:
Top Gear Falls For The Mercedes SLS AMG Electric Drive (Video)
2014 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Electric Drive Makes Official, Expensive Debut
Rimac Electric Supercar To Start Production In 2015
Rimac Electric Supercar Is Fast, Leaves Ferrari 458 Spider In The Dust (Video)
Mercedes’ Electric SLS Revealed
Rolls-Royce Begins Work On Lighter Plug-in Hybrid Phantom
