In 2011, President Obama said he believed the U.S. could have 1 million electric vehicles (EVs) on the road by 2015. Unfortunately, a CBS News report shows EVs are far off-track of reaching that number thus far.
The Department of Energy released projections for 11 electric vehicles sold during the five year period of 2011-2015. Of those vehicles, six have either not made their first delivery or are now completely out of business. Despite federal loans to many electric vehicle companies, sales have lagged for the high-priced vehicles thus far.
The Chevrolet Volt is a prime example. The Department of Energy believed the car would sell 120,000 vehicles in 2012. While there's still time left in the year, the Volt is nowhere close to those numbers so far. In fact, CBS believes the car will sell around 10,000 by the end of the year, and will struggle to sell 120,000 over the entire five years.
That puts electric automakers well behind the 1 million vehicle mark by 2015. That being said, many automakers have embraced electric technology and new models are scheduled to hit the road that the Obama administration didn't initially count in 2011. While the numbers likely won't reach 1 million, EVs aren't quite dead yet.
Those who have an EV, or any other vehicle, should be sure to keep their car in shape by performing scheduled maintenance.