Plug-in electric vehicles in the United States
The fleet of plug-in electric vehicles in the United States is the largest in the world. Since 2008 over 150,000 highway-capable plug-in electric cars have been sold in the country through October 2013.[2] The U.S. was the world's leader in plug-in electric car sales in 2012, with a 46% share of global sales.[3] When sales are broken down by type of powertrain, the United States was the leader in plug-in hybrid sales in 2012 with a 70% market share of global sales, and ranked second in pure electric car sales with a 26% share, after Japan (28%).[4]
As of November 2013[update], there are 14 plug-in models available in the American market from eight car manufacturers,[5] plus several models of electric motorcycles, utility vans and neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs). As of October 2013[update], the top 5 best selling plug-in electric cars are the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid with 50,240 units, followed by the Nissan Leaf all-electric car with 37,590 units, the Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid with 22,819 units, the Tesla Model S with 16,251 units (through September 2013), and the Ford C-Max Energi with 7,760 units.[6][7][8]
The Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008, and later the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES) granted tax credits for new qualified plug-in electric vehicles.[9] The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) also authorized federal tax credits for converted plug-ins, though the credit is lower than for new PEVs.[10] The federal tax credit for new plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) is worth US$2,500 plus US$417 for each kilowatt-hour of battery capacity over 5 kWh, and the portion of the credit determined by battery capacity cannot exceed US$5,000. Therefore, the total amount of the credit allowed for a new PEV is US$7,500.[9] Several states have established incentives and tax exemptions for BEVs and PHEV, and other non-monetary incentives.
The U.S. government also has pledged US$2.4 billion in federal grants to support the development of next-generation electric cars and batteries, and US$115 million for the installation of electric vehicle charging infrastructure in 16 different metropolitan areas around the country. As of March 2013[update], the United States had 5,678 charging stations across the country, led by California with 1,207 stations (21.3%).[11] In terms of public charging points, there were 18,877 public outlets available across the country by the end of August 2013, again led by California with 4,891 (25.9%) public charging points.[12] In his 2011 State of the Union address, President Barack Obama set the goal for the U.S. to become the first country to have 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2015.[13] Considering the actual slow rate of PEV sales, since mid-2012 several industry observers have concluded that this goal is unattainable.[14][15][16]